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LEWISTOWN -The Mifflin County Historical Society’s mission is to “preserve the past for the future.” And that’s exactly the message that came across during the entertainment segment of the society’s “Hats, High Heels and Handbags Tea,” held last week at Ellen Chapel.
The surprising bearers of that message were: The Hat Ladies.
In a fast-paced, often humorous, sometimes poignant parade of hats, Pat Holifield and Marsha McDowell – aka The Hat Ladies, of Johnstown -stressed the importance of remembering the people of the past and telling their stories, for the future generations.
And they did just that. With hats.
In a lively, fashion show-style presentation, McDowell and Holifield modeled vintage hats, hats that belonged to women who meant something to them, and a couple over-the-top contemporary hats meant to make a statement.
The hat ladies wore little black hats, blinged out hats, big red floppy hats and everything in between. Each hat had a story -who it belonged to, or where it came from, or who would have worn it and for what purpose back in the day.
The ladies have been collecting, caring for and wearing hats for more than 20 years. They started their show 18 years ago, “patterned after the ladies who wore hats and their stories,” McDowell said.
Five years ago McDowell counted the hats in her collection and discovered that she owned 500. “And that doesn’t include Pat’s hats, so we just say we have over 500.”
Many of their hats were “rescued” from yard sales, thrift shops, friends and family, and from people who just drop them off on their porches because they know of the ladies and their show. Of course, sometimes one of the ladies walks into a store and a particular hat just calls her name.
“We never met a hat we didn’t like,” McDowell said.
What is the attraction of hats? Holifield explained:
“Our mothers wore hats. Marsha wears a hat to church every Sunday. I sing in the choir, so I can’t wear a hat every Sunday, but I can two times a month.”
But the primary reason the ladies are attracted to hats is because those head coverings, no matter how simple and plain, or loud and ornate, are a part of the past that tell a story for the future.
“If you have anything in your household that means something to you,” Holifield said, “give it to your children, and tell your stories. Every family has a story.”
Some hats tell their own stories. For example, audience members nodded knowingly when McDowell, appearing in a pillbox, referenced Jacqueline Kennedy. “She had the handbags, she had the shoes, she had the suit,” McDowell said. “This was the hat you wore no matter where you went back in the day.
“When you went downtown shopping, you wore a hat. You didn’t go shopping without a hat, you didn’t go the doctor’s office without a hat, you didn’t go to a house of worship without a hat. Back in the day, everybody dressed up,” she said.
Holifield, appearing with a cloche hat hugging her head, indicated that her hats made her not care so much about the prospects of losing her hair during a battle with cancer.
And she still wears hats when she goes out. “People ask, do we wear our hats out? Yes, we do, much to the dismay of children sometimes, but yes, we do.”
Hats could tell a wearer’s story.
Holifield modeled what she called a cocktail hat that sported some bling to give the wearer a flirty look.
McDowell created a flapper look, wearing a feathered headband, paired with a boa and long gloves, and a very long strand of pearls. She explained that if she was walking with a gentleman, one knot in the strand of pearls meant he was her beau; two knots meant he was her husband.
Hats can also have sentimental value, like one owned by a relative of Holifield’s. It was gold and sparkling, “with every bead placed individually.” It was purchased for $25 in 1960 – quite a bit of money for that time.
Some hats are versatile, and some utilitarian.
“My mother was the ultimate hat lady,” Holifield said, modeling one of her hats. “My sister and I had an argument, a fight, over this hat,” she said, pointing upward to a hat with a pink bow in the front. “And I won.” Smiling, she quickly changed the look of the hat entirely by turning it around, so the bow was on the back.
McDowell made a more contemporary hat work for her. She wears a wide brimmed hat while gardening, and, if the bugs get too bad, can pull the decorative netting down to protect her face.
While ladies today don’t often wear hats, the head coverings are still a tradition at an annual event.
“When the Kentucky Derby comes on,” Holifield said, “we are not watching it for the horses; we look at the hats, then go to the knock-off store.”
Hats, Holifield said with a wink, can “give you hattitude. You have to have hattitide. No matter what you put on, you have to believe you look good in it.”
Proceeds from the tea benefit the society’s McCoy House Museum.