Beanie
Encyclopedia
A beanie is a head-hugging brimless cap
with or without a visor
that was once popular among school boys.
They can also be made from leather and silk. In other English-speaking countries, a beanie is a knitted cap often woollen, known in the United States and Canada as a Tuque
, Australia
, the term "beanie" is normally applied to a knit cap known as a tuque
in the United States and Canada. The non-knitted variety is normally simply a "cap" in other countries.
This is probably incorrect. According to the Oxford Dictionary, the etymology is uncertain, but probably derives from the slang term "bean", meaning "head".
In the United Kingdom
, the term "Benny Hat" may also refer to this style of headcovering. This name originally comes from the character "Benny", played by actor Paul Henry
in the 1970s British Crossroads Soap Opera, who always wore a knitted version of hat.
laborers, welders, mechanics, and other tradesmen who needed to keep their hair back but for whom a brim would be an unnecessary obstruction. Beanies do sometimes have a very small brim, less than an inch deep, around the brow front. The baseball cap
evolved from this kind of beanie, with the addition of a brim to block the sun.
By the mid 1940s, beanies fell out of popularity as a hat in favor of cotton visored caps like the baseball cap although, in the 1950s and possibly beyond, they were worn by college freshmen and various fraternities as a form of mild hazing. Lehigh University required freshmen to wear beanies, or "dinks," and other colleges including Franklin & Marshall, Gettysburg and Rutgers, may have had similar practices. Benedictine College
, in Atchison, KS, still carries this tradition for the first week of a freshman's classes. It is the only college in the country to maintain this tradition.
In the late 1940s, science fiction fanzine
artist Ray Nelson
(himself still in high school
) adopted the use of the propeller beanie as emblematic shorthand for science fiction fandom
, in self-mockery of the popular image of fans as childish and concerned with ephemera (i.e., science fiction
); references to it are ironically now used to identify old-fashioned fans, as opposed to more modern fans of media SF. The propeller beanie increased in popular use through comics, and eventually made its way onto the character of Beany Boy of "Beany and Cecil
." Today, computer savvy
and other technically proficient people are sometimes pejoratively referred to as propellerheads thanks to the one-time popularity of the propeller beanie.
Another style of beanie was a formed and pressed wool hat with a flipped up brim that formed a band around the bottom of the cap. The band would often have a decorative repeating zig-zag or scalloped pattern cut around the edge. It was also quite common for schoolboys to adorn their beanies with buttons and pins.
Cap
A cap is a form of headgear. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head and have no brim or only a visor. They are typically designed for warmth and, when including a visor, blocking sunlight from the eyes...
with or without a visor
Visor
A visor is a surface that protects the eyes, such as shading them from the sun or other bright light or protecting them from objects....
that was once popular among school boys.
Description
In the United States of America, beanies are made by triangular sections of cloth joined by a button at the crown and seamed together around the sides.They can also be made from leather and silk. In other English-speaking countries, a beanie is a knitted cap often woollen, known in the United States and Canada as a Tuque
Tuque
A – variously known as a knit hat or stocking cap among other names – is a knitted cap, originally of wool though now often of synthetic fibers, that is designed to provide warmth in winter...
Etymology
The term is said to derive from a type of headgear worn in some medieval universities; the yellow hats ("bejaunus," that is, "yellowbill" later "beanus," a term used for both the hats and the new students) evolved into the college beanies of later years. In New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, the term "beanie" is normally applied to a knit cap known as a tuque
Tuque
A – variously known as a knit hat or stocking cap among other names – is a knitted cap, originally of wool though now often of synthetic fibers, that is designed to provide warmth in winter...
in the United States and Canada. The non-knitted variety is normally simply a "cap" in other countries.
This is probably incorrect. According to the Oxford Dictionary, the etymology is uncertain, but probably derives from the slang term "bean", meaning "head".
In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the term "Benny Hat" may also refer to this style of headcovering. This name originally comes from the character "Benny", played by actor Paul Henry
Paul Henry (actor)
Paul Henry, is a British actor, best known for his role in the soap opera, Crossroads.Born in Birmingham, he attended the city's Alderlea Boys School in Shard End with Jeff Lynne, later leader of the Electric Light Orchestra pop group. Henry trained at the Birmingham School of Speech and Drama,...
in the 1970s British Crossroads Soap Opera, who always wore a knitted version of hat.
History
A larger variant of the skullcap, the beanie was a working hat associated with blue collarBlue collar
Blue collar can refer to:*Blue-collar worker, a traditional designation of the working class*Blue-collar crime, the types of crimes typically associated with the working class*A census designation...
laborers, welders, mechanics, and other tradesmen who needed to keep their hair back but for whom a brim would be an unnecessary obstruction. Beanies do sometimes have a very small brim, less than an inch deep, around the brow front. The baseball cap
Baseball cap
A baseball cap is a type of soft cap with a rounded stiff brim. The front of the cap typically contains designs or logos of sports teams ,...
evolved from this kind of beanie, with the addition of a brim to block the sun.
By the mid 1940s, beanies fell out of popularity as a hat in favor of cotton visored caps like the baseball cap although, in the 1950s and possibly beyond, they were worn by college freshmen and various fraternities as a form of mild hazing. Lehigh University required freshmen to wear beanies, or "dinks," and other colleges including Franklin & Marshall, Gettysburg and Rutgers, may have had similar practices. Benedictine College
Benedictine College
Benedictine College is a co-educational university in Atchison, Kansas, founded in 1971 by the merger of St. Benedict's College for men and Mount St. Scholastica College for women. It is a Roman Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts, and residential college located on bluffs overlooking the...
, in Atchison, KS, still carries this tradition for the first week of a freshman's classes. It is the only college in the country to maintain this tradition.
Propeller beanie
Science fiction fanzine
A science fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of science fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day...
artist Ray Nelson
Ray Nelson
Radell Faraday "Ray" Nelson is an American science fiction author and cartoonist most famous for his 1963 short story "Eight O'Clock in the Morning", which was later used by John Carpenter as the basis for his 1988 film They Live....
(himself still in high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
) adopted the use of the propeller beanie as emblematic shorthand for science fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or "fandom" of people actively interested in science fiction and fantasy and in contact with one another based upon that interest...
, in self-mockery of the popular image of fans as childish and concerned with ephemera (i.e., science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
); references to it are ironically now used to identify old-fashioned fans, as opposed to more modern fans of media SF. The propeller beanie increased in popular use through comics, and eventually made its way onto the character of Beany Boy of "Beany and Cecil
Beany and Cecil
Beany and Cecil was an animated cartoon series created by Bob Clampett, who had previously worked for Warner Bros.. As a puppet show entitled Time for Beany, it originally aired in 1949, with the animated series first appearing in Matty's Funday Funnies in 1959, later renamed Matty's Funnies with...
." Today, computer savvy
Geek
The word geek is a slang term, with different meanings ranging from "a computer expert or enthusiast" to "a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts", with a general pejorative meaning of "a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, esp[ecially] one who is perceived to...
and other technically proficient people are sometimes pejoratively referred to as propellerheads thanks to the one-time popularity of the propeller beanie.
Styles
One popular style of the beanie during the early half of the twentieth century was a skullcap made of four or six felt panels sewn together to form the cap. The panels were often composed of two or more different colors to make them novel. This type of beanie was also very popular with college fraternities as they would often incorporate school colors into the beanie.Another style of beanie was a formed and pressed wool hat with a flipped up brim that formed a band around the bottom of the cap. The band would often have a decorative repeating zig-zag or scalloped pattern cut around the edge. It was also quite common for schoolboys to adorn their beanies with buttons and pins.