Fruit hat

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Carmen Miranda in The Gang's All Here (1943 film) Carmen Miranda in The Gang's All Here trailer cropped.jpg
Carmen Miranda in The Gang's All Here (1943 film)

A fruit hat is a festive and colorful hat type popularized by Carmen Miranda and associated with warm locales. This type of hat has been worn by fashionistas, in films, by comic strip characters, and for Halloween. The fruit used tends to sit on the top or around the head, and varies in type, e.g. bananas, berries, cherries, pineapples.

Contents

History

A fashion report in Los Angeles Times from 1895 called the use of mendiant the "newest trimming" for hats, and noted that hats were "tipped far over the eyes". [1] The Chicago Tribune reported on fruit ribbons, along with feathers, flowers, and frills, as trim for Easter hats. [2] A report on artificial fruit used on hats was in a 1918 edition of The New York Times. [3] Fruit and vegetable trim on "gay hats" featured in the first millinery show of the season at New York's Saks Fifth Avenue in 1941, and overshadowed flowers. [4] Lil Picard, a millinery designer for the custom-made department of Bloomingdale's, sought inspiration from nature for her hats and while on vacation "listening to the birds, gazing through the lacy outlines of foliage and watching the ripening fruits, she dreamed of trimmings." [5]

Carmen Miranda in The Gang's All Here (1943) Gangs all here trailer.jpg
Carmen Miranda in The Gang's All Here (1943)

Brazilian "bombshell" Carmen Miranda, who "made a habit of wearing exotic headdresses/hats often adorned with fruit", appears as a singer named Dorita in the 1943 film The Gang's All Here. The movie includes a musical number called "The Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat" with barefoot chorus girls dressed in yellow turbans, black crop tops, and ruffled yellow miniskirts who manipulated giant papier-mâché bananas and bounced inflatable strawberries off their toes at the whims of legendary choreographer Busby Berkeley. [6]

Use in marketing

Inspired by Carmen Miranda's costumes, [6] the Chiquita Banana logo featured a cartoon image of an anthropomorphic banana with a human face and a selection of fruit adorning its hat. The logo was created for United Fruit Company in 1944 by Dik Browne, who is perhaps best known for his Hägar the Horrible comic strip. [7] In advertising of the 1940s, the logo character's voice was supplied by vocalist Patti Clayton followed by Elsa Miranda, June Valli and Monica Lewis. The concept was created by a BBDO advertising team headed by Robert Foreman with the song lyrics written by Garth Montgomery and music composed by Len MacKenzie. [6] The original Chiquita Banana advertisement was produced by Disney Studios and ran in movie theaters. [8]

The company later became Chiquita Brands International and would use a banana wearing a fruit hat headdress on its logo for decades. [6] In 1987 the banana character was replaced with a woman by artist Oscar Grillo, creator of the Pink Panther, to reflect "the image the public had of Miss Chiquita as a real person." [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carmen Miranda</span> Portuguese-born Brazilian singer, dancer and actress (1909–1955)

Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha, known professionally as Carmen Miranda, was a Portuguese-born Brazilian singer, dancer, and actress. Nicknamed "The Brazilian Bombshell", she was known for her signature fruit hat outfit that she wore in her American films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hatmaking</span> Manufacture and design of hats and headwear

Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hat</span> Shaped head covering, having a brim and a crown, or one of these

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chiquita</span> Banana producer and distributor company

Chiquita Brands International S.à.r.l., formerly known as United Fruit Co., is a Swiss-domiciled American producer and distributor of bananas and other produce. The company operates under subsidiary brand names, including the flagship Chiquita brand and Fresh Express salads. Chiquita is the leading distributor of bananas in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1870s in Western fashion</span> Costume and fashion of the 1870s

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Easter bonnet</span> Hat worn by women as an Easter tradition

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<i>The Gangs All Here</i> (1943 film) 1943 film by Busby Berkeley

The Gang's All Here is a 1943 American Twentieth Century Fox Technicolor musical film starring Alice Faye, Carmen Miranda and James Ellison. The film, directed and choreographed by Busby Berkeley, is known for its use of musical numbers with fruit hats. Included among the 10 highest-grossing films of that year, it was at that time Fox's most expensive production.

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<i>Carmen Miranda: Bananas Is My Business</i> 1995 film directed by Helena Solberg

Carmen Miranda: Bananas is My Business is a 1995 documentary filmed and directed by Helena Solberg. This documentary chronicles the life and career of Carmen Miranda, Hollywood's symbol of Latin American spirit in the 1940s. The documentary tells her life story in a series of stages, beginning with her roots and rise to stardom in her home country of Brazil, her transition and development as a performer in the United States, first on Broadway in New York City, then in the film industry after she signed with 20th Century Fox in Los Angeles, and her later years in life, before her death and her return to Brazil. Helena Solberg uses two different film styles, biography and directorial reverie, in which Solberg uses actor Erick Barretos to “resurrect Carmen Miranda in several fantasy sequences. Helena Solberg's attitudes shift throughout the documentary from awe-struck child to empathetic and forgiving Brazilian woman, which she uses to represent the contradictory subplots of Carmen Miranda's life. Alongside the fantasy like resurrection of Miranda, Solberg accompanies her documentary with multiple interviews with Carmen Miranda's friends and family, like her sister, her first boyfriend, the guitarist Laurindo Almeida, samba song-writer Synval Silva, Cesar Romero, and Alice Faye.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poffer</span> Traditional female folk headdress

The poffer, toer or North Brabantian hat is a traditional female folk headdress of North Brabant, most famous of the Meierij of 's-Hertogenbosch and of northern Limburg, Netherlands. The poffer was worn only by married women. It was fashionable between the 1860s and the 1920s. In contrast to Zeeland and the more northern parts of the Netherlands, in North Brabant and Limburg there was never any distinctive folkloric costume worn by either men or women, making the poffer the only folkloric garment in this part of the Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Picture hat</span>

A picture hat or Gainsborough hat is an elaborate woman's hat with a wide brim. It has been suggested that the name may be derived from the way the broad brim frames the face to create a "picture".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">O Que É Que A Baiana Tem?</span> Song

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Draped turban</span> Type of headwear

A draped turban or turban hat is a millinery design in which fabric is draped to create headwear closely moulded to the head. Sometimes it may be stiffened or padded, although simpler versions may just comprise wound fabric that is knotted or stitched. It may include a peak, feather or other details to add height. It generally covers most or all of the hair.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halo hat</span> Style of hat

A halo hat is a millinery design in which the headgear acts as a circular frame for the face, creating a halo effect. The design is said to date back to the late 19th century, when it was known as the aureole hat; this name is sometimes still used. It may also be known as the angel hat or bambini – the latter said to derive from Italian for terracotta plaques depicting the infant Christ.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Half hat</span> Style of headwear

A half hat is a millinery design in which the hat covers part of the head. Generally, the design is close-fitting, in the manner of the cloche, and frames the head, usually stopping just above the ears. It may be similar to a halo hat in the way that it frames the face and can be worn straight or at an angle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mushroom hat</span> Fashion item

A mushroom hat is a millinery style in which the brim of the hat tilts downwards, resembling the shape of a mushroom. It is a style that first emerged in the 1870s and 1880s, when it was usually made of straw. It became fashionable again from around 1907 to the late 1920s; these versions featured a distinctly downturned brim although the size and shape of the crown varied according to prevailing fashions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peach basket hat</span>

A peach basket hat is a millinery design that resembles an upturned country basket of the style typically used to collect fruit. Generally it is made of straw or similar material and it often has a trimming of flowers and ribbons. Some models may also feature a veil or draped fabric covering. It was introduced in around 1908 and caused some controversy over the succeeding year due to its extreme dimensions and decorations. It had revivals – designs were at this stage more modest – in the 1930s and 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eugénie hat</span> Small plumed hat worn tipped asymmetrically over the forehead

A Eugénie hat is a small women's hat that is usually worn tilted forwards over the face, or it may be angled low over one eye. Typically, it is made of velvet or felt, although a variety of materials may be used. The classic design also has a plume of feathers, although other trims may be used.

The horticulture industry embraces the production, processing and shipping of and the market for fruits and vegetables. As such it is a sector of agribusiness and industrialized agriculture. Industrialized horticulture sometimes also includes the floriculture industry and production and trade of ornamental plants.

References

  1. "'September Styles' by Nina Fitch". Los Angeles Times . ProQuest. August 4, 1895. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
  2. "Feathers, Flowers and Fruit Ribbons, Frills and Quills Trim Hats Every Way for Easter Says Louise James". Chicago Tribune . March 14, 1915. p. C8. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  3. "Artificial Fruit Used on Hats". The New York Times . December 5, 1918. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  4. "Milady's New Hat Full of Vitamins; Fruit and Vegetable Trims Overshadow Flowers That Bloom in Spring, Tra La". The New York Times . March 18, 1941. p. 18. Archived from the original on July 23, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  5. Pope, Virginia (September 2, 1943). "Leaves and Fruit Bedeck Fall Hats; Lil Picard Finds Inspiration in Nature for Trimmings for Her Collection". The New York Times . p. 22. Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "TV Acres". TV Acres. Archived from the original on 2022-06-22. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
  7. "Chiquita website". Archived from the original on 2013-01-19. Retrieved 2011-08-14.
  8. "Chiquita Banana commercial". Youtube.com. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2010-06-29.