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I might have a very good lead on where this wide-brimmed hat madness started

Jess in AL sent me an email Tuesday and she has a very good idea of where those annoying wide-brimmed hats came from. Music festivals!

Hey Joe,

I don’t understand the wide-brimmed hats either. I’ve only ever done ball caps, as do most of my lady friends (and guy friends, for that matter- but that’s not the point), so I’m no expert. But I believe they really picked up at music festivals like Coachella & Stagecoach. Seems like those festivals are unofficial gatherings for influencers. Next thing you know, every Target has a section of music festival gear just like on IG.

Thanks for the daily entertainment!

I started digging into this a little bit and it seems as if the year 2011 is very critical to the current-day wide-brimmed hat craze that seems to have replaced the riding boot craze that was all the rage at pumpkin patches and apple orchards.

A New York Times report from the 2011 Stagecoach Festival in Chicago noted "Popular outfit for girls: sundress, sandals, wide-brimmed hat." That same year, Cosmo noted "Two Great Trends to Try for Spring" and goofy-ass wide-brimmed hats were one of the top trends to come out of Coachella.

Now here we are a decade later, and men are being held hostage during the month of October as their wide-brimmed hat-wearing wives insist on family photos in a pile of leaves at some metropark with temps in the 80s and the kids (named after mountains) are dressed in lambskin bomber jackets.

Are you being held hostage by a member of the Wide-Brimmed Hat Mafia? Tell me your story. Yes, you'll remain anonymous (if you wish).

Email: joekinsey@gmail.com

• I started a conversation with Beau in Toledo, who shared that he enjoys tracking satellites with his father as part of their bonding regiment, about lifeforms in outer space and it appears I hit the sweet spot for future conversation away from just lawn mowing.

Funny You should ask about space!  After all, it's Space Week this week; today is the anniversary of Sputnik 1 launching.  Attached is the Andromeda Galaxy, the Milky Way's closest neighbor, a mere 2.5 million light-years away.  We'll both collide in about 4 billion years... talk about a neighborhood going bad.

Both Pops and I, Mom as well, are of similar thoughts on Life Elsewhere.  We may not have physical proof, but We KNOW way too much about Our own Planet and Galaxy to even entertain the thought that We are the "only" ones.  I remember being really young (like three, coming into Thought and Realization) and noticing that people were different colors and asking why... Mom and Dad told me God doesn't want all of the flowers to be the same colors, so why would He want His people to be all the same colors? That would be boring.

We feel the same way about Earth being the only planet where Life exists... That would be boring!

We can only hope that mankind doesn't lose their dadgum minds if in Our Lifetime we find out Intelligent Life is out there.

And NASA will not confirm nor deny that Some of Gene Roddenberry's ashes made their way onto a Shuttle Mission.  I don't think any taxpayer would be butthurt over that.

• Yes, I saw that William Shatner, 90, is heading into outer space. I was having basement beers over the weekend and brought up the subject of Shatner being 90 to my neighbors and they thought I'd had a few too many. Wiki says the guy turned 90 in March. I'm going with Wiki on things like date of birth.

I get it. Shatner, seen here over the summer, doesn't look like your typical 90-year-old suckin' down grits at Cracker Barrel. This looks like a guy who's ready to go to space and come back to share wild stories at the bar.

• Chris B. was behind this guy on his way to work this morning in Houston:

 

• Mike T. in Idaho would like to offer his rebuttal to Chris B. (not in Texas) who sent in his analysis of Idaho, the real estate market and moving there.

Mike writes:

Good morning brother,

I’m sure it’s wonderful where Chris B. Is relocated, I’m personally a Northwest guy. Yes we do have some summer smoke and way to many Californians moving here. But sounds like Chris missed northern Idaho’s greatest treasures. Boating on a classic Chris Craft wooden boat on one of the beautiful northern Idaho lakes.

Nothing like floating on a huge lake, drinking delicious Crown Royal and watching gods little lanterns twinkling on and off in the heavens.

###

I like it, Screencaps readers embracing debate, but keeping it clean and productive. Mike didn't just write back that Chris B. was "WRONG." Mike laid out his rebuttal and the two will either agree to disagree or Chris B. will now fire off another rebuttal. We'll have to see where this one goes.

Let's go out there and have the best Wednesday in early October you've ever had. I need to dig out the pool cover and prep for the closing. And blog. That's my day. Beat that!

Email: joekinsey@gmail.com

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Written by
Joe Kinsey is the Senior Director of Content of OutKick and the editor of the Morning Screencaps column that examines a variety of stories taking place in real America. Kinsey is also the founder of OutKick’s Thursday Night Mowing League, America’s largest virtual mowing league. Kinsey graduated from University of Toledo.