There were once riots over wearing straw hats past summer.

Crowd in New York City with men wearing straw hats
Credit: © Hum Images/Alamy
Author Michael Nordine
September 2, 2026

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In the early 20th century, weather was celebrated with, and heralded by, hats. In the U.S., May 15 (or thereabouts) was Straw Hat Day, when people cheered the arrival of warm weather with light, airy headwear. Felt Hat Day, meanwhile, came on or around September 15, in anticipation of looming cold weather. 

Not everyone played by these rules, however, and in 1921 the Pittsburgh Stock Exchange went so far as to declare that “straw hats may be worn with all the propriety and dignity attached thereto until and including Oct. 1.” 

Alas, this flouting of the natural order was not without consequence. Unwritten rules are still rules, and any number of self-styled enforcers took to the streets to ensure that no one was committing this most grievous of fashion faux pas. This resulted, most (in)famously, in a September 1922 riot in New York City. 

“Gangs of young hoodlums ran riot in various parts of the city last night, smashing unseasonable straw hats and trampling them in the street,” a New York Times article dated September 16 reported. “In some cases, mobs of hundreds of boys and young men terrorized whole blocks.” A mob of as many as 1,000 made their way throughout the city, some armed with nail-tipped sticks, eventually running into a group of dock workers who fought back; the ensuing melee shut down the Manhattan Bridge.

Another Times article insisted that “the inalienable right of a man to wear a straw hat in a snowstorm, if he desires, is to be upheld in this city by both police and the Magistrates, and a warning was sent broadcast to all straw hat smashers last night that jail terms on assault charges awaited them if they started any such carnival today.” Perhaps fortunately for all involved, straw hats fell out of fashion in the following years.

By the Numbers

Did you know?

People once rioted over which Shakespeare actor was better for Macbeth.

Edwin Forrest and William Charles Macready were among the most notable actors of their day, celebrated for their Shakespearean performances in the 1840s. Sharing which of two fine thespians you prefer would normally be a friendly debate, but on May 10, 1849, it turned violent — and deadly. The Astor Place riot was, like a lot of conflicts, based on more than just those surface tensions: Forrest, an American, was a hero of the working class; Macready, an Englishman, was hailed by the wealthy, literary elite.

Macready was scheduled to play Macbeth in the Scottish Play at New York City’s Astor Place Opera House when thousands of Forrest’s most ardent admirers descended upon the venue to voice their displeasure. They’d been encouraged to do so by an inflammatory handbill asking “working men” whether “Americans or English rule in this city.” The situation quickly got out of hand, leading to more than 120 injuries and at least 22 deaths. Macready struggled through his performance, fled the theater as soon as it was over, and never performed in America again.

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