The Shriners wear them, and so does Lothar, Mandrake the Magician’s mighty sidekick. And Turhan Bey, in the old Mummy movies.
But you often see them in old comic strips and other depictions of contemporary domestic life, on the heads of middle- and upper-middle-class family men, as leisure indoor headgear. The guy will be wearing a velvet (smoking) jacket and a fez, and have a cigar or a pipe stuck in his mouth, as he reads the evening papers.
How did the fez migrate from North Africa to adorn the beans of the Euro/American bourgeoisie whilst in repose? Just a vagary of style? Or did they need to keep their heads warm in underheated houses? Or what?
The fez migrated to France via North African colonialism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Here, North African and Arabian style fashions were highly prized and often bought and worn by extremely rich in France. Because the French were seen as gods and goddesses of style in this era, they spread to rich, or posey, North American and European families. In other words, a vegary of style ass you said.
Now, as to the Shriners and Lothar, I see Lothar wearing it to add a certain Eastern mystique to the character.
The Shriners, however, I guess wear them to show themselves as upper class folk, but that is just a guess.
The fez migrated to France via North African colonialism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Here, North African and Arabian style fashions were highly prized and often bought and worn by extremely rich in France. Because the French were seen as gods and goddesses of style in this era, they spread to rich, or posey, North American and European families. In other words, a vagary of style as you said.
Now, as to the Shriners and Lothar, I see Lothar wearing it to add a certain Eastern mystique to the character.
The Shriners, however, I guess wear them to show themselves as upper class folk, but that is just a guess.
I have a Shriners fez without the Shriners emblem on it. I like it, but I don’t wear it. I wish it were shorter, with a shorter tassle. I guess I’ll have to go to Turkey or someplace to get an “authentic” one.
The brimless design reflects the original wearers desire to have a hat that would NOT shield their eyes from the sun. I believe this was for religious reasons - does anyone know more?
The brimless design may also help explain the hat’s popularity outside North Africa, as a hat that can be practically worn inside (and at night).
When I first read that book A Fez of the Heart, it took me months to catch the pun in the title, and when I did it was a “duh” moment. The author is a non-rhotic Englishman, so to me as a rhotic* American the pun was invisible, until I hung out with some English friends and got used to their pronunciation.
*Rhotic means I pronounce the r in words like “affairs.”
The term mufti meaning civilian dress (as opposed to military uniforms) was first used by the British military in Egypt. Mufti in Arabic actually means a type of Islamic religious judge, the sort who issues fatwas (mufti and fatwa are derived from the same Arabic root; the mu- prefix in Arabic means someone who does an action). When off duty, British army officers would relax and smoke a pipe wearing a long smoking jacket, smoking cap (like a fez or a kufi), and slippers, all of which resembled the way Islamic judges dressed. This is all so 1920s. I can hear a scratchy George Formby record playing on the Victrola, as Jeeves serves tea to Poirot.
I’ve got a fez from Turkey, I don’t think the law is still on the books as you’ll occasionally see someone in traditional get-up at festivals or tourist events.
(Forgive me if I ramble on about my favorite fraternal organizaton.)
You see a couple of American Freemasons went to a costume party in southern France in the 1920s. The theme was North Africa, cardboard scimitars, harem girls and all that.
They got drunk and decided that they should form a club for hard-drinking Master Masons. And so Mecca Shrine, NUmber One was formed in New York City (in the “Building formerly known as The Mosque”). Shriners got drunk and dressed in Fezes.
The Shrine got a bad rep for throwing water balloons off their buiding and whatnot. To improve their public relations, they began to support hospitals for crippled children. Back then Polio was the great crippler of children.
Praise be to God! Polio was conquered and the hospitals treat all sorts of diseases, but still specialize inthe greatest modern cripler of children, burn injuries.
So when you see us in our fezes, or in our little Keystone Kops cars, out selling tickets to the Shrine Circus, buy one. The money goes to a good cause.
So what you’re saying is that the old sitcom cliche of Shriners as hard-drinking party animals was not only accurate, but was even the whole point if being a Shriner back then? Kewl!
I was going to ask to become a Mason but a Mason friend kept insisting that they were NOT a secret organization of supervillains bent on world domination. I could believe that HE wasn’t, unless the supervillain bar has been lowered to ground level, so that just took the fun out of it.
