Ye Shall Know Them by Their Hats....

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  The two conservative groups of Mennonites who use hats are the Old Colony from northern Belize and the Old Order Mennonites from central and southern Belize, sometimes mistaken for Amish. This article is not about why they wear hats or when the tradition started but simply to point out a few things about these hats and how it distinguishes these 2 sets of Mennos.
Old Order Mennonites
  In this sect, only the men and boys wear straw hats.(Women and girls use black bonnets or black kerchiefs.) A common hat for them is pictured below, with a little variety in the style here and there. It is rare to see these men without their hats.
Those who are not in the church but still retain the traditions will wear faux leather hats, derby hats or none at all.

Old Colony
  These Mennonites from northern Belize, such as Little Belize and Shipyard, have a different style of head gear. Both men and women wear hats, with the women using either a black or white flowered kerchief around their heads also. Although some men use brown straw hats, the majority of men use a white nylon/polyester hat halfway between a Stetson and a derby, with a few colored strands running diagonally like the one in the picture below. Interestingly, it is more likely to see these men without hats in public than the Mennonites of Barton Creek and Springfield. Those who are out of the church or working away from home will sometimes use a regular bill cap or go bare-headed.

Women and girls don't wear hats daily like the men(depending on their community), but when they do it is a white, broad-brimmed hat with a solid colored ribbon streaming from it. Also interesting here is that the hat is the first thing that will be discarded by those who are working away from home or who are in the process of breaking with the church. 

  I had an interesting experience some time back. I was visiting an Old Colony village for a few days and convinced some girls to go on a walk with me. Just for the fun of it I grabbed a hat and put it on while the girls checked their sleeves, stockings and shoes in case they met the preacher on the road. Things went fine for a while, the girls had their hats hanging on their backs, we chatted about different things until lo and behold, here came the preacher in his buggy! Immediately the girls stiffened, put their hats on properly, snatched the hat off my head, kept their faces straight, and began walking a few feet ahead of me while the preacher and I had an eye-to-eye fight from the time he appeared on the road until he passed me. I don't know who stared the longest, the preacher or me. I felt like I had to use eye drops later, no joking. Was it my jeans and bright shirt, or did he think I was the devil who came to lure these girls away? He was missing some fingers, did not smile, and his hat looked too small for him. (always memorize details, they often save your life😉)

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