Hats at the Ranger Inn in Chicago-- Part 1: Go Off to War, Leave Your Hat

From the August 16, 2015, Chicago Tribune "10 things you might not know about Chicago Taverns" by Mark Jacob and Stephan Benzkofer.

I listed all of them on my Cooter's History Thing blog the last several days.

In 1941, the Ratcliffe family threw a party at its Rogers Park bar, the Ranger Inn, for a relative who was going into the Army.  That GI left his civilian hat at the bar, saying he would reclaim it when he was out of the service.

For the next four years, more than 400 people hung their hats there as they went off to war.  When peace came, the bar held a hat-claiming party.  Those hats that went unclaimed were disposed of in a bonfire.  The American Legion held a memorial service for three hat owners who never returned from the war.

--GreGen