Red Hat Society
Overview
The Red Hat society is an international society of women primarily for women 50+, although it has opened membership to younger members. This society is meant to encourage older women to stay active and healthy. This is quite useful in aging years as retirement sets in and depression often follows. It is quite beneficial to establish a community of people in this stage of their life as they seek fun new activities to try in their retirement. These activities can range from cruises to museum visits. Although only women are allowed to be a part of the organization, on very rare occasions events are organized to include members' families such as cruises where husbands may be allowed or bowling with grandkids.
The Red Hat Society has simple rules including that women above the age of 50 in the group must wear purple with a red hat and women under the age of 50 must wear lavender with a pink hat. Additionally, no meetings are allowed, only "gatherings," "hoots," or a variety of other terms. However, these rules are likely not well enforced as members of the HmmmDingers chapter referenced attending monthly meetings.
Societal Benefits
According to Debra Granich, the CEO of the group, "What we're trying to do is get the world to know how important we are to society and the economy." This is an interesting idea. Although the National Institute of Health (NIH) has published a paper under the supposition that an older population is bad for the economy, they discovered that "economic slowdowns attributable to population ageing are avoidable through policy interventions supporting healthy and active aging." These interventions can not only be accomplished through policy mandates, but also through private associations such as the Red Hat Society. Senior Citizens Inc. reported that people over the age of 50 spent 56¢ out of every $1 and are anticipated to spend 61¢ out of every $1 by 2050 due to the increase in an older population.
Founding
The organization celebrated its 25th anniversary back in April of 2023 according to U.S. News. Sparse information is available regarding the organization as it seems to prefer to remain relatively secretive. However, based on a wikipedia article the society was founded at a tea party on April 25, 1998. The group was founded by Sue Ellen Cooper who bought a bunch of her friends red hats in the previous months after being inspired by the poem "Warning" by Jenny Joseph. The group boasted 11,490 chapters by September of 2003, just over 5 years since its founding. At that time it was reported that at least 50 new chapters were added every day.
"Ode to the Red Hat Society"
By: Sue Ellen Cooper
A poet put it very well. She said when she was older,
She wouldn’t be so meek and mild. She threatened to get bolder.
She’d put a red hat on her head, and purple on her shoulder.
She’d make her life a warmer place, her golden years much golder.
We read that poem, all of us, and grasped what she is saying.
We do not need to sit and knit, although we all are graying.
We think about what we can do. Our plans we have been laying.
Instead of working all the time, we’ll be out somewhere playing.
We take her colors to our hearts, and then we all go shopping
For purple clothes and hats of red, with giant brims a-flopping.
We’re tired of working all the time, and staying home and mopping.
We order pies and chocolate fudge, and rich desserts with topping.
We crown ourselves as duchesses and countesses and queens.
We prove that playing dress-up isn’t just for Halloween.
We drape ourselves in jewels, feathers, boas, and sateen.
We see ourselves on television and in magazines.
We laugh, we cry, we hug a lot. We keep each other strong.
When one of us goes out for fun, the rest all go along.
We gad about, we lunch and munch, in one big happy throng.
We’ve found the place where we fit in, the place we all belong.
Source: redhatsociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021_handbook.pdf
"Warning"
By: Jenny Joseph
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practise a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
Source: https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/warning/