We love the name Hillary for Hattingdon’s birthday cake hat. It means “cheerful” or “happy”.
Have you ever wondered who wrote the traditional “happy birthday” song we sing in America? It has been, for oh so many years, attributed to the Hill sisters, school teachers from Louisville, Kentucky. It is said that Mildred was the mastermind behind the melody, while Patty was the brains behind the lyrics.
Birthday cake hats
Vivian has created birthday cake hats in blue, pink, chocolate brown, and a multi colored one with layers of pink, blue and green.
The cakes sit on a rich yellow plate and has brightly lit candles on top.
Hillary in Blue Icing
Hillary in PinkIcing
Hillary in Chocolate Icing
Hillary in Blue, Pink, Greenand Yellow
Which is your favorite? They are all so pretty. Hmmmm. Thank you for stopping by.
On the first day of May this year we gave you a sneak peek at Hattingdon’s newest millinery confection — the “Ariel” butterfly headdress. Predictably, Vivian has created it in a multitude of delicious colors.
Today we show four, with blue, pink, green and purple caps. So let’s go!
Ariel with blue cap.
Ariel in pink cap.
Ariel with green cap.
Ariel in purple cap.
How about that for some drama, hat lovers? This golden ornamental butterfly headdress is a stunning look.
Today we have the pleasure of introducing a brand new classic hat.
This design features a gorgeous green hat created in Vivian’s distinctive classic silhouette, and embellished with a decorative line and dot motif in crisp white. She named the hat Eileen.
Eileen Classic
So fresh looking. What a lovely way to start the week.
Today we have Hattingdon wearing a cheeseburger hat. Yes, you read that right! A cheeseburger hat. We bet Vivian never thought she would ever be doing that!
While ruminating on a name and coming up with nothing, Vivian decided to look into the history of the cheeseburger for inspiration. Wow. It was a lot more than she expected. See “So who it did it?” below.
Finally, she decided to come up with one using the last name of a man many believe made the first cheeseburger, in 1934 in Louisville, Kentucky — Charles Kaelin. The result? Kaylen.
We have Lionel Sternberger to thank for his invention, or so the legend goes. Much like the hamburger, it’s impossible to know for sure who created America’s first cheeseburger.
Lionel was 16 years old in 1926, flipping burgers at his dad’s restaurant, the Rite Spot, in Pasadena, California. Out of boredom, the teenager slapped a slice of American cheese onto a hamburger frying on the griddle. His dad approved of the creation, and so the cheeseburger was born—though they called it the slightly wordy “cheese hamburger.”
The first sandwich to actually be called a cheeseburger was created in Louisville, Kentucky. Charles Kaelin invented the cheeseburger in 1934 to bring extra flavor to his hamburger offering. But he didn’t trademark it. Nope, that honor instead went to Louis Ballast of Humpty Dumpty Drive-In in Denver, who trademarked the name “cheeseburger” in 1935.
To all three men, we thank you for your ingenuity.
The above is just a small sample. There is much more to this story, with a lot of variations going on over many generations, about who did what and what it actually was. Then we have this.
The answer to who invented the hamburger seems almost as challenging. Check out the links below. They are a good start!
Greetings. We have been hearing from a lot of you asking us to post more classic hats. We talked about it and agreed that the best way to ensure that we do this is to give the classic hat its own day. We decided on Monday. Why only one day? Because there are not nearly the number of classic hats as there are fashion hats.
The Hats
We have two wonderful Cecily classics for you today featuring animal print in two distinctively different patterns and colorways.
The first Cecily classic hat features an animal print in gray and teal on a white background with a deep brim is in matching gray. It is just wonderful.
The second Cecily classic hat was created in a deep, rich golden yellow and patterned throughout with a white animal print that Vivian created. If you take a close look you will see she included little hearts. Darling.
These hats can be worn anywhere, at any time of the year, for virtually any occasion. We hope they brings you a ‘Hatful of Smiles’™.
P.S. Our folks checked again and found that we do have enough classic hats to see us through the year. Hooray! — HH
Vivian created a new picture hat for Hattingdon to wear for the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby. It is made with her traditional, signature red roses. Here she is modeling it for us.
Hattingdon has never looked prettier. We are betting she will be prettiest horse at the Derby! Some interesting Derby facts coming up below.
About the Derby
The Kentucky Derby is the longest running sporting event in the U.S. Among the many interesting facts about the Derby are:
The trophy which goes to the winner is made of real gold.
The red rose is the official flower of the Kentucky Derby. There are 554 roses in the winner’s garland, dating back to 1896. Each rose represents the renewal of life and endurance required to finish first in the demanding 1 ¼ mile race.
The rose garland weighs more than 40 pounds.
The Derby has an official cocktail—the mint julep.
Hattingdon 