Propeller beanie

Fashion Synopsis

Gee whiz, Beav, you do look kinda silly in that thing.

Try wearing a rainbow-colored cap with plastic propeller today, and see if the word "sissy" doesn't come to mind (or even to some bystander's lips). And yet somewhere, way deep in the back of our closet fantasies, we all yearn to return to childhood, and we know the propeller beanie can bring us there.

No one really knows where the beanie came from or how it got started, but it remains the classic emblem of the geeky innocence and unadulterated fun of yesterday. Modeled after the skullcap of schoolboys (think of the green Girl Scout caps), the brimless beanie fit snugly on the head like a rainbow-striped fabric bowl. But it didn't end there: perched atop the beanie was a twirling plastic propeller, all at once both silly and magical, yet utterly necessary to the beanie's success.

Young boys of the 40's enjoyed their youth unlike any generation before them had, and advertising your age wasn't a crime like it became in modern 'grow up now!' culture. Boys were still wearing the short knicker suit , and the beanie was the perfect topper.

Just like Dorothy's wish to be somewhere over the rainbow, the propeller beanie brought the rainbow to your head. Sure they were silly, but gosh, they were tons of fun, too. So go ahead, twirl that little propeller and take a trip back to your Skooldays.