Talk:Cork hat

Important note

To avoid confusion, please note that the hat depicted above is not a cork hat, but a mortarboard. V-Man737 10:07, 17 February 2007 (UTC) Removed advertising. Spike2021 (talk) 04:39, 22 July 2008 (UTC)

Picture

I think the picture is inappropriate. It doesn't really show the cork hat well, and the other things are just not relevant. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.20.183.211 (talk) 23:18, 12 October 2009 (UTC)

I agree — the other objects are distracting and also feels like stereotyping. It's better than having no picture, though. — Unbitwise (talk) 18:34, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

Query cork hat providence

I have worked in rural Australia in my early years from 1960.

In that time I never ever saw anyone wear a Cork Hat other that as an ironic statement about stereo types.

My father who was born in 1910 and spent all his life in rural Australia said he had never ever seen anyone wear a cork hat.

I'm inclined to call bullshit on this Australian myth. Fxh (talk) 08:43, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

In Reading the British Australasian community in London, 1884-1924 by Simon Sleight (DOI: 10.2104/ab090007) there is a picture of Aussie stockmen wearing cork-hats towards the end of the 19th century. It may simply be that their prevalence preceded both your, and your father's time. Rockpocket 21:27, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

The article itself never states during which eras these hats may have been worn. I assume most Australians realise it is highly unlikely that they have been worn by any Australians in the last fifty or so years (international tourists, I would not like to vouch for). I think the fact they are no longer worn should be in the article. Format (talk) 00:16, 4 April 2010 (UTC)

It does state they were worn by swagmen, which rather puts it into a historical timeframe. If you can find any sources that mention specific time frames, please do add them. Rockpocket 17:19, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

Australians have never worn hats with corks on them. It is a stereotype the rest of the world developed sentiment for, but in Australia it is regarded as a bizarre stereotype foisted onto us by ignorant foreigners. That said, this might be a reactionary rejection of pre-industrial Australian society. I do think this article places undue weight on the idea that Australians used cork-adorned hats to repel insects. Frankly, it sounds like the kind of thing a tourist would expect to work, hence this image survives. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.174.169.54 (talk) 02:33, 1 February 2011 (UTC)

Australians have indeed worn these hats; I am one, and I have worn it. In the days when flies infested this country, especially the outback, and before Aeroguard, you would spend all day waving your hand in front of your face like the Queen driving by in her cortege. The corks bounced around, distracting the insects, and gave you a bit of relief. It was a typical ingenious make-do example of rural pragmatism. Now you moisturised metrosexuals might be ashamed of our cork hats, but I, for one, am not. Chips Rafferty wore one. Myles325a (talk) 03:32, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

Anyone who has worn one (I did for a fancy dress party with an outback theme) knows that it's more annoying than the flies, having those things dangling around your head. Also not all that functional: I had flies landing on the dangling corks. 122.148.216.22 (talk) 07:41, 8 August 2013 (UTC)