Return of the Hat Brings Quandaries

Remember hat checks?

Like coat checks, they seem to have mostly vanished.

But this past weekend, shortly after my father bought a hat at , we arrived for dinner at a Cambridge restaurant. The place was packed; my dad, of course, took off the hat as soon as he stepped inside.

But where to put it?

I was chatting away with our dinner companions on the other side of the table and forgot about it; I'm sure we could have asked the staff to stow it away somewhere. 

But it brought up the question: where do you keep a hat when you go out — especially if you are a man with a nice (and, sometimes, expensive) hat if you go by etiquette rules and doff it when you step inside?

Hat checks were common when virtually all men wore hats all the time. As styles changed and bare heads became more acceptable, hat checks started to vanish. Some coatracks still exist; some have shelves for hats and other gear. 

But hats are back now. Big-time. But the 'where do you stow it?' question remains.

If you wear a hat, what do you do with yours when you step inside? And, if you are a woman, do you follow the same rules that men have followed for decades/centuries? Are the take-off-your-hat-when-you're-inside rules outdated? Should my dad have kept his head covered during dinner? Are we primed for the return of the hat check? Or is it a matter of MacGyvering a solution at every meal/concert/class/worship service?

Let us know in the comments section below. O, and while we're at it, send us your best Jamaica Plain hat pics: fedora, baseball caps, newsboy caps, you name it.