Red Hat Society

Members wearing red hats.

The Red Hat Society (RHS) is a social organization originally founded in 1998 for women age 50 and beyond, but now open to women of all ages. As of August 2010, there are over 40,000 chapters in the United States and 29 other countries.^[1]

History

The founder of the Society is artist Sue Ellen Cooper, who lives in Fullerton, Orange County, California. In 1997, Cooper gave a friend a 55th birthday gift consisting of a red bowler purchased at an antique store along with a copy of Jenny Joseph's poem "Warning." The opening lines of the poem read:

“

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple With a red hat that doesn't go and doesn't suit me.

”

Cooper repeated the gift on request several times, and eventually several of the women bought purple outfits and held a tea party on April 25, 1998.^[2]

Cooper never set out to ignite an international phenomenon. However, after spreading by word of mouth, the Society first received national publicity in 2000 through the magazine Romantic Homes^[2] and a feature in The Orange County Register.^[3] Cooper then established a "Hatquarters" to field the hundreds of e-mail requests for help starting chapters. She now serves as "Exalted Queen Mother", and has written two best-selling books about the Society.^[3]

Organization

The Red Hat Society’s primary purpose is social interaction among women, and to encourage fun, friendship, freedom, fulfillment, and fitness. The goal is for members to bond as they travel through life together.

A founder or leader of a local chapter is usually referred to as a "Queen". Members 50 and over are called "Red Hatters" and wear red hats and purple attire to all functions. A woman under age 50 may also become a member, but she wears a pink hat and lavender attire to the Society's events until reaching her 50th birthday. She is referred to as a “Pink Hatter.” During her birthday month (or the Society's birthday month of April), a member might wear her colors in reverse, i.e., a purple or lavender hat and red or pink attire.

There are two ways of belonging to the Red Hat Society: as a Queen (usually leader of a local chapter; however, no Queen is required to lead a chapter) and as a Supporting Member. Membership dues are paid annually to the Red Hat Society.

Activities

Meeting at Multnomah Falls, Oregon

Both Red and Pink Hatters often wear very elaborately decorated hats and attention-getting fashion accessories, such as a feather boa, at the group's get-togethers. The Society's events vary depending on the chapter, but one of the most common pastimes among Red Hatters is attending or hosting a tea party. Other activities, freely chosen and planned by the individual chapters, include crafts, games, theater or cinema trips, music-making (often on kazoos), and various outings.

Chapters often work together to host large regional events, and Hatquarters hosts several official Red Hat Society events each year.

The official Red Hat Society day is April 25 each year.

In 2006, a musical titled, Hats! The New Musical for the Rest of Your Life and inspired by the Red Hat Society, made its debut.

The organization has published several books:

• Red Hat Society: Fun and Friendship after Fifty
• Red Hat Society's Laugh Lines: Stories of Inspiration and Hattitude
• Designer Scrapbooks the Red Hat Society Way
• Sassy, Classy, and Still Sparkling
• Red Hats and the Women Who Wear Them
• The Red Hat Society Cookbook and Eat Dessert First (both featuring recipes submitted by members.)

In popular culture

Homage is paid to the Red Hat Society in an episode of The Simpsons, "The Last of the Red Hat Mamas", when Marge joins a group called the Cheery Red Tomatoes. In Brian Crane's comic strip Pickles, the character Opal is a member of the Red Hat Society. In an episode of the show Still Standing, "Still Cruising," Bill's mother Louise is a member of the Red Hat Society and tricks Judy, her daughter-in-law, into going on a Red Hat Society cruise with her.

In Corner Gas, a Canadian sitcom, one of the main characters, Lacey Burrows, joins the "Purple Hat Society", a reference to the Red Hat Society.

In Rules of Engagement, one of the characters is stranded on a cruise ship full of Red Hatters.

In the comic strip Mother Goose and Grimm a Red Hatter is shown sitting with the College of Cardinals. One of the cardinals informs her, "Madame, this is not that kind of red hat society."

References

1. ^ http://www.redhatsociety.com press release August 3, 2010.
2. ^ ^{a b} Mary Jane Solomon (October 22, 2004). "Crimson Tide". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A51463-2004Oct21?language=printer. Retrieved 2008-04-25. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Korky Vann (July 16, 2007). "Red Hat Society: Hats off to a celebration of friendship". The Hartford Courant. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/living/2003790629_redhat16.html. Retrieved 2008-04-25. 

External links

• The Red Hat Society