Let Me Tell You About My Scotty’s Hat

A dear friend bought me this hat a couple years ago at a vintage clothing store in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. I thought it was a tad overpriced at $9, but said friend told me to think of the price not. I was clearly enamored with this noggin accessory.

Verily: As a child, I spent many an afternoon accompanying my grandfather to Scotty’s, which was a chain hardware store in Florida that dated back to the 1920s. I remember very much liking the way Scotty’s smelled. All that fresh cut lumber, all those newly minted metal and rubber building accessories…I guess since I’m male it’s just in my DNA to like that stuff.

Scotty’s went out of business in 2005, never achieving any kind of regard outside of Florida despite their smiling, Little Casear-esque mascot. Just another small-time casualty of the Wal-Marting of America. Today, Scotty’s seems like the kind of place they’d invent for a movie, like S-Mart in Army of Darkness.

Part of the reason I was reluctant to buy this Scotty’s hat even though it brought back a such a rush of great memories was the fact the logo was peeling a bit in certain places. Ah, I can just glue it somehow when I get home, I thought, looking down at the errant pieces of the logo on the train ride home. Alas, my man DNA commanded that I use super glue and not fabric glue. The logo’s not peeling anymore, but it is super shiny in a couple spots. Oh well.

I’d rather have a shiny Scotty’s hat than no Scotty’s hat at all!