|
The Red Hat Society is a social organization for women over 50. The Society was founded in 1998 by Sue Ellen Cooper of Fullerton, California, and she serves as the organization's current Queen. As of October 2006 there are about 1.5 million registered members in over forty thousand chapters in the United States and thirty other countries.[1] Location of Fullerton within Orange County, California, USA Country United States State California County Orange Mayor Leland Wilson Area - City 22. ...
The Society takes its name from the opening lines of the poem Warning by Jenny Joseph, which starts: Jenny Joseph (born 7 May 1932) is an English poet. ...
| “ | When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat that doesn't go and doesn't suit me. | ” | The Red Hat Society fondly refers to itself as a "dis-organization" with the aim of social interaction, and to encourage fun, silliness, creativity, and friendship in middle age and beyond. The Society is not a sorority or a voluntary service club. There are no initiations or no fundraising projects. While the term fraternity can be used to describe any number of social organizations, including the Lions Club and the Shriners, fraternities and sororities are most commonly known as social organizations of higher education students in the United States and Canada but there are fraternities in the whole world (for...
A founder or leader of a local chapter is usually referred to as a "Queen". Members are called "Red Hatters". Members over fifty years old wear red hats and purple attire to all functions. A woman under age fifty may also become a member, but she wears a pink hat and lavender attire to the Society's events until reaching her fiftieth birthday.
Both Red and Pink Hatters often wear very elaborately decorated hats, and attention-getting fashion accessories such as a feather boa at the group's get-togethers. The Society's events vary depending on the chapter, but one of the more favored pastimes amongst most Red Hatters is attending or giving a tea party. Woman with a black feather boa, c. ...
The organization has published four books: Red Hat Society: Fun and Friendship at 50 and Red Hat Society's Laugh Lines: Stories of Inspiration and Hattitude, Designer Scrapbooks the Red Hat Society Way (2005, Sterling), and The Red Hat Society Cookbook which features recipes submitted by members. Regional gatherings called "Funventions" are held several times a year, along with official Red Hat Society events.
The official Red Hat Society day is April 25 each year. April 25 is the 115th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (116th in leap years). ...
In 2006 the group successfully commissioned its own musical, entitled "Ladies in Red Hats." The Fantasticks was the longest-running musical in history. ...
In popular culture The Red Hat Society is paid homage to in one episode of the Simpsons, The Last of the Red Hat Mamas, wherein Marge joins a group called The Cheery Red Tomatoes. Simpsons redirects here. ...
The Last of the Red Hat Mamas is the seventh episode of the 17th season of The Simpsons. ...
See also The Sweet Tea Queens are a group of women based in Spartanburg, South Carolina, dedicated to the pursuit of fun. ...
External links
- The Red Hat Society
- Lift Every Over-50 Voice and Sing, Ladies, Sing, by Steven McElroy, New York Times, October 11, 2006
| 
Feeds |
Contact