Now, in last Friday’s thrilling episode, we were considering postcards which showed animals wearing human clothing. We did not exhaust the subject (the number of teddy bear postcards alone would have produced a massive bit of bloggery). But we did neglect the world of postcard critters who limited themselves mainly to headgear.
One role of hats and such in the world of cartoon animals should be obvious: the bonnet or chapeau was supposed to clue you in on which were the boys and which were the girls. In the QSL card at the top, for example, only the girls wear headscarves. Here, though the rooster himself has his magnificent comb, the Faithful Wife and her daughter wear fancy hats while the little boy has a derby.
On this motivational card, the drake wears a brimmed hat (with tie and collar) while his soulmate has…shall we pause for a moment to discuss a duck wearing a hat with an ostrich plume on it? Nah. Whole nother blog.
This convention carries on through much of the twentieth century, albeit in less inspirational moments.
The fact that these two are also wearing shoes does not, I think, count against them. We can assume the kitten on the right is a girl due to the presence of the bow. Bows are very…but that also is a whole nother.
Sometimes, however, a hat defines not only the sex of the wearer but also their occupation. Yes, cowgirls also wear ten-gallon hats, but unless you understand this to be a cowBOY, the traditional gag makes no sense.
Here we have a stork togged up to be understood as a railroad conductor, ushering the babies into their proper car. (And you were wondering how the stork population handled the population boom.)
More often, storks wear top hats. This was not only a sign of status but also of occupation. Many a big city doctor could be distinguished (at least in cartoons) by top hat and pince nez. (Have we discussed the significance of the pince nez, as opposed to ordinary spectacles, on postcards yet? Boy, we’re coming up with a flock of nother blogs today.) No, I’m not sure what else…he seems to be smoking a candle at the end of a cigarette holder.
Hats do also communicate social status and social identity. This, for example, is a Scottie. The hat fills in blanks for those of us who might not have been sure of his breed from the artist’s rendering.
THIS, of course, is the country yokel’s hat, to reinforce the joke by hinting to us that we see here a farm dog visiting the big city.
The top hat was also, in its day, associated with well-dressed playboys whose mind was on the next party. (The cigarette in its holder does assist here, instead of just confusing us, as earlier.)
And here we have a sort of derby, marking, as mentioned in a previous article, a tough guy. Bulldogs frequently find themselves wearing derbies in cartoons. This one has been doing a little tomcatting (sorry) on the other side of the tracks, since his ex there is wearing a fancy bow, which often marked a pampered pooch whose status…but I suppose I shouldn’t give out any spoilers. After all, on Friday we will require a nother blog.
