18. People Were Literally Murdered for Wearing Straw Hats
Straw hat wearers who crossed the rowdy NYC kids during the 1922 Straw Hat Riot were lucky if they only lost their hats. The unlucky ones lost their hats and got beaten to a pulp. Police were helpless, as the riot went on for days, and spread from the East Side to the rest of Manhattan. The Upper West Side became particularly dangerous for the straw-lidded, as a mob of more than 1000 hooligans snatched straw hats on Amsterdam Avenue. Many were injured during the riot, and many were arrested. However, since many culprits were underage, they did not stay in lockup for long, before they were released to their parents.
In the East 104th Street Precinct, the police lieutenant in charge insisted that the parents spank their kids then and there, as a condition for their release. The viral straw hat destruction fad continued. Although there was no recurrence of widespread rioting on the scale of 1922’s mayhem, the end of straw hat season continued to be attended by violence. In 1924, for example, a man was murdered for wearing a straw hat after September 15th. The violent tradition finally came to an end when straw hats went out of fashion during the Great Depression.