Despite all of the astute reporting and commentary in the GOP Winter Kickoff post yesterday, what prompted a little discussion in the comments was the subject of Dem Chairman Dennis McDonald wearing a big white cowboy hat in Q2's television studio.
A discussion on hat etiquette ensued, culminating in a recollection of Houston Oiler coach Bum Phillips refusing to wear his hat in the Astrodome because you don't wear a hat indoors. We recalled Bear Bryant saying something similar about his not wearing his own signature hat in the Astrodome.
Having spent time in oil and livestock country from Montana to Texas, we are well aware that there are regional differences on cowboy hat etiquette, as well as generational differences.
But we got curious, and found this interesting post in which two mavens of etiquette -- Miss Manners and Amy Vanderbilt -- weigh in on the subject. While we lean toward the Vanderbilt simplicity (men take their hats off indoors, period,) Miss Manners gave a more extended and subtle answer -- one that perhaps Mr. McDonald would do well to take under consideration.
"Dear Miss Manners:
A certain lumpish fellow of my acquaintance contends that it is not a breach of etiquette for a man to wear a cowboy hat indoors. He states that cowboy hats are unique in this regard. My mother was always a proponent of the Mrs. Paul W. Bryant, Sr. school of thought on this subject. (You may recall that when Bear Bryant was asked why he didn't wear his trademark hat in the Astrodome, he replied that it was because his mother taught him that a gentleman doesn't wear a hat indoors.) To your knowledge has there been a special papal dispensation or whatever the equivalent is in the world of etiquette for cowboy hats?"
Miss Manners replied: "Mrs. Bryant's rule certainly applies to cowboys who wish to behave as gentlemen and, Miss Manners would like to add, to gentlemen who wish to disguise themselves as cowboys, a proliferating breed.
For example, a person wearing a cowboy hat, along with a gray suit and lizard boots, in a city office building elevator, is not excused from removing the hat- no, not even if he is wearing a complete cowboy suit, with fringed jacket, jeans, and spurs that he got for Christmas.
However, a genuine cowboy, wearing cowboy clothes and going about his cowboy business, does wear his hat everywhere. In other words, it is not the hat but the head that defines the man, oddly enough." (Emphasis added.)
And that last bit, folks, is bad news for trial lawyers playing rancher.
