I'm not afraid to see culture taking inspiration from a variety of sources, but why do the same thing twice?
Matthew Jones
>Straw hats were considered acceptable day attire in North American cities at the height of summer even for businessmen but there was an unwritten rule that one was not supposed to wear a straw hat past September 15. >If any man was seen wearing a straw hat, he was, at minimum, subjecting himself to ridicule, and it was a tradition for youths to knock straw hats off of wearers' heads and stomp on them.. >This tradition became well established, and newspapers of the day would often warn people of the impending approach of the fifteenth, when men would have to switch to felt or silk hats.
>The riot itself began on September 13 of 1922, two days before the supposed unspoken date, when a group of youths decided to get an early jump on the tradition. >This group began in the former "Mulberry Bend" area of Manhattan by removing and stomping hats worn by factory workers who were employed in the area. >The more innocuous stomping turned into a brawl when the youths tried to stomp a group of dock workers' hats, and the dock workers fought back. >The brawl soon stopped traffic on the Manhattan Bridge and was eventually broken up by police, leading to some arrests. >Although the initial brawl was broken up by police, the fights continued to escalate the next evening. >Gangs of teenagers prowled the streets wielding large sticks, sometimes with a nail driven through the top, looking for pedestrians wearing straw hats and beating those who resisted. >One man claimed that his hat was taken and the group who had taken his hat joined a mob of about 1,000 that was snatching hats all along Amsterdam Avenue. >Several men were hospitalized from the beatings they received after resisting having their hats taken, and many arrests were made. >Police were slow to respond to the riots, although several off-duty police officers found themselves caught up in the brawl when rioters attempted to snatch their hats.
Grayson Jones
>In 1924, one man was murdered for wearing a straw hat. 1925 saw similar arrests made in New York.