Mommy’s hats… – Maryellen Hooper

One of the hardest things about having boys is reassuring their Dad “…it’s OK if he likes to play dress up…”

I have an amazing hat collection. It’s one of my favorite things.

It was started by my Grandmother (I called her Gertie. Her name was Laurie but I decided at the age of 2 that her name was Gertie.) One of Gertie’s many jobs was a hat model in NYC. (She was also an elevator operator at the Waldorf Astoria where Louis B. Mayer offered her a screen test she turned down! I cried when I heard THAT story.) She was a fiery red head back in the forties when color pictures made auburn hair all the rage. Her job was to wear a hat from Gimbels Department store and walk around the restaurants telling everyone where they could buy it. Try that nowadays! One of the perks of that job was that she got to keep many of the hats she modeled (That’s her story and she’s sticking to it). I found the hats stuffed in a garbage bag in her closet one day and asked her about them. I was rewarded with a great story and the first 4 hats of my collection.

My "Gertie" wearing the heck out of that hat!

Makes ya want to go to Gimbels and buy a hat, huh?

No hat here but what a photo! A teddy bear, a suitcase and those killer shades...I don't know where she was going, but I'm guessing everyone was sworn to secrecy. — No hat here but what a photo! A teddy bear, a suitcase and those killer shades...I don't know where she was going, but I'm guessing the phrase "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" was coined that weekend.

I miss my “Gertie” and her bigger than life personality. She’s been gone 14 years now but I’m reminded of her everyday…

Zeke wearing the heck out of "Gertie's" hat...

“Mark, the hats are brightly colored with lots of feathers and bows…they just scream to a toddler, ‘Wear me!’ It doesn’t mean anything. Either we let him wear them now, or ‘everyday is dress up day!’ when he’s 30.”

What's cuter than a little boy in his great grandma's hat? Bonus: We now have the embarrassing photos we needed to hold over his head for life!

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