Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Katrina Gulliver
“On September 15, 1922, Harry Oldbaum was walking near 116th St and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. He was suddenly surrounded by a crowd of teens who grabbed at him and stole his hat. Oldbaum was in good enough shape to give chase and apprehend one of his attackers, and haul the perpetrator to a nearby police station. Morris Sikeowitz, 16, was charged with disorderly conduct. It sounds like a minor street incident in a big city, but Oldbaum was just one of many victims that night. In New York at the time, there were social rules about when to wear straw hats …. sporting a boater after the end of the summer was seen as inappropriate — at least by people of means. The end-day for straw hat season had originally been September 22, but by the 1920s crept forward to September 15. However, unlike other fashion solecisms, this one suddenly came with physical enforcement.” (09/24/25)