I’ve included a couple of announcements down below today’s post. Please check them out.
I’ve got a lot of hats, and I’ve got a favorite hat.
That favorite hat is over twenty years old now, and it’s been worn more hours in those years than I can imagine. In all sorts of places from the interesting to the mundane. It’s made of heavy canvas.
It’s my favorite hat because of how cool it looks. And it looks so cool because the miles clearly show. It’s a hat that’s been worn forever, and because of that it has taken on its own distinctive look, a natural patina if you will.
Luckily it hasn’t died yet, but I know that day will come eventually. For now, it’s just my really cool looking hat. Cool because of all the wear.
And undoubtedly lots of people think the look of wear is desirable, for they actually make perfectly good hats like this, then mechanically beat the hell out of them so that they appear to have been worn for decades. Artificial wear. A bit odd, but to each their own as the old saying goes.
The whole point of all this is that the hat is over twenty years old, and still without any tears, rips, holes, or anything of the sort. It looks very worn, but it’s still going strong.
Heck, I even have very fond memories of wearing the hat in the city pictured below. The constant music was awesome the first day or two, after that one just prayed that it would stop.
I write all this as background to something that rather surprised me to read online.
Some fellow posted in an online forum that his hat like mine had worn out. And he was kind of pissed about it.
That was kind of surprising to me. I mean, sure, the things will eventually wear out. They are cotton after all, but holy smokes they have to be used a lot before they ever wear out. Like constantly, over years and years. I could understand that his hat eventually wore out, but I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that he was mad about it. Clothing, including hats, eventually wears out, no matter how high the initial quality might be.
Anyway, he was pissed, so he wrote that he was going to try a different brand. A much higher end brand.
As a lover of hats, I had to check out this much higher end brand.
And that was interesting.
The high end brand is much smaller in scale than the other. It focuses on a few States in our nation, as opposed to the brand being complained about that is available throughout America and around the world.
And this small, ‘luxury’ brand’s hat is an exact replica of the hat the larger company has been selling for decades and decades. The shape is exactly the same. The crown height and brim width are exactly the same. The style is exactly the same. There are only two (noticeable) differences. The number of little eyelets put in the hat for breathability are different (not their placement or design, just their number) and the leather hat band is of a different tone of brown. The hat band detailing is even exactly the same, only the brown color is different.
For everything that can be seen, the two hats are identical. But one is a ‘luxury’ brand, the other apparently for regular people.
If one reads all the description of the two hats though, another difference is discovered. The hat made for regular people uses a canvas material almost twice as thick as the ‘luxury’ brand. Indeed the ‘luxury’ brand’s canvas is so thin that wire has to be sewn into the hat to provide structure so that it can hold its shape.
In other words, the ‘luxury’ brand hat, that costs roughly twice as much as the other, is not only a complete rip off of another’s design, it is also a cheaply made bit of junk that will never be able to stand the test of time.
But, in a lot of people’s eyes, this junk hat is of much higher value than the hat that is actually of excellent quality.
Strange. Advertising and attitude. Bullshitting at its finest I suppose.
All of this plays into Freemasonry as well, I think.
As Freemasons, we tend, all too often I fear, to be a bit timid.
We don’t increase dues, because we fear that we aren’t worth it and men will quit.
We don’t seek media coverage of the good we do, because we fear that it isn’t newsworthy.
We don’t improve the exterior of our Temple, because we fear that no one will notice anyway.
This timidity, when it raises its ugly head comes to us, I think, because of our Craft’s perceived value in our Mason’s minds. We question our value, to the point of devaluing ourselves.
And that’s tragic.
I won’t be reachable for the next few days. By the time you are reading this, I’ve already gone all Grizzly Adams style hermit in the woods. A bit of time alone to think and recharge.
I look forward to getting back into regular communication upon my return to civilization.
I’ve got raffle tickets from Robert Morris Lodge No. 97 for sale. Ten bucks gets you a chance for a half of a beef. The drawing will take place in November, and you’ll have to pick the beef up locally. (Either Lewis or Cowlitz County, depending on who does the cutting and wrapping.)
I will say that you should definitely buy a ticket from me, because through the years I’ve sold more winning tickets than anyone!
In any event, if you want one, or one hundred, just send a check made out to me, Cameron Bailey, and I’ll send you your ticket(s) by return mail. You can send me that check at:
Cameron Bailey
Centralia Masonic Lodge
218 N. Pearl Street. Suite 300
Centralia WA, 98531
Thanks!
Awesome hat story. Becarefull in them there woods. Its bear season you know, and thanks for plugging our beef raffle 😀, only 500 tickets are available again this year.
Let those with eyes see, those with ears hear, and those with lips speak. If we fail to see the value, or the challenges we face, how can we ever expect it of anyone else? Great topic MWB Bailey!