Hats Off To – Hats

It is true – I should probably have been born a few decades earlier than I actually was. And today I can think of one more reason – men got to wear hats. I mean that they got to wear hats without standing out and looking like they are trying to make a statement.

I have always been drawn to mens’ dress hats, like the fedoras that were so popular until John Kennedy sort of killed the style for anyone then under fifty years old. My father was younger than Kennedy and I can never recall him wearing a hat, and he was like most of the dads of my age group.

By the time I was in college, a man wearing a hat meant that the man was quite elderly. My roommate Dan and I put this phenomenon to use in driving. Once we started paying attention, we could see that almost every time we got stuck behind a poky driver and that driver was a male, he would be an old guy wearing – you guessed it – a hat.

They seemed to be found most often (thought not always) in Dodge sedans – usually green or brown. This was useful. Not everyone in a green or brown Dodge sedan was a slow driver, but every Dodge sedan driven by a man with a hat was to be avoided at all costs. When you had a choice of lanes in traffic and one of those lanes was occupied by a driver ahead of you who was wearing a hat (especially if that car was a Dodge sedan), it was best to choose a different lane if you were in any hurry at all.

There have been a couple of times when I thought that hats might make a comeback, but they never really have. When Raiders Of The Lost Ark took the box office by storm, Harrison Ford’s big brown fedora became a thing for at least a little while.

It was around that time when I went into a department store and bought the only decent hat I ever owned – a soft, brown Dobbs fedora with a nicely sized brim. I kind of liked the look when paired with my brown fake leather bomber jacket, but it didn’t go so well with the navy blue or gray suits I favored. I later bought a less expensive black fedora, but never liked it as well.

I tried to wear the brown hat regularly, but it never really worked for me. First, nobody else in my age group was wearing hats, and there was never a convenient place to put it when I went out somewhere. Also there was the problem of “hat hair”. This would not have been a problem if buzz cuts or the slicked-down look had been a thing at that time. But they were not, so every time I removed my hat there was the indentation that marked where my hat had been that was impossible to comb out once the hat came off.

I tried to keep the hat thing alive for awhile. After I quit trying to make them a fashion thing, I kept them handy for cold days when dress clothes were necessary. That practice came to an ignominious end one blustery day in downtown Indianapolis.

I had to drive downtown for a court appearance early one afternoon. It was one of those days where the weather took a hard dip in temperature, accompanied by high winds and blowing snow. I had a briefcase that I needed to take. I tried to put it into the trunk, but when I turned the key and heard the click of the lock releasing, the trunk lid remained frozen shut. I tried a quick “finger pry” but heard my father’s voice in my head saying “don’t force it”. Every time I ignored that voice, I would break or tear something, so I decided to pay heed. I put my briefcase in the back seat and started downtown.

I was nearing my destination when I stopped for a traffic light at one of the busiest intersections downtown. The car had warmed up and the interior was becoming comfortable as teeny pellets of snow pelted the car and the defroster struggled to keep the ice clear. It was at that moment that the weatherstrips around my trunk thawed sufficiently for a big gust of wind to blow my trunk lid open.

Rats. I had not thought to try to shove the frozen lid back down to re-latch it. I opened my door and jumped out to slam the trunk lid. That was when another gust came from behind and caught the brim of my good Dobbs hat and sent it flying. It hit the ground about fifty feet away. I briefly thought about abandoning my idling car and running after it. Until it blew under the city bus that was driving through the intersection. That sort of made my decision and I got back into my car and continued (hatless) to my destination.

I thought about replacing it, but knew by then that a dress hat just didn’t suit my lifestyle. I still had the cheaper black one and still pulled it out when I needed to be outside in dress clothes on a really cold day, but that was not a common occurrence. The last time I saw it was when one of my kids wanted to use it as part of a Halloween costume. Part of me wanted it back undamaged, but another part of me realized that once your kids choose an item of your apparel for a Halloween costume, it is done for in terms of self respect. The hat went somewhere at some point in time, and that was that.

But I wonder if now is the time to resurrect a hat in my life. A dermatologist told me that the sun is not my best friend and I found a hat that I wear outdoors on sunny days. I tried to find one that recreated the look of those classic Panama hats worn with the off-white suits by the guys in the 1930s movies, but I don’t think it is quite there. At least not judging by the way my children roll their eyes at it. But I am reaching the age where I no longer care if my children roll their eyes.

Perhaps it is time to go online and order myself a hat or two. Maybe I am old enough to cultivate a personal style. Then all I will need is a Dodge sedan. Or maybe a Mercury.

COAL Update: Five years can seem like a long time, but the right car can make that time go quickly.

COAL: 1971 Plymouth Valiant Scamp – Chapter 6, The Scamper
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59 thoughts on “Hats Off To – Hats”

  1. Perhaps it is due to the timing of my birth and early environment, but hats have almost never been a thing in my orbit. My mother has given me a few, but these hats (a flat/ivy cap and another that looked like what Radar O’Reilly wore on M*A*S*H are the more memorable) did nothing for me and were never perched on my head.

    Hat hair is a thing. Having to wear a hard hat at work periodically, and having seemingly gone through half my adult life needing a haircut, hat hair is vicious.

    Ball caps are the standard in these parts. They are the most popular, often free, make a personal statement, can hide a bald head, can camouflage uncombed hair, and they are such you don’t feel compelled to remove them when indoors. They are almost perfect and on the rare occasion I wear a hat, it’s a ball cap. The (free) one I got at the John Deere factory years ago still graces my scalp when I do wear a cap, uh, hat.

    Old hat wearing men in Dodges is very true and I remember them driving Darts (and Valiants) as well.

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    • I have a handful of ballcaps too, including some that are legacies of long-ago jobs like those at Seyfert’s Potato Chips or Domino’s Pizza. My BIL gave me one with a Ferrari logo, but I have always been self-conscious in that one – a Ferrari ballcap just seems wrong. Another BIL gave me one from a seed corn company – that one is perfect in almost every way.

      The only trouble with the ballcaps is that they don’t provide much shade from the sides or back. I am at the stage in life where sunburned ears are to be avoided.

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      • I don’t have an opinion about ballcaps, since I’m pro hats all the way, BUT I will tell people to “man up” and at least get a fitted cap, without that stupid plastic snap dealio on the back. When guys wear those hats backwards, so they’re sporting a piece of plastic on the forhead, it’s just sad. And branded “gimmie” hats, especially high crown trucker hats, well, they’re worth what you paid. BTW, I can say as a pretty long time hat wearer, that I’ve seen women elbowing the guys they’re with (while we are standing in lines), and stage whispering: “,,,that’s the type of hat you should be wearing, not a kid’s hat…”.

        Just sayin’

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  2. Ha Ha J.P. We are always on the same page! I own 27 “three season” felt fedoras, and 10 summer only wovens. It’s my “old man” hobby, and I always felt I was a “hat man” but didn’t really get involved like I am now until about 10 years ago. I begged off for years, loving hats but thinking I “didn’t look right”. This feeling was put to bed by a jazz muscian buddy of mine that told me that I should just wear what I wanted and forget about it, because you might think you don’t “look right” in a hat, but he would guarentee that 90% of the people on the street would be thinking: “…look at that guy in a hat…sharp…I wish I would wear a hat…”. I think he’s right.

    I’ve come to realize that I favor thin and/or ‘stingy’ brim fedoras, less than three inches. The high crown, big brim fedoras like Indiana Jones are not right for me. I like the same stuff my Dad was wearing at work in Chicago in the 60’s, i.e. almost anything you see on Mad Men. The ‘executive’ look. I even have a chocolate brown, stingy brim, pork pie, and when it was delivered, I realized was the spittin’ image of Gene Hackman in the French Connection. I own a derby I wear on voting day so I look like a Chicago “ward” pol from the late 1800’s!

    Brands? The old school stuff when you can find them are still great! Broner, Bailey, Stacy Adams, Stetson (yep, not just for cowboys), Shannon Phillips, Dorfman Pacific, and of course Dobbs. I have profiles from each of these companies that I like. I had an old black gentleman tell me one time that a Dobb is old slang in the black community for a hat (and you know how old black gentlemen know their hats!). Now stuff I favor, on line, are Yellow 108 (great stuff and still reasonably priced), Goorin Brothers (getting expensive, but they have a few shops you can go to if you want to spend some time trying sizes and profiles, one in Chicago), and Walrus and Connor from Austrailia. I’ve had some good luck with inexpensive Chinese stuff on-line, like a brand called Epoch. I think Bailey still has some stand alone stores.

    No fear gents! Hat Up! And BTW, all of my gal pals look better in my hats than I do!

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    • Wow Andy, you are definitely an expert on hats (37). How do you store them? In boxes, on a hat tree? Do you have a Blog, I think we need to see a picture. Also, sounds like you are from Chicago. I am too. Glad the weather has cooled off. Do you have a hat for Oktoberfest with some feathers?? FUNNY end of comment about the gal pals. I bet they look good in your hats, hopefully, they bring them back.

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      • Ha, yep, originally born in Evanston and raised on Lawrence and Clark until my Dad got transferred to Milwaukee, then lived back for an ad job at Jewlel, no less! My hats are stored in Container Store sweater boxes, altho not a perfect solution. I’ve been looking for black wire “light duty” shelving to rack them, but unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be much available now, most of the stores carry the more heavy duty stuff; I don’t want my tiny apartment living room looking like a warehouse. Menards might have what I’m looking for tho. Not much for the feathered “Tyrol”, but admit to “fingering” them now and again for my collection. STW, I have a Country Gentleman “Charles” bowler that I rarely wear any more because every woman I know looks adorable in it!

        https://www.hats.com/charles-gentlefelt-reg-bowler

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      • I have a good memory for fashion looks. Plus that movie is on every year at New Years – it’s really dated now though, the concept and some of the dialogue make me cringe. But the fashion looks are great. My mother watches Murder She Wrote with Angela Lansbury every night – another 80’s show – and she really had some very nice, very classic outfits that you could wear today. I though she was old at the time, late 50’s, but now I’m older than she was in the show!

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    • Wow but have I tapped into a fountain of information! You are giving me some encouragement. Maybe I will get a measurement and tell my kids I want a hat for Christmas. I figure they won’t roll their eyes if they pick it out. 🙂

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  3. I have worn one of my fedoras to family functions and have been complimented on its look (the hat, not me). I took note of wearing these hats when my Dad wore them to take me to church, or when he went to work. I liked the look then and I like it now. I have a fondness for the wider brims, but also have short brim hats as well. The only downside I have found is that they don’t wear well in the car, as the headrest and the back of the brim collide with each other.
    Fedoras are not every day apparel, but when I get a chance to dress up a wee bit, on one goes.
    My daily go to hat is still a baseball hat. I have many, with different teams, cars, places, and corporate name emblazoned across the front. We must have the right hat for the right occasion.

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    • That’s a good point about the car. Headrests are a lot more intrusive than in the old Dodges on the road in the 80s. You guys here are starting to give me the itch to buy me a hat. Or two.

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  4. Yes indeed, I do remember not liking the driving style of old men wearing hats. But they all disappeared from the roads shortly after I got my license.
    I’ve never had a fedora, but JP the world of outdoor activities is full of interesting hats. For camping I have a few wide brim hats, and a Filson tin cloth hat which is somewhat fedora-ish:
    https://www.filson.com/accessories/tin-cloth-packer-hat.html
    I have found the cloth is so sturdy it’s not good for summer, so hot it practically boils the follicles out of your head. So I mostly wear it in the cooler months, and hum the Indiana Jones theme while shoveling the driveway in the winter.
    For casual use I often wear a pilot style cap, which I imagine to be cooler than a regular ball cap or trucker cap:
    https://redcanoebrands.com/shop/canada-air-service-cap/
    And, on our recent trip to Ireland I picked up a tweed cap, so I’m looking forward to trying that in the fall. Too bad I don’t still have my TR4, that would look very rakish.

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  5. Enjoyed the hat story, especially it flying out of the trunk – I would have been mortified. BEAUTIFUL photo/painting, the FIRST one. Is that from the web or you or your Dad? I have fair skin, so MUST wear hats now, because the sun has become so hot worry about skin cancer. TRUE, hat hair is not fun. Also, one fedora hat does not fit ALL occasions, we do have to have a had for different outfits. HAVE FUN WITH YOUR HATS — they are IN now!!

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    • BV, you said it about worrying about the sun, and I have to say, our LatinX bros to the south had this all figured out with “real” sombreros hundreds of years ago. What passes for what I now call, the “Nashville Fashion Hat” i.e. a cowboy hat with the brims on the side rolled so far up they have zero effect against the sun, are virtually worthless now, and bare zero relation to the original “Boss of the Plains” cowboy hat that had a very wide flat brim and straight sided, domed crown. Lest we think the sombrero’s days are over, I was out for a walk the other day, and a Latino gentleman on a city road crew was rockin’ an original wide brimed sombrero (looked to be about a 36 inch brim) and an original cone-top crown! If I wouldn’t be accused of cultural appropriation, I would certainly wear one of those on a hot day! Perfect!

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      • I agree with you 100%. Such a shame that there are stereo types. Even for me, when I wear different hats, I do feel like people look at me like “what is SHE trying to prove.” LOL I can’t worry about this anymore. Need to protect skin from skin cancer. Here’s what I learned — like our LatinX Bros, we have to OWN our LOOK. That’s what it is about. Owning how we look with a hat on. Germans/Austrians, they look FANTASTiC in their Fedora type hats with the feathers in them. LOL I admire the big German men who wear their lederhosen with pride. My twin brother, except for when he was 5 and my Italian mother put lederhosen on him, would NEVER wear them now and add a pink checkered shirt – NO WAY. Hats off to the sombrero, the Texan cowboy hat, lederhosen and more! Thanks for making me SMILE!! If you have a Blog, I want to see YOU with a sombrero – OWN it! For sure, you could wear it in the summer, at the beach, add a surf board — you’re IN!

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    • That lead photo is a crop from a 1949 magazine ad for Stetson. Small print says that it is supposed to be actor George Montgomery. I should have said that it’s me, but Marianne would probably get onto this thread and call me out. 🙂

      When my old hat blew across the intersection I wasn’t so embarrassed as mad, but then I realized the absurdity of it all and got back in the car.

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  6. I was a young boy in the early Sixties and I can remember my dad wearing a felt Fedora all the time. Those days people dressed up for everything, even grocery shopping. I don’t remember when he quit. I wore a Fedora style for a time but at some point, as a teenager in Wisconsin of all places, I realized a Western hat was my style and with one of my first paychecks that’s what I bought. Everybody around town called me “Tex” but I didn’t care. I liked it. I still wear western hats for pretty much everything. You are right, it is hard to find a place for it sometimes, though. Baseball caps are hugely popular and in his later years that’s all my dad wore, but a lot of people don’t seem to have enough sense of when to take them off, like when the flag passes or you go to church, etc. and they just wear them all the time and never take them off. I guess they don’t have to worry about “hat head” that way, though.

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    • That’s great, it’s called “owning your style,” not caring what others think. My parents were like yours, dress to go to the grocery store back in the day. Never know how you might run into. Church, my goodness, DRESS UP! Now, people go in whatever. Airports — wow, my Dad asked me if people were wearing their pajamas, he was so shocked. Anyhow, I think a NEW outdoorsy business casual style is starting to emerge. Let’s see how it takes shape. Good for you in wearing cowboy hats. I think they look great.

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      • I think we had more rules/regulations. Now, all the rules/regulations/respect for anything has gone out the window. It’s a “do whatever is comfortable” kind of world, but people take comfortable clothes to an extreme. Now, I have an Italian mother, we had to dress properly, even my brothers… She would tell them “NO girl wants a man who dresses LIKE THAT, go and change.” She’s 82, still telling me and my brothers what to wear. My younger brother is funny, he says, “Yes, MOM, of course, MOM,” and then he does what he wants, he’s in his 50s, we’ve earned that right, yes! We ALL laugh about this.

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      • Sniff, but you got a laugh out of me because you have to tell your poor Dad that people ARE wearing pajamas on flights now! For about ten years, we’ve all been referring to the connector flight to my secondary city as “the cattle car”. OOF. (I still wear collared shirts every where and can only be found in a t-shirt when excercising or sleeping in winter). Good to know that a buddy of mine who retired from a major air carrier, still has to be “well dressed” when he excercises his use of his discount tickets! At least his airline still cares!

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      • BRAVO to you and your friend. Did your friend work for American Airlines? I know a pilot from childhood. Not sure if he’s retired yet though. I’m sure I’m the one looking on and saying, “Hey, LOOK, there’s some WELL DRESSED me over there.” You would get noticed that’s a PLUS. I agree, I still have to dress nicely too. I have a tape recording in my head of my Italian mother saying, “Do you have your earrings on, lipstick, etc.” YES, yes, YES – I kid her, I won’t let our family name down. HAHAHA My mother was born/raised in Florence. Have you been there. I was just there in July. The older generation (40+), they still dress well. Even if they wear jeans, they have a beautiful bright collared shirt. OH, I’m here in Chicago, I was out walking and a man and I stopped at the light at the same time. I looked over and he had these BRIGHT RED round glasses on. I said, “Are you Italian?” He laughed and said, “Kind of close, Polish.” I said, “I like our style.” He was owning that look. So — here’s to DRESSING UP and FEELING GOOD about it!!

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      • Ha Ha, of course BV, Polish in Chicago (as am I). Only one city with more Poles in the world than Chicago, and that’s Warsaw! My pal worked for United.

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      • Now, there’s a Blog post, the situation with the airlines. Interesting how COVID has changed the way of doing business in so many industries. Shout out to JP – need a post on that topic. We will all have comments.

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    • My father was young enough that he came behind the prime hat years – He got married at 23 in 1958, and while everyone points to Jack Kennedy as the guy who killed mens’ hats, they were losing steam with young guys in the 50s. But we still have old photos of Christmas at my grandma’s where my father and two uncles were wearing white shirts and ties.

      Good for you on the western style, you certainly bring it off well in your photo.

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  7. I worked with a doctor in the 90’s who wore a fedora in the winter. He graduated in the 60’s and his clothes still reflected that era but somehow it suited him. We always knew when he was “in the house” because he would place his hat on the coat rack near the entrance to ER. I also vaguely remember my dad wearing a fedora to church, and placing it on the shelf beneath the stained glass windows along the sides of the church, as all the men did, as it was considered disrespectful for men to wear hats in church, although we women were supposed to wear hats in church, and if you didn’t have one, then a doily or a Kleenex on your head would do in a pinch! This would have been in the very early 60’s. It’s hard to find a nice hat for summer with a brim big enough to protect you from the sun – most are just fashion statements. I have an old photo of a church picnic from 1900 or so and all the men are wearing straw boater hats – very stylish. No functioning brake lights eh? That must have been interesting.

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    • The mandatory hats for women in church is something I barely remember. I was not raised Catholic but my father had been, and on our rare visits to his parents in the Philly suburbs I recall my grandmother wearing one of those hats with the little net things that came down in front of her face.

      Yes, no brakes lights makes you pay pretty close attention to things. 🙂

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      • Oh I like those little net things, especially if they are black – a very classic look. My mother had one, like Jackie Kennedy, but hers was navy. Alas, the doilly look was an actual lace doilly which might otherwise adorn your grandmother’s chair or table, but would do for a hat if you had forgotten yours for church, and was affixed with a bobby pin to keep it in place in your hair. I remember one of my classmates using a Kleenex once. It all seems so silly now.

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  8. J.P. as a hat guy, it gives me great joy to read all these hat stories, from church doilies on the head to old men in Mopars…love it all! Decent fedoras and berets and church lady hats all are memory “boosts” that tickle our synapses and remind us fondly of the past! A wonderful subject! When I wear my hats, there isn’t a week that goes by that some older woman or man grabs my arm to tell me a hat story!

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  9. What a great topic, J.P. Hats really do speak to bygone generations, yet they still seem classy vs. outdated (in old movies in particular). I’d forgotten about the hat from the Indiana Jones movies. You’d need the entire persona to get away with that one. Young (or bald) men and a few pro golfers seem to be favoring tams these days but some look more like something you’d wear to go out into the snow. Not classy at all. Finally, I assume a “pork pie” has straight sides? I’ve heard the term before but it’s hard to picture with a Panama.

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    • Dave, you are correct that a “Pork Pie” has straignt sides, and a low, to semi-low crown rise. Then it goes off the rails! You’ve got your Pork Pie like Gene Hackman in the French Connection, with a “stingy brim”, and your Pork Pie like Lester Young wore (and Frank Lloyd Wright, no less) with a much wider brim. Keeping with J.P.’s usual jazz theme, when Lester Young died, Mingus wrote a eulogy song for him called: “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”. August Darnell (aka Kid Creole) also looks fabulous in not only a wide brimmed pork pie hat, but it’s sporty brother, the straw boater!

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      • The first photo I find of August Darnell shows me the straw boater, Andy. That’s a wide brim! And FLW was a great example for the pork pie, though I never realized it was the style of hat he was wearing until J.P.’s post.

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      • Dave, always a great “hat tour” in an August Darnell music video. The perfect “straw boater” in the balloon scene, and plenty of hats to love in the rest of it!

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  10. BTW, as a long time hat guy, this might be the time to warn everyone that the internet is wildly full of false information associated with hat profiles; but mostly by the sellers. I’ve seen literally every type of hat, falsely named as almost every other type of hat, just to generate hits to get people to their sites. I am shy to admit any type of “hat hate”, but my most hated profile is the Trilby, which is a hat with a thin brim that usually is snapped up in the back, and down in the front, and has a crown that rises higher in the front, and usually substantially lower in the back. These much be cheap to make, as they seem to be what’s on offer at any discount place like Target or Walmart, and is the hat most likely to worn by some young doofus. To paraphrase Caddy Shack, it looks like a hat you’d “…get for free with a bowl of soup…”. I’ve run google searches on almost any profile name (I used to work at a hat company), and the Trilby has popped up identified as everything from a fedora, or pork pie, or stingy brim “ska” type hat, to a beret! Buyer beware!

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  11. This was interesting about these hats JP. My father always wore a fedora, but from the pages in the family album, I notice he was balding as a young man, so I guess that was the reason. I don’t recall him ever wearing any other type of headwear except a fedora. I had a stodgy old boss who wore his fedora all year around and I think it was to conceal his scant hair … he would wear it around the office, sans coat, rain or shine – strange indeed.

    I like your line about your kids wanting a hat for their Halloween costume (“Part of me wanted it back undamaged, but another part of me realized that once your kids choose an item of your apparel for a Halloween costume, it is done for in terms of self respect.”) It made me smile.

    I’ve had an airborne, non-retrievable hat issue as well, but at least it was just a wool beret that flew off my head and landed on a branch overhanging the Creek. I always wondered if a squirrel tried to snag it for its nest?

    Believe it or not I once did a post on my own fedora. I bought a black felt fedora to wear with a gray wool dress coat. You can see a picture of it in the header image of the post below. I thought I was “all that” in that hat, although, for a person who took the bus to Downtown Detroit for work, it was not practical at all. I needed lots of layers for cold days. I wore it to Midnight Mass one year and my grandmother gave me a hatpin to keep the hat from flying off and I lost the hatpin (but not the hat). When I digitized all my photo and scrapbook albums in late 2017, I updated the post at the bottom of me wearing the hat.

    [Sorry for the late responses – I am a week behind in Reader, thanks to a few bad evening storms the past week and I turned off my computer.]

    https://lindaschaubblog.net/2017/03/08/high-winds-and-hatpins/

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    • You wore the hat well! And I am glad I’m not the only one who lost a nice hat to the wind. We can start a commiseration club.

      A guy who wears a hat all day in the office is a little odd, now that you mention it. It reminds me a bit of the old 1950s photos of Frank Sinatra in recording studios, always wearing his hat. But then he had a hair loss problem too. And not to worry about late responses – I have been behind myself.

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      • Thank you JP. Not too practical, but nice for dressing up.

        Yes, we can wallow in misery about lost hats. I had some wonderful warm woolen hats, perfect to tuck my long hair into for my “bus days”. They needed to be dry cleaned which I did for at least 20+ years at the end of the season. The dry cleaner changed hands and I went to pick up my hats and each one was pinned onto a square board, limp and stretched flat. I asked “what happened to my hats?” I was told “nothing – we cleaned them.” I couldn’t salvage them and I have gone through a litany of woolen hats trying to find the same fit as before.

        I recall seeing pictures of Frank Sinatra in a suit but no overcoat – that makes sense if you’re self-conscious about hair loss and baseball caps or dew rags were not a popular disguise back then.

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  12. I enjoyed your Scamper story JP. I had my Buick Regal for 21 years when I got rid of it in 2009 and got my current car, a 2009 Buick LaCrosse, so I identified that you had to replace everything twice – I was always at the dealership or the mechanic/shop I still patronize, mostly electrical issues, but multiple sets of brakes, plus it had its share of silly problems like a mushy horn pad that honked suddenly and wouldn’t stop and I needed a fuse puller to yank the fuse whenever I got out of the car, until the mechanic jerry-rigged a “horn button” for me. I sold it to the mechanic the day I got the LaCrosse and always hoped I’d never see it in a parking lot, looking worn and tired, scratched or the Landau roof dried up, the racing stripes peeling, since I would not even have a fingerprint on it when I owned it. What a surprise to recognize The Scamper, that rose Phoenix-like from the ashes from that test drive!

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    • It is true that it is kind of hard to see an old car you once took good care of looking worn out and rusty years later. I had the same experience on the big Chrysler attached to today’s post.

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      • Two of the same experiences JP – oh my. That would upset me for sure.

        My LaCrosse will be 12 years old in a couple of weeks and I’m aiming to get to 9,999 miles by year end for you and another blogger who suggested I try. It has a tiny leak, so we will be going to the mechanic Thursday. I’m not happy about that, since it spent two weeks there in May for its electrical quirks and A/C leaking issues, but I’m less happy to hear that OnStar is putting all the cars that use 2G into “sunset mode” at year end. This is all cars 2015 or older. So that also takes me out of a comfort zone as no more diagnostics on the spot or tracking the car if it’s stolen. There is an option for an emergency call option but must be done using a smartphone app. I don’t have a smartphone. So I’ll rely on my auto club as I have done for prior cars.

        Liked by 1 person

      • That’s too bad about losing your OnStar. My mother’s 2006 Lacrosse was equipped with it, but she never paid for the service after a free intro period. One of my kids is still driving that one, and it only has about 60k miles on it even now, and runs great. I told him it should, because at age 16 it’s old enough to drive. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  13. Pingback: 2022 – Crossing The Finish Line | J. P.'s Blog

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