Bowler Hat Day in the City of London England is February 11, 2010
Bowler Hat Day in the City of London celebrates the age old tradition of white collar workers wearing a Bowler in the City. There are still Bowler Hat wearers today but I do not believe that the practice is as prevalent as it used to be. It was the custom for even lower level workers to wear bowler hats even if there was only a packed lunch and newspaper in the briefcase. It was a kind of uniform. (The man in the picture seems to have left his briefcase at the office? Perhaps one takes a laptop computer there now – to play games over lunch perhaps? But I digress. Of course they are all hard working men.)
Bowler Hat Day is organised to raise money for SOS Children’s Villages, who care for orphaned children, during World Orphan Week. The focus this year is of course the dreadful situation in Haiti but even under “usual” circumstances the Charity notes that
Every 2.2 seconds a child loses a parent.
So what happens on Bowler Hat Day? Felt and Plastic Bowler hats are offered for sale with proceeds going to the charity. You can also buy a pin if you wish. The festivities take place in Leadenhall Market in the City. This year the a choral sensation Eschoir will be performing along with a great jazz band and everybody will be having fun with plenty of games and activities. There are a number of other events also. For more information please visit the Bowler Hat Day website. Sounds like a fun event if you are in the City of London on February 11. And such a good cause too – you can of course donate even if you are unable to get to the City of London.
You may wonder where the Bowler Hat was invented. Word is that it was devised in 1849 by the London hat makers Thomas and William Bowler to fulfill an order placed by the firm of hatters Lock & Co. of St James’s. Lock & Co. had been commissioned by a customer to design a close-fitting, low-crowned hat to protect his gamekeepers’ heads from low-hanging branches while on horseback. The keepers had previously worn top hats, which were easily knocked off and damaged. (From Wikipedia). The firm of Lock & Co is still in the hat business today and has been since 1676.
(Props to How2Hats for the lead on this story)
Image Credit
under GNU Free Documentation Licence – with attribution
Photographer Fredrik Tersmeden
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