Reader Response to Straw Hat Day, Vol. 15, Issue 32

Dear Etiquetteer:

A friend kindly sent me your column. As a straw hat wearer for 60 years, I must take issue with your pronouncement. Straw hats and seersucker suits are worn EITHER between Memorial Day and Labor Day OR between Shavuot and Rosh Hashanna. This has been my practice all
these decades, and I recommend it to all those who take pride in tradition and propriety.

Dear Reader:

You seem to be under the impression that Etiquetteer arbitrarily declared May 15 as Straw Hat Day - not so! In fact, it's declared by an entity other than Etiquetteer here.

Etiquetteer once thought that straw hats came out with white shoes on Memorial Day, nor even heard of Straw Hat Day until last year. Read how Etiquetteer uncovered the history of Straw Hat Day after happening upon a reference to it in Erik Larsen's Dead Wake. It's an interesting story.