The Church Usher Who Mistook a Fedora for a Faux Pas
A Sunday evening service at North Baptist Church ended in laughter after an overzealous usher attempted to enforce decorum on a woman in a Derby hat.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
An usher in the North Baptist Church, on Christopher street, caused a sensation one Sunday evening. As the pastor, Rev. J. J. Brenner, entered the pulpit, he was shocked by a sudden outburst of mirth in the choir gallery. Two young persons, wearing ulsters and Derby hats, had been shown to seats. The usher was surprised when only one of them removed his hat. He waited some time for the offending head-covering to be removed, and then reached over the back of a pew and removed it himself. Immediately he discovered, as did many other persons, that the wearer was a young lady and therefore entitled to wear a hat in church. Above the noise of the organ’s voluntary rose the involuntary mirth of many of the congregation.
“The usher was surprised when only one of them removed his hat. He waited some time for the offending head-covering to be removed, and then reached over the back of a pew and removed it himself.”
This incident captures the rigid, often humorless nature of gender-coded etiquette in public spaces of the era. It serves as a lighthearted reminder that the 'policing' of attire and behavior in communal spaces, such as churches or public gatherings, has long been a source of social friction and unintended comedy.
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