My Pins

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

A True Bushman's Hat

This is a true blue Australian Akubra "Cattleman" in fawn.
There is no better hat than an Akubra.
This is Craig's hat of choice.
He has two in fact.
I bought him one for his birthday nearly two years ago but it is still pretty much brand new
and he can't seem to quite relinquish his old comfy one....
Can you see the resemblance to the one at the top?
Yeah don't blame you, I'm not surprised.
It has been professionally mended in spots around the brim and then...
not so professionally mended in other spots.
It is a hat of many tales but mostly of hard work and lots of sweat.
A man has to truly love his hat to have had it for so many years without losing it.
What it does demonstrate most importantly is that quality lasts and when it breaks down or it tears...fix it. Too often we don't value the imperfect and are too quick to throw things away.
I really thought three years ago that hat was on it's last legs but here we are still wearing it and loving it to death. Even when it has fully disintegrated, how will we be able to throw the scraps away?
If you want a good lesson in "making do" and "getting on" then ask an Australian Bushman.

(forgive the funny look, we were having a spot of lunch in a paddock and I snapped an unflattering shot)

A bloke behind the bar at the local bottle shop offered Craig $50 for the hat...
naturally he didn't expect Craig to part with it but it's a story for the grandchildren.
So when you think something is broken, I hope you'll remember Craig's hat and maybe have a go and mend instead of throw.

6 comments:

  1. There are many old favourites in our house, that are too treasured to part with lol.

    Love the sewing job on the hat, adds lots of character and says a lot about the person wearing it...

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  2. They are hats to last forever and will not bee thrown out :0) Daryl has one too and lives in it when he is outside.

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  3. Fabulous story. I hope he keeps it forever, I love it's just worn in look.

    I love it when I see people recycling things. We are such a throwaway society. Our grandparents who lived through the war years, knew how to "make do".

    I have an old manky t-shirt that went backpacking around the world with me and I just can't part with it. Ah the memories!

    Thank you also for your comment on my post re: Save the Farm, I have since updated it and now have a link to an online petition.

    Have a lovely day

    Alison
    XX

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  4. Hey Tanya, I'm with Craig.....That hat has soooooommuch character and a style all it's own.

    Great post, we live in such a throw away society, it's good to see people making do and mending instead of throwing away and spending money on something new.

    Claire :}

    ReplyDelete

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