Heritage Hat Stories

”When I was in high school, my family moved to a different state to live. Shortly after we moved there, we met the sweetest older couple. They adopted us as family from day one. We called them grandma and grandpa. They were so in love. Until the day they died, they would hold hands and call each other ’baby’. I used to love to hear them tell their stories. 

They used to live in Dallas and my grandpa would take my grandma downtown to Neiman Marcus and drop her off. She would meet friends and go to the fashion show and have lunch. She always had her gloves and hat on and her jewelry… especially a brooch. She loved brooches. 

There was a picture of them in their house that I always loved. It was an old black and white studio portrait from the 1950’s. He had a black suit and black tie on. She had a black dress with a brooch and matching earrings. When I was a senior in high school, he gave me that same black tie to wear for my high school graduation. I also wore it for my college graduation. It is one of my prized possessions.  

After they both were gone, I found that same brooch and earrings that were in the picture and was able to keep them. I’ve had them for over 25 years but never knew what to do with them…until the idea of using them on a hat. Now, I wear his tie and her brooch and earrings - and it keeps their memory close to me. I call this hat “Jewel” because that was my grandpa‘s first name - and my grandma always said that he was her “precious jewel.”