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June 22

19th century San Francisco etiquette: hats and facial hair

This question probably comes up a lot, but I've never seen a really good answer here or anywhere else for that matter. This is a photo of 19th century San Francisco, sometime between 1866–1892, but more likely 1870-1880. As you can see from the image, every boy and man has a hat. From what I've read, each hat gave off social status signals to other boys and men, allowing them to instantly recognize your social status, class, wealth, etc. I don't know if that's actually true, which is part of this question. Another reason I'm asking is that it is believed part of this stems from religious conservatism, but even that is unknown. One thing that I can't help thinking about is that maybe there was an older folk medicine belief at work here. Perhaps people once believed that going outside bareheaded could lead to catching cold, being exposed to lice, and all the rest? It seems like a reasonable theory given the wildlife back then, and all the stories I've heard about people hiking trails in the Bay Area and having all kinds of ticks and creepy crawlies just drop down on them. Then, there's the facial hair. Why so many beards and mustaches? Viriditas (talk) 01:32, 22 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

C. Northcote Parkinson, in chapter 9 of The law of delay, links the cyclic nature of facial hair fashion to the advances and retreats of western civilization. Consider again that last bearded half-century, 1858 to 1908. Architecture was at its worst, recovering only from about 1890. Art was all but dead, recovering only as the century approached its close. Costume was more stuffily unsuitable than at any time before or since. Furniture and interior decoration reached a climax of inconvenience, ugliness and bulk. The theatre was lifeless and great music an heirloom from the past. Religion bulked large in social life but doubts were undermining its basic doctrines; and while the Americans were at war with each other the preachers were at war with themselves. By every standard, this period was very unattractive indeed. But why was the beard so essential to this confusion? Because it was the thicket behind which the older men could hide their uncertainties. Challenged on the truth of Genesis, the elderly divine could retreat behind a barrier which might represent the wisdom of the ages. Questioned about army organization, the Commander-in-Chief could withdraw behind his beard with a screen of cigar smoke - to cover the movement. Questioned about sex, the Victorian schoolmaster could be evasively hirsute. Questioned by his wife, the Victorian immoralist could use his beard in order to blush unseen. The beard could take the place of wisdom, experience, argument or sincerity. It could give the elderly a prestige based upon neither achievement nor brain. It could serve, and did serve, as defence for the pretentious, the pompous, the dishonest and the dull. And now there are signs that the beard may return. Card Zero (talk) 02:09, 22 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

That's a funny answer, but it sounds pretty silly. Check out the beard on Eadweard Muybridge. Although he didn't take the above photo, he took others like it, and advanced the field of photography. But to your point, his bio indicates that he was involved in a serious runaway stagecoach crash, thrown from the vehicle, only to land on a rock which smashed his head. More recent historical analysis suggests he sustained some kind of brain damage, and there is an indirect suggestion that he soon grew a long beard (Having fun, folks, don't take this too seriously). Viriditas (talk) 02:24, 22 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Dress styles, including head coverings, have served as indicators of social status through the ages in cultures throughout the world. The character Andy Capp wears a flat cap because he is a plain English working-class sod. Dutch has the expression Jan met de pet (Jan with the cap) for "the common man". Mr. Monopoly wears a top hat; he's a rich rentier who looks like he hasn't worked a single day in his life. The book Fashion and Its Social Agendas: Class, Gender, and Identity in Clothing has a chapter "The social meaning of hats", pp. 82–87, that is not easily summarized, but the almost obligatory wearing of hats or caps by men, consonant with their social status, was much more widespread than San Francisco or even America, and lasted well into the 20th century. ‑‑Lambiam 05:12, 22 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Reading the book now. Thanks! Viriditas (talk) 21:12, 22 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The Deerstalker allowed you to deduce all you needed to know about its wearer. Clarityfiend (talk) 07:26, 22 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

It allows me to deduce that the wearer hasn't actually read the stories, as such a hat is never mentioned in them. --User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 12:06, 23 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I have, actually, a long time ago and not in a galaxy far, far away. You can deduce that I watched some of Basil Rathbone's Holmes films. Clarityfiend (talk) 09:25, 25 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The hat is indeed never mentioned, but in the original magazine illustrations by Sidney Paget of several stories, the earliest in 1891, Holmes was depicted wearing a deerstalker. Since Doyle liked Paget's illustrations and later asked to have him illustrate further stories, we can assume that he gave his imprimatur to the deerstalker, making it canon. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.6.41.216 (talk) 18:54, 25 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Do they mention Holmes wearing underwear? If not, I hope our cosplayer is going commando, for authenticity. 207.11.240.2 (talk) 13:05, 24 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Ovo energy ad

The Ovo Energy advert running on UK commercial radio at the moment features a talking washing machine that leaves a series of voicemails for its owner, and one of the messages has been bugging me for the last few weeks because I can't seem to catch one of the words. Can anyone tell me what it is that smells like clouds? It sounds like vimy, but surely that wouldn't make any sense. Thanks in advance. This is Paul (talk) 10:12, 22 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Can you find it on Youtube? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 13:05, 22 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I've looked, but no success so far. This is Paul (talk) 22:05, 22 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Could you give the surrounding text (preferably at least a full sentence) in which you hear this soft-smelling word? ‑‑Lambiam 17:39, 23 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

"Blimey, smells like clouds!" I haven't heard the advert, but I can imagine that being said, from the context given. 207.11.240.2 (talk) 12:03, 24 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Also consider the possibility that the art director / copy writer / what ever may have deliberately deployed a nonce word to define the "smell of clouds" to tickle prospective customers.

Whilst we have an article on olfactory language there is no mention of clouds. Most of us will be aware that the air holds a specific smell prior and shortly after a thunderstorm. Not that I remember a specific term for this...

Being a regular in a tiny wine bar hidden in a back alley to our Gothic cathedral I once listened to a discussion involving a connoisseur (?) on a specific grape. Multiple terms, relating to smell and taste, were used and some of the words clearly belonged to the jargon of sommeliers, being largely meaningless to me. It may be possible that meteorologists have developed erudite terminologies for sniffing in the exalted athmospheres. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 13:06, 24 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

There is petrichor, though this is not so much the smell of rain as of scents liberated from rocks (and other things) made wet. 213.143.143.69 (talk) 13:27, 24 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I think the idea in the advert is that people can imagine what clouds might smell like, as an analogy to describe what they are actually smelling (which I understand from similar adverts is meant to evoke "freshness"). {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.6.41.216 (talk) 00:16, 27 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Clouds are angel farts. ‑‑Lambiam 05:13, 29 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]