I'm not a big fan of hats, but I now must wear them (along with SP45 sunscreen) to prevent skin cancer. Thus sayeth my dermotologist.
My favorite hat is a leather-billed cap that I got at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in 1996. It's a nice quality chapeau and has an 'L' series Lincoln touring car from the Twenties embroidered on it.
This was the hat I selected to take on our trip overseas in 2001. While touring on an open-topped double decker bus in Glasgow, a gust of wind from the River Clyde blew the hat right off my head! The bus looped around the block and, on the way back down the same street, there was my hat in the middle of the street. It was a miracle!
The driver kindly stopped the bus. I jumped off, retrieved the hat, and hopped back on again. I was greeted with applause from all of the other passengers. (I think they were applauding the hat - not me.)
The hat was a little worse for wear (it had been run over), but a little Lexol on the leather and Shout on the fabric made it almost as good as new.
Henceforth, this hat became known as the Miracle Hat. As further evidence of its miraculous powers, during the remainder of our trip, the Miraculous Hat never again blew off my head. (Tightening the strap probably helped a little.)
The painting (above) - "The Miracle of the Hat" now hangs in the Louvre (Scottish Art, MacGregor Wing, next to the marble sculpture of Groundskeeper Willy's tractor). Meanwhile, the Hat itself continues to travel throughout the land.
The Miracle Hat has since appeared in many locations:
