Fraternity-Testvériség, 1960 (38. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1960-07-01 / 7. szám
FRATERNITY 27 “Ready to fight at the drop of a hat” alludes to the same custom. The cowboy hat that flew into the ring was the familiar large- brimmed variety. In 1860, John B. Stetson had traveled west for his health. When he returned to Philadelphia, he designed headgear especially to suit the needs of the American cowboy. He called it a “ten- gallon hat”. It became known simply as a “Stetson”, though Stetson makes all kinds of headgear. But history shows the expression didn’t originate with the cowboy, either. Earlier, in some parts of England, wrestling matches were arranged by having contestants throw down their hats. A blindfolded referee shuffled them by twos. The owners were thus paired for the match. Spanish bullfighters tossed their monteras, elegant black caps, into the bull ring. Spanish boxers and wrestlers also observed the custom. In An Account of the Gypsies of Spain, George Barrow wrote: “The intended combatants at length arrived. It was necessary to clear the ring . . . always a troublesome and difficult task. Thurstall went up to the two Gypsies . . . then pushing the people aside he strode to the ropes, over which he bounded into the ring, flinging his Spanish hat into the air.” The fight was on! The same custom prevailed among the Cornwall miners — wrestlers from competing mines challenged each other by tossing hats on the ground. But the earliest use of the expression probably goes back to ancient Rome. The first gladiators were summoned into the ring by having a prominent citizen drop a handkerchief. “My handkerchief is in the ring”, he probably cried. Hats had not yet come into vogue. A hat is something the average man covers his head with . . . the beggar passess . . . the politician talks through . . . and the statesman throws into the ring. Today, the political race is on. Ask anyone to predict the outcome and he’ll tell you — at the drop of a hat! “It is ironic in the extreme that the United States should ever be cast in the role of opposing legitimate nationalist movements. Many of the ideas which motivate today’s nationalists stem from American history and have been taught in American universities at home and abroad . . . We should be the natural champion of legitimate nationalist movements.” Vice President Richard Nixon (Sept., 1958 — Harvard Business School Ass’n)
