At The Hat Counter
At The Hat Counter.
To be or not to be, that is the question; Whether 'tis nobler to give up twenty dollars
And wear a panama that folks won't notice
Or take an imitation that Tom, Dick and Harry
Will smile at as we pass them? To save, to pay
Three plunks and by that splendid saving show
The missus how she ought to save herself
When she buys hats! 'Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To save - to show
The world our cheaper side; aye, there's the rub!
For with our imitation goods what slurs may come
Concerning our position In the world,
Must give us pause; there's the respect
We would inspire in the grocer's boy;
And who would bear the butcher's quips and scorn,
The conductor's wrong, the iceman's contumely,
The pangs of one despised by dry goods clerks,
The insolence of hackmen and the spurns
That he who wears cheap headgear has to take
When by investing merely what would pay
His rent for half a month he might put on
A rakish panama? Who would hesitate
To grunt and sweat under a cheap straw hat,
But that the dread of something men might say-
The unheard slurs of people we don't know
And ne'er may pass but once - puzzles the will
And makes us often rob ourselves to win
Respect from those who never notice us.
Thus foolish pride makes monkeys of us all,
And thus the native hue of independence
Is sicklied o' er with the pale cast of fear,
And we that think we don't care what men say,
With guilty consciences hand up the dough!
-- Chicago Record-Herald.
Article
Subjects
Old News
Ann Arbor Argus-Democrat