The book, Dictionary of Word Origins by Jordan Almond, magically appeared in the downstairs throne room. Knowing my propensity to read during my regular regal ruminations, knowing my love of words, Señora finding the book at an estate sale, bought it and placed it in the throne room.
This morning I came across the following entry:
Poke bonnet: This bonnet got its name from the fact that the front of it “poked out” far beyond the face. A bonnet that didn’t do so was called a “kiss-me-quick”.
I cannot think of my mother’s mother, my grandmother, who the whole world called Mama Carr, without picturing her wearing her poke bonnet. While she did not wear it on her occasional trips to downtown Checotah, with chickens to care for, a garden to look after and a cow to milk, she was routinely outside, putting on her bonnet if it was the less bit sunny. Surprisingly, when I looked through the pictures I have of her, she does not have one on. Perhaps she took it off for photographers.
These bonnets were not store brought affairs, but items she made herself on her pedal Singer sewing machine. While memories from 50 or 60 years ago can be tricky things, I remember the brims on her bonnets extending much farther than the three inch brim standard on most baseball caps. And I certainly do not recall her wearing one as colorful as the one pictured above. I imagine she made them from scraps of cloth from other sewing projects. You never see this type of headgear anymore except in old pictures or perhaps period pieces on TV or in the movies. But when I do, it always brings Mama Carr to my mind. If I am recalling correctly, my mother had one of her mother’s poke bonnets hanging on a hook in her kitchen for years.
Thinking of Mama Carr and her bonnets and the fact that she had 11 children – two whom died very young – she must have occasionally put on her “kiss-me-quick” bonnet! Or perhaps my grandfather – who I barely knew – must have had the nickname of “Randy”. Which brings to mind a quip of my ex’s grandmother, another farm woman with a large family. She claimed if her husband hung his pants on the right bed post they had a boy, if he hung them on the left, a girl was sure to follow.
Those were the days my friends…
Got a wild hair, and want to buy a poke bonnet, check out Historical Emporium. If you are really feeling froggy, there are multiple sewing patterns for poke bonnets to be found on the Internet.