the end of a slice of Jewish culture

Back in the day, when I was turning bar mitzvah and getting my first black hat, I got a Stetson. It was a great hat, as hats go. It lasted a while and it had the feather in the band, as was the style back then.

Back then I think the choices, at least in Chicago, were only Stetson and Borsalino. And Borsalino was too expensive for a bar mitzva boy.

I think my next hat, or maybe the one after that, was a Borsalino. As far as I can remember, I only once had a Borsalino.

After leaving Chicago and moving to Israel, there were so many different brands of hats, and Borsalino had gotten so expensive, I never again got a Borsalino hat, though they were considered the premier hat for a yeshiva guy.

It is a bit sad, on that note, to see that Borsalino is in financial trouble and we may be seeing the end of Borsalino as they go bankrupt. Even though sales are up, financial mismanagement may do them in.

They hold an important place in modern Jewish culture and history.

And their hats, not necessarily the ones for the religious Jewish market, are so cool.

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