Aretha's Hat (2009)

added Aug 26, 2009 at 10:23PM UTC

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About

Aretha Franklin was wearing a very unique bow-style hat while she sang “My Country ’Tis of Thee” during the Obama Presidential inauguration on January 20th, 2009.

Among the mounds of press content produced on the day of the inauguration, Aretha’s hat was of immediate interest to many. Nearly everyone who was on site was making some sort of commentary about Aretha’s Hat:

As Buzzfeed.com, one of the early advocates of this meme, states:

… the hat adds dignity and grace wherever it goes. Try on Aretha’s hat or envision it in other great moments throughout history.

Notability

In the days following the inauguration, thousands or bloggers were raving about it in blogs.

Even the Smithsonian Institution wants to make an exhibit of Aretha’s hat so as to “highlight Barack Obama’s place in history as the first African-American president.”

The Hat

The hat was made by a milliner by the name of Luke Song who bases his company in Detroit, Michigan. According to the milliner, Aretha came in to his Detroit showroom early that January looking for a special hat for the big day. “She’s our regular customer and comes to us often,” Song stated. “She actually had three to choose from for that day, but went with her second choice. It probably looked better on camera.”

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Showing 1-11 of 11 comments

Jostin Asuncion
Sep 19, 2009 at 04:50AM UTC , Jostin Asuncion wrote:

Whoops! My bad. Musta hit the wrong key. Fixing mistake now.

ColdPhx
Sep 19, 2009 at 04:46AM UTC , ColdPhx wrote:

Just a Small detail… the Inaugural Address was on Jan 20, 2009 not 2008

Jostin Asuncion
Sep 07, 2009 at 02:59AM UTC , Jostin Asuncion wrote:

I forgot to thank whoever it was that fixed the article. I actually thought of fixing it tonight after coming back from the park but it looks like an admin beat me to the punch. Thanks anyways!

Mullon
Sep 06, 2009 at 07:55PM UTC , Mullon wrote:

I always thought it was a stupid looking hat.

Frketson
Aug 27, 2009 at 11:39PM UTC , Frketson wrote:

bert, while i’m very happy that you ‘get it’…. my motto in life is, the more pics, the better.

Jostin Asuncion
Aug 27, 2009 at 04:09PM UTC , Jostin Asuncion wrote:

@ Chris

Alright. I’ll get on to it after I submit my next entry, the Obama “Hope” Posters. If you want to help with my research, go to the forum: http://knowyourmeme.com/forums/1-general/topics/379-barack-obama-hope-poster

@ Bert

Stop complaining here and go to fsjal. lol

Bert
Aug 27, 2009 at 02:49PM UTC , Bert wrote:

djeez 250img, we got the picture after 10…

Chris Menning
Aug 27, 2009 at 01:32PM UTC , Chris Menning wrote:

I see phrases like this all the time: “basically, you take her hat and shoop it onto anything that you might consider a head like so:”

This sentence tells someone how to create an Aretha’s Hat pic rather than explaining how they appear. The point of an entry isn’t to explain how to create an instance of a meme; but rather to explain who first called attention to it, and how it spread.

Take some time to create a list of the websites it appeared on including the dates and times. The majority of these pics were produced THE DAY OF the inauguration, but some sites didn’t jump on the bandwagon until one, two, or three days later. Talk about what sites first started covering it, and how it spread from there.

Jostin Asuncion
Aug 27, 2009 at 02:35AM UTC , Jostin Asuncion wrote:

Am I lacking anything for this entry? I’m asking so I can fix this up for it to be a good entry.

Jamie Dubs
Aug 27, 2009 at 01:49AM UTC , Jamie Dubs wrote:

SO MANY IMGZ

Jostin Asuncion
Aug 27, 2009 at 12:19AM UTC , Jostin Asuncion wrote:

There are two copies of Washington’s portrait. Could one of the admins delete one of them plox? TY

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