Are Witch Hats Antisemitic?

Halloween is a time of trick, treats, and culturally insensitive costumes. A bad Halloween costume can do more than just make you look lazy- it can get you cancelled. Native Americans, Geishas, and Southern Belle costumes have gotten people cooler than you cancelled by social media. Should the classic witch's hat be added to the list of cancellable costumes?

The origin of the witch's hat is a historical ball of string, and it's been said that witch hats were inspired by anti-Semitic laws in medieval Europe. Let's look into the witch's hat. When it was first seen atop a witch's head, what inspired it, and if you are wearing an anti-Semitic dog whistle this year for your night of tricks and treats.

That's what you're in for today on Impolite Society.

Sources:

https://jewishunpacked.com/the-weird-jewish-hats-of-medieval-art-antisemitic-trope-or-fashion-statement/

Email us your impolite questions at rude@impolitesocietypodcast.com and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.

Laura: 0:11

Halloween is a time of trick, treats, and culturally insensitive costumes. A bad Halloween costume can do more than just make you look lazy. It can get you cancelled. Native Americans, Geishas, and Southern belle costumes have gotten people cooler than you cancelled by social media. Should the classic witch's hat be added to the list of cancellable costumes? The origin of the witch's hat is a historical ball of string, and it's been said that witch hats were inspired by anti Semitic laws in medieval Europe. Let's look into the witch's hat. When it was first seen atop a witch's head, what inspired it? And if you are wearing an anti Semitic dog whistle this year for your night of tricks and treats, that's what you're in for today on Impolite Society. I'm Laura.

Rachel: 1:44

I'm the other one.

Laura: 1:45

Also known as Rachel.

Rachel: 1:47

that's me. Ten points if you can tell our voices apart.

Laura: 1:52

And this is the podcast that explores the taboo, the obscure and the macabre shit that you know you love. This is Impolite Society and hopefully that hook got you and you are going to keep listening to the end where I answer this question of life. If witches hats are anti semitic, no one wants to get cancelled for Halloween costumes, so boom! Owned! I got you now, fuckers. You gotta keep listening to the end to find out.

Rachel: 2:19

For Halloween this year, I'm gonna go as cancelled.

Laura: 2:23

Ha ha ha! Do you just like a big, like, blur face? Twitter followers? Zero.

Rachel: 2:28

Yeah, and like a lot of

Laura: 2:29

There's like a billion. Yeah. That's actually not a bad costume.

Rachel: 2:34

I think we decided it. Let's make it happen.

Laura: 2:38

I'm gonna be Mario for Halloween, cause... That's how we roll in this house. We're all about the Super Mario Brothers. I decided I'm gonna be the shorter, squatter one. Austin's gonna be the taller, thinner Luigi. And Charlotte's gonna be Princess Peach. And the baby's gonna be Toad.

Rachel: 2:54

One time I dressed up as Mario for a blind date night party thing with my sorority. I was Mario and my blind date was Luigi. And then... I had just broken up with my high school boyfriend literally the night before and so I just made, made out with that guy for, for like forever. Like we

Laura: 3:14

Did you have a mustache and did it keep, like, getting in your

Rachel: 3:16

No, no, I was actually like a really cute Mario, whichever one I

Laura: 3:20

Were you a sexy

Rachel: 3:22

I had overalls and then I had like a red t shirt that I had like rolled up to make it cropped.

Laura: 3:27

you were a

Rachel: 3:28

And because I was like going through the drama of breaking up with your high school boyfriend, I was so skinny at the time. I hadn't eaten for like a week. Ah, so skinny and so drunk and so sloppy making out with this dude at the party. What a life.

Laura: 3:45

All right. I chose this topic because one day I was driving around and I was thinking about witch's hats, as one does, and I just wondered, like, what is this all about? It's a very distinctive hat. No witch costume is complete without it. Without it, you're just a woman in black. And so I'm sitting here thinking, where the hell did this come from? What I didn't think when I was considering the witch's hat was how many other pointed hats there are in our world. Because I was sitting there, I was like, oh, witch's hats are pointy. There's not any other pointed hats. Ah, wrong! throw a stone. There are truly a fuck ton of them. So, what pointy hats in our world can you think of, Rachel?

Rachel: 4:29

Well, the first and foremost that I think of, because I have a birthday party that I am planning, are those cute little party hats that are like a cone, and sometimes they have a fuzzy on the top, And they got that plastic that goes under your chin and you feel like you're in some kind of non consensual BDSM situation.

Laura: 4:47

And I did look into the paper birthday hat slash new year's hat. That's a very popular new year's hat. So it's like a celebration style pointy hat. Uh, nobody knows where the hell that came from, but good, good call out. That is a distinctive pointy hat. What else you got?

Rachel: 5:01

Oh man, I didn't know I was gonna be on a quiz show. Um, okay. I also remember for Halloween, since it's top of mind, one year I was a princess and I had a big, tall, pointy cone hat that went with it with like a little streamer that followed behind

Laura: 5:20

scarf y kind of thing. Yeah, that is called the Hennon and we will get into that one when we talk about some histories and theories about the cone hat, the cone

Rachel: 5:31

the hat of cones. Okay, well now that you say cone hat, that also reminds me of like another use of it. And I'm thinking, a different holiday, the Christmas story. I feel like there was a scene where Ralphie was like sitting in the corner and he had this tall, white cone hat on. maybe I'm making that up, but I believe it was the same era. It was like the dunce cap.

Laura: 5:53

Yeah, Dunce, Duncecap, Dunce, hat. I, there was not one in the Christmas story, but you're, you're spot on. That thing absolutely existed. And I also looked into this one. This one needed its own episode. It is super fucking interesting. But yes, that is another pointed hat from antiquity. What else You

Rachel: 6:10

You know what children need more of these days? Just public shaming. Just put them in the corner with a dunce hat on. Ha ha! Um... Thinking, thinking.

Laura: 6:21

a dun

Rachel: 6:23

oh, oh, can I say this? Like a white pointy hat that also brings to mind some imagery. Do you know what I'm saying? White pointy hat that has a hood and maybe like a burning cross. It's like a clansman hat. Does that count as a pointing hat?

Laura: 6:39

It is, it is a pointy hat, and that one is very anti Semitic, we can, uh, you know, definitively say on that pointed hat, definitely anti Semitic, but, fun fact, they totally stole that

Rachel: 6:53

From the Bald Knobbers?

Laura: 6:56

No, the bald knobbers have a different, but the also pointy hats for the bald knobbers, they've got two little pointy horns, just like devil horns. but the clan, they totally stole that from Spanish Catholics. Like if you look up, um, Spanish Catholic, Hats or something, it's going to come up cause it's weird. It's, it's exactly a Klansman outfit and it's called the Capriote. I don't know. I don't speak Spanish and it is the exact costume it's used to signify punishments or penances in the, in Spanish Catholic culture. but yeah, another pointed hat. I feel like you got, you got one more left in you. You can do it. You can do it. This is like a popular one. You see them a lot.

Rachel: 7:38

I see them a lot. Where might I see them?

Laura: 7:41

Fantasy. Um, little people wear them.

Rachel: 7:46

Little people. Oh, oh! Would I maybe see it in a garden?

Laura: 7:52

Yes.

Rachel: 7:53

Okay. Okay. Um, this is definitely ringing a bell because I'm a big Sims 4 fan and like the new Sims 4 world. Sometimes these little gnomes pop up and they always

Laura: 8:03

Oh, do they come

Rachel: 8:04

They just like show up in your house and move around and it's bizarre and it's kind of scary. So I'm gonna say like gnomes, right? Like I'm thinking like the Keebler elves Like little mythical men.

Laura: 8:18

Yeah. So like this is the the little people hat. So no, a garden gnome statues They wear them. Snow Wives little dwarves wear them. Smurfs. They wear them too. Tiny people hats. It's like this little

Rachel: 8:30

want to be big. I wear

Laura: 8:36

Big pointy hat so this is the Phrygian cap and we're going to talk a lot about them too. So that was good. Applause for Rachel and her

Rachel: 8:46

Laura: 8:46

hat recollection.

Rachel: 8:48

I studied up on pointy hats. No, just kidding.

Laura: 8:52

So the point that I had was that hats, I mean, they're, they're pointy all over the damn place. There's nothing unique or special about a hat being pointy, which is really one of the big reasons that it's hard to nail down why this is THE hat for witches. Capital T, capital H. It is just like THE hat. Because some of these cone hats... are good, like princesses and birthday hats, and some of them are bad, like witches and dunce caps and clansmen hats. So everything in this world's hats are tricky and it's complicated to find out what is going on here. But the imagery of a witchy woman in a tall pointy black hat started 1720s in America and England. And these first came into these little penny children's books, you know, like little storybooks and things like that, and they quickly started to spread, and this is not a European thing. This is something to note. Those on the continent, so in Spain and, uh, France and, you know,

Rachel: 9:56

the homeland of witches

Laura: 9:59

Exactly. They have their own folklore of what a witch looks like, and it is not a tall, black, pointy hat. They've got, like, scarves around their heads. You know, Baba Yaga, she doesn't wear a pointy witch hat.

Rachel: 10:11

I Was gonna say they have houses with chicken feet. You know, they're subtle. They're way more subtle

Laura: 10:18

exactly. So before these 1700s illustrations, witches were usually drawn as being naked, wearing bonnets or scarves, and dancing around fires, not cauldrons. Like that wasn't the imagery.

Rachel: 10:32

I like that even though they're nude, they're like, I got to keep my neck warm. You know, I

Laura: 10:36

Oh no, they were headscarves. They were headscarves, like

Rachel: 10:38

Oh, over their head and their face. Okay.

Laura: 10:41

So as a reference point, because I was looking this up, I was like, I need to orient myself in time here. So when were the Salem witch trials? They

Rachel: 10:50

got this AP US history. I want to say they were in the late 1600s.

Laura: 10:55

you would be correct.

Rachel: 10:56

That was the essay I had to write something about America in the 1600s. And my teacher said, they never asked questions about the 1600s. Guess what? We all fucking wrote about the Salem woods trials.

Laura: 11:08

It was 1692 and 1693 where all this came from. So this depiction of the pointy witch hat came after all of that nonsense. So that, it wasn't like, you know, Jane Goody was like, you're a witch, just look at that hat! You know, back in those days.

Rachel: 11:26

I saw Goody Goody Proctor, with the

Laura: 11:28

Goody Proctor, I was like, I'm searching for a name and I couldn't find it. Goody Proctor. I need to rewatch it.

Rachel: 11:41

I held you while you sweated like a stallion.

Laura: 11:44

Ooh, that sounds sexy.

Rachel: 11:46

It is.

Laura: 11:47

It is sexy? Okay, good. I was like, ooh!

Rachel: 11:49

a lot of things that involve the devil and witches are sexy.

Laura: 11:53

Duh! Dancing nude around

Rachel: 11:56

that's literally the opening sequence of The Crucible.

Laura: 11:59

Okay, that was a huge aside, I'm sorry, I got distracted. Okay, back to the research. So, once though this association was made, It was done. It was forever. The witch hat and when that wicked witch of the West appeared on the silver screen Thank you, Frank Baum. It was set in stone

Rachel: 12:20

That's literally the iconic witch with the iconic witch look, right? She paved the way, you know? Well, I guess not.'cause they did that in the 17 hundreds.

Laura: 12:30

Solidified it for everyone ever.

Rachel: 12:33

Yeah. Somebody in the 17 hundreds drew a witch hat on a witch, and I'm just curious to know, how did that happen?

Laura: 12:41

Oh you and a lot of people because it is hard to pin down There are a ton of theories, but I'm gonna start With the Phrygian cap. This is the hat of little people and gnomes. Why? I don't know, but it is the one of gnome, dwarf, and smurf fame.

Rachel: 13:00

They would look taller

Laura: 13:02

Maybe that's it. So this cap, it's like a soft floppy thing. It has a point at the top, but it kind of, yeah, flops forward all lackadaisical.

Rachel: 13:12

Smurfs,

Laura: 13:13

Yeah. And it has an interesting history because to the Greeks, it was the hat of the quote barbarians that they found in Iran, AKA anybody who wasn't Greek, right? The surrounding areas. Yeah. but over another few hundred or a few thousand years, cause who can keep all this fucking ancient, like literal ancient

Rachel: 13:34

anything that happened before the last, you know, a thousand years. Who the fuck knows I even the last fucking thousand years fuzzy what happened yesterday.

Laura: 13:42

Yeah. Who knows? Truth is in the eye of the beholder.

Rachel: 13:45

It's a mystery.

Laura: 13:46

But so the Greeks, they turned into Romans and in Rome, some cult of mysticism started wearing those hats, those floppy Phrygian hats. So somewhere down the line, it got associated with weirdos, but then, plot twist, it became the Liberty Cap, because Romans assigned it to freed slaves to wear, like when they

Rachel: 14:13

So they knew they were former slaves.

Laura: 14:16

Yeah, but also it was a point of pride for people like, yeah, I used to be, but I ain't no more. This is all about my freedom. And it was picked up by French and American revolutionaries as a symbolic hat in the 1700s. You'll see it in a lot of imagery from France and early United States. But the 1700s is around when those witches started to be drawn wearing the hat. So I think we're going to call that bunk because it's just too, like, it was. Associated with weirdos back in Roman times and then picked up again in the 1700s as a liberty cap, but then they're saying oh, that's maybe where the inspiration came from. No, like it's all around the zeitgeist in America and Britain as like this is the liberty hat. Oh. but I'm gonna remember a thousand years ago when these weirdos in Rome wore it.

Rachel: 15:07

But what if it was the British people who were like, Oh, these weirdos are trying to be

Laura: 15:12

no, they took it themselves, like we, like the, the Americans were like, yeah, we like this hat. And

Rachel: 15:18

No, but what if the, it thought, did it, the pointy hat start in England or did it start in America?

Laura: 15:24

uh, it started with the Rome, oh, the, the pointed hat was in America and England cause at that time we're the same.

Rachel: 15:30

Cause I thought it was like a diss. It was like a diss on Americans like, Oh, they're walking around with their little liberty caps. No. But that is an interesting thought that what the weirdos wear could then become a mythological symbol of the future. So like, what would be that symbol of weirdos for the future? Would it be like giant wallet chains? And like baggy black pants? And

Laura: 15:53

hat.

Rachel: 15:55

the trucker hat?

Laura: 15:57

I fucking hate that shit.

Rachel: 16:00

That's just Laura's personal preference. That's not like what weirdos wear. I don't know. We, we're, we're the weirdos, I guess.

Laura: 16:08

I mean, I wear like wide brimmed hats whenever possible. I have a hard brimmed one that I wear very rarely because it is very hard to drive in and it will fall off my head all the damn time, but I think it looks really cool, but I don't wear it very

Rachel: 16:23

But is that a point, is that a point, of differentiation between the witch's hat and all these other hats? Is that the witch's hat does have a wide brim.

Laura: 16:31

Yes, that is a unique thing, because pointy is one thing. No, no, no, you didn't. I think that's a good point. Because, I mean, hats, they have several components. They have the top, and then they have the brimmy section. The Phrygian cap has no brim. It is literally like a cap. It just kind of sits on your head. And that is distinctive about it. So let's go into another theory that does have a brim. And so this... It's a theory that witch hats come from the alewives of medieval times. These were women who home brewed and sold beer in the streets. I'm sorry, uh, what is that? This is a woman who could make some money without a man? Uh,

Rachel: 17:16

oh. uh oh. Better shut that shit down.

Laura: 17:19

And these women who did that, they would also wear these tall black hats, not pointed, but tall and flat on the top with a wide brim in the marketplace to be easily found by the town drunks.

Rachel: 17:34

of course. I mean, you got to make known what you're selling, right? And you got to know your target audience. Marketing.

Laura: 17:41

Get yourself a gimmick, get yourself a gimmick, if you wanna get a hurl. Okay, so that's what those alewives started to wear and then there was a plague, the black one, particularly. People started to think that these women, oh gosh, they're poisoning people. Because they're weirdos that are outside of societal norms and therefore can't be trusted. Women making money on their own.

Rachel: 18:08

They're married to the ale.

Laura: 18:11

Yeah, contributing to, you know, drunkenness around you and all that. Though in medieval times, it probably didn't have that. stigma because literally every water was a little bit alcoholic,

Rachel: 18:23

Otherwise, you really get a plague.

Laura: 18:24

exactly. And that's what they're saying, oh, they're poisoning people. And I'm like, well, I mean, they probably did poison some people with their shitty brew techniques and contaminated water, but that's a sign of the times and not an indictment of alewives.

Rachel: 18:39

Everybody was getting poisoned a little bit every day, you know?

Laura: 18:42

Exactly.

Rachel: 18:43

Welcome to medieval Europe where you sleep in the pig filth and the streets run with shit.

Laura: 18:48

Welcome to dysentery land.

Rachel: 18:51

It's magical. Let's go back to the good old days. Let's make the world medieval again.

Laura: 18:56

Uh It is theorized that the 1700s England and America, they took that image of the tall black hat of the alewives, made it pointy to look like a devil horn.

Rachel: 19:09

Oh, of course, the one horn sticking out of the devil's

Laura: 19:12

hmm.

Rachel: 19:12

I remember that. I remember it

Laura: 19:14

ha ha ha! And, And, took that image of them poised over a brewing kettle or a cauldron Boom. Witches. Witch hat bitches.

Rachel: 19:26

Okay, this one tracks. this one there's a lot of things lining up here.

Laura: 19:31

It sounds like it. You see those images, the alewives especially, you're like, ooh, I feel like this could be legit. But, I'm sorry, no, people way more versed in this stuff, the historical fashion and things like that, they say that it's bunk. The time span between those two is way too long. So I'm going to believe those experts, and I'm sorry Vice. I don't think you got it right.

Rachel: 19:57

Oh, from Vice, that was the one.

Laura: 20:00

Oh, it wasn't just Vice, there was a lot of different articles about it, but there are like uber nerds who are like really into historical dress that were calling bullshit on it. Like at least I saw two articles that called Bullshit on it and I was like, okay, I'm gonna believe that Uber Nerds and that this one doesn't check this. The sniff test

Rachel: 20:18

But, total badass for the original Brewers being women. Like, good, good, good on our gender, you know?

Laura: 20:26

making that silla. Yeah, I'm, I'm a hundred percent for it. Anybody who sloughs societal norms.

Rachel: 20:33

beer. is such like a man thing. It's a man thing these days,

Laura: 20:37

yeah, homebrew kits and all that

Rachel: 20:40

yeah. Before beer was brewed by tubby men in their late thirties and forties with

Laura: 20:47

their garage.

Rachel: 20:49

and handlebar mustaches and thick beards, it was brewed by lovely ladies that literally married the art. of creating alcohol.

Laura: 21:01

Or more likely, they probably married a man who died early and they're like fucking hell, I got kids I gotta keep alive. What can I do?

Rachel: 21:09

Put me in front of a cauldron,

Laura: 21:11

Give me that fucking hat. I'm selling this shit.

Rachel: 21:14

Well, the next time I go to a beer festival, I'm dressing up like an alewife. That's all I'm

Laura: 21:18

I like that. That's fun. Maybe we should go to the Renaissance Festival dressed as

Rachel: 21:22

Leave the lederhosen behind. It's all about the alewives.

Laura: 21:28

But look up the pictures of alewives, like, and you, you'll be like, Oh, okay. I can see I can see where this comes from.

Rachel: 21:34

I'm already there. I literally have it pulled up right now.

Laura: 21:37

Yep. Okay. The next theory is the Henon. That's that tall princess hat with the little scarf. And it does look a lot like a witch's hat. Make it black, add a brim, voila. So these hats. As you can imagine, princess hats, they were indicative of nobility status. And I read a few articles that said it was possible that with the inquisition and all these accusations of heresy and witchcraft, which were often thrown at women, caused it to be the inspiration for witches hats. So women. Especially pretty women equals danger. A woman who can seduce you with her magic pussy. Ooh, that girl, she's evil. She's a witch.

Rachel: 22:23

I think every pussy is magic, so watch out men and lesbians.

Laura: 22:29

devil horns on the pussy.

Rachel: 22:32

Oh, I think that that is probably some kind of fungus that you should get looked

Laura: 22:37

Look at. her.

Rachel: 22:40

Laura: 22:40

But, again, on this one, the timeline does not add up. Two to three hundred years later, these children books authors decided to use the Henon? Mmm, no.

Rachel: 22:51

At just, I was also just like, what was the jump there? The heresy and witchcraft and then like, oh, so I witch fair People will blame the devil for a lot of things that they get caught doing. So they're like, oh, that lady with her tall hat, she was, you know, sent to by that guy. And then, um, and then they put them. On trial. Again, it's a bit of a stretch.

Laura: 23:16

it absolutely is, But, like, you know that look, the medieval look where, like, the two humps on the, on the head, kind of, like, covered by a scarf? Or, or think, like, Maleficent? Yeah, think Maleficent. Those were popular at the time with nobility, um, and then, you know, this more, Draconian time comes along Spanish Inquisition where we're saying everybody's a fucking heretic and oh, look at those Those look like devil horns.

Rachel: 23:45

Oh, yeah, that's fair. that's fair. I just, what a whimsical life it would have. Giant horns on your head, day to day wear. Man, I can't even be bothered to brush my hair most days.

Laura: 23:59

Nobility that doesn't have jack shit to do that's like like freaking in Downton Abbey people living in their goddamn giant Uh, mansions in the 1900s had people to dress them and the rest of us were like trying to, you know, get our lives together. And they're sitting there in their Sunday best every night eating dinner because that's all they had to do.

Rachel: 24:20

Times haven't changed that much. You know, look at what rich people wear today. It's just as crazy. It's not even just their clothes, they just put a bunch of plastic in their ass. So,

Laura: 24:30

Who puts, oh, literally plastic in their butt cheeks? Yeah,

Rachel: 24:34

Yeah, you you did the episode on it.

Laura: 24:37

I know, it took me, I'm like plastic in their ass, I'm like picturing butt plugs, and then I was like, oh, Oh. actually in their ass cheeks. Oh, I'm sure that they do,

Rachel: 24:47

Because once you have enough time and money and power, you gotta raise the bar to get a thrill.

Laura: 24:52

and, and, sidebar, that's where like all our inspiration comes from, right? Like our life inspiration of like this is how we're supposed to be living comes from celebrities and, and influencers where they have more money than we could ever dream of having. And we're supposed to chase that dream and buy all this shit. Ugh.

Rachel: 25:09

Oh yeah. Oh my gosh, can you imagine the medieval influencers wearing like a fucking henin and then the rest of us are buying like these really cheap felt henins off shen or like some asian copy and they're flapping all over the place.

Laura: 25:24

The wish. com version.

Rachel: 25:26

Oh god, shot like a billionaire. Shop like the Lord of Dunbury!

Laura: 25:35

So next one. This is the click baby one that you've been waiting for. Is it anti Semitic? To understand this, we've got to go way back to the beginning of our second millennia, the year 1000. This was a time where there were very few books, there was no printing presses, and every book had to be printed. Be painstakingly written and illustrated. So every book out there had some weight to it.

Rachel: 26:07

Every book ever created was written by some virgin in a castle somewhere.

Laura: 26:13

Yes. And, and these books had weight literally and figuratively. Most of these books were religious texts because nobody else had time, you know, to sit there and write things except for fucking virgins in their tower who were getting paid by the church to sit there and draw this fucking book.

Rachel: 26:33

What a life.

Laura: 26:34

So our ability to understand why things were drawn the way that they were in this time frame is very, very fuzzy. There is, uh, there's a really great video. It's linked to the show notes. It's really interesting. It is by Jewish unpack calm awesome awesome video and They were talking about these texts and that there's this Jewish text this book out there Where all the people in it are birds. It's made by Jews for Jews. They're all drawn as birds

Rachel: 27:10

birds.

Laura: 27:12

They're all drawn as birds in clothing doing daily tasks. Why? I don't know. Nobody knows.

Rachel: 27:19

So, my guess is that the, the virgin they had locked up making it, he's like, I'm really bad at drawing people, but you know what I got down?

Laura: 27:26

I'm birds.

Rachel: 27:27

Fuckin birds. I can draw a bird, like, look at this. This bird is exactly how you see a bird in your day to day life. And they're like, you know what? Fuck it. Go with it. Just give it a pointy hat.

Laura: 27:39

So in this year, in, in 1000, this hat, this Juden hat started to pop up in religious texts. And it's not a yarmulke because when you think Jewish hat, right? You think of the yarmulke. Yeah.

Rachel: 27:54

Like a little bowl,

Laura: 27:55

Yeah. Exactly, but this is not that. This looks a little bit more like a Phrygian cap, of the dwarf fame, but without that little cute fold. It's just like a little pointy hat. And in some of these texts, a lot of religious figures are wearing it. And in other texts, it's just the religious figures from the Old Testament, a. k. a. the Jews. And then in, in later texts, a few, like 50 or a hundred years later, it was worn in some imagery by the Jews who were killing Christ. So we got into that anti Semitic, like Jews killed Christ, not the Romans. Wait a minute. Romans, Jews, who knows? Difference doesn't matter.

Rachel: 28:38

I mean, I think it was the Romans who actually did the killing, but it was the Jews who were like, yeah, take him. We want the murderer back, you know?

Laura: 28:47

Yeah. Yeah. Details. Details. Uh,

Rachel: 28:49

And they were all wearing pointy hats

Laura: 28:52

apparently.

Rachel: 28:53

and some of them were birds.

Laura: 28:55

So it gave this pointy hat, the Juden hat, a bad reputation. And so no one really knows if Jews actually wore them in this time period, or if it was artistic license, some sort of like indication of like, Oh, this pointy hat like means this person is enlightened. And then later it was supposed to be like, Oh, this person is Jewish because they're the ones who are killing Christ. Nobody knows.

Rachel: 29:20

if you want to connect the dots on funky hats and religion, look no further than the Catholics. I mean, big weird hats are kind of a part of the dogma of religion in

Laura: 29:34

like this tall, like Honestly, it's a little pointy there at the

Rachel: 29:38

the Cardinals, like they all have funky hats. I mean, no surprise that the Jews had funky hats too.

Laura: 29:46

Yeah, everyone's gotta get down with their hat, their hat game. That's why I wear such unique hats. I'm just like, you know, I gotta stand out.

Rachel: 29:53

Well, yeah, because you have the wealth to display. In the form of having fancy hats, you know, the rest of us plebes are just toiling away

Laura: 30:02

I have four hat boxes in my closet. With multiple hats in them.

Rachel: 30:08

I have zero hat boxes in my closet.

Laura: 30:11

Do you need to be lent some hat boxes?

Rachel: 30:14

No, because I don't have any hats to put in

Laura: 30:16

Well, then you need some hats. Okay, so fast forward about 300 years, so 1267, some church council in Europe, again, the continent decided that to identify themselves, all Jews had to wear a version of this hat. And I. I think if I'm, I didn't write it down, but I'm pretty sure that this is in Belgium, like so right next to Germany, so that they could ID those sneaky, sneaky Jews on site. Cause I mean, I don't think it comes to surprise to anybody like anti Semitism is not a new thing. It has been running through history as long as there has been Christians and Jews and truly. Uh, this hat that they said that they had to wear on site, it is a fashion crime. It is really fucking dumb looking. Okay. It is. It's like a, sorry, game piece on the head. So like it's like a wide brimm, And then it slopes upward to a point, but then the point extends and there's a little. Little knob and ball on

Rachel: 31:22

Oh no.

Laura: 31:24

And so these countries all over Europe, not just Belgium, but in the surrounding areas, they adopted this mandatory Juden hat around the 17th century and 100 years later in the 1700s in America, that's when you start to see witches in pointy hats appearing in drawings.

Rachel: 31:44

I mean, this sounds, this, the evidence is stacking up, but I will also just say, I cannot imagine loving any god enough to look like a fucking fool

Laura: 31:55

Yeah, it really does. It looks

Rachel: 31:56

in in his name, but, this, this is tracking and knowing how, uh, uh, history has been to the, the Jews, I, I, um, It tracks, let's just say it tracks.

Laura: 32:10

Yeah, because a lot of the tales that we tell about witches were the same ones that they used to tell about Jews. You know, they ate children, they sacrificed people, they drink adrenochrome, wait a minute, that one might be a little bit newer from the QAnon fame, but it's all the same shit.

Rachel: 32:31

kind of like what I learned in the Satan episode, which is the same, it's like kind of the same with religion in general.

Laura: 32:38

Rolling Stone. Picks up anything it don't like. Everything old is new again. So QAnon is picking up all this same shit. We're sacrificing children. We're drinking blood. We're doing all this kind of stuff. We're stealing their power. They used to say this about Jews. Now we say this about the rich elite.

Rachel: 32:56

That, that don't tread on me tramp stamp is really talking through the microphone tonight.

Laura: 33:03

I just want to clarify, I do not have a Don't Try It On Me tramp stamp. Also, I do not associate with QAnon with Don't Try It On Me. Other people might. I do not. It's a separate thing. To me. Not all Republican things or right wing things are all glumped together, Rachel.

Rachel: 33:21

I just want to be clear to clear, clear the air here. I do love and follow Satan. So okay, let's keep going.

Laura: 33:27

Alright.

Rachel: 33:28

So this is sounding very bad for the pointy witch hat. It sounds like y'all are a bunch of anti Semites and I'm going to call. Is there any kind of Jewish

Laura: 33:38

Oh. I'm sure there is. I don't know what it is. I'm not a Jew, but I imagine

Rachel: 33:42

We live in a very, uh, not.

Laura: 33:45

Jewish area.

Rachel: 33:46

yeah, I was going to say not affluent part of the country, so we don't know a lot of Jews. Sorry. We're poor.

Laura: 33:54

But the problem with this theory is the witch's hat is a British and American thing. It is not a European thing where these Uden hats were worn and mandated. And I think a lot of Americans, myself included, Think of Britain as being a part of Europe, but it truly it isn't. And then that's Brexit aside. It's a whole different continent. The culture and the influences are way, way different.

Rachel: 34:23

Oh, a hundred percent. They don't want to be a part of it.

Laura: 34:26

No, they're doing their own thing. They're, they're British. And we take America. We take a lot of our. Cultural cues from Britain, as opposed to Europe on the continent. So nobody can say for sure, but I'm pretty sure, and most, again, other experts that I've, uh, consulted, aka read articles on, agree that this one is probably bunk. Witch hats are not anti Semitic, at least not in the way that anyone is sure about or can prove. So, hey, wear that witch's hat, whatever, crisis averted, don't get cancelled, you're fine.

Rachel: 35:00

But when has the facts ever been important to cancel cancellation? You know, if somebody says this could be, this could be that. Your dunzo. So let's just, the next time when you go out on Halloween and you see like a little girl in a little sexy witch costume, just say, Mmm, Canceled. Somebody with the wizard cap? Gandalf? Canceled. Gandalf is Antisemitic. Um, the sorting hat and Harry Potter? Canceled. So Antisemitic. It might as well be white and pointy.

Laura: 35:36

I have a different theory about what is going on here. Uh, where the hashtag inspo for this hat that became the hat for witches. There's one last theory. This is the one that I would put my My money on it makes the most sense and that comes down to oatmeal my friends

Rachel: 35:57

Oh, I do like a good steel cut oat.

Laura: 36:01

Who doesn't and who makes the best steel cut oats?

Rachel: 36:04

guy who wears a tri cornered

Laura: 36:07

It is not a tri corner hat look at it It is not it's a Quaker Quakers are the guy in the box wears a wide brimmed Black hat. It's not pointy, but it is very wide and very black. It's a little bit tall, but flat at the top, and it is a pretty, yeah, it is a pretty fly fuckin hat. But, it was also quite the controversy in its time. So let's talk about Quakers, my friends.

Rachel: 36:39

I actually really like Quaker, so I'm ready for this convo.

Laura: 36:42

I love Quakers. I haven't really, I've got a lot of thoughts about Quakers. Okay. I did. I did. I looked it up. I looked up some, like, Quaker gatherings and then I read about them and I'm like, this sounds a little intimidating. I don't know that I could do it. Okay. So Quakers. Also known as the Religious Society of Friends. They literally called each other friends. Everybody is friend, which is, I mean, adorable. And they are Protestant Christians who split from the Church of England around 1650. So if you're tracking England, America, 1650, we're like right in that sweet spot of American and English.

Rachel: 37:21

but that's still like a hundred years after the Church of England was established.

Laura: 37:26

Yeah. Yeah. But we're closer

Rachel: 37:28

know my Henry VIII knowledge.

Laura: 37:31

we're closer to the 1720s, which is around when these witch hats came about

Rachel: 37:35

It's enough time for it to like simmer and hit that association.

Laura: 37:40

Exactly.

Rachel: 37:42

association.

Laura: 37:43

So cultural associations, not appropriations. so Quakers, they do not believe in creeds. They do not believe in hierarchical religious structures. They believe that the light of God is within all of us. They had women preachers. And they told everyone that they were priests in their own rights. They did not need a man on a pulpit to give them God's message. And as you can imagine, this was not well received by the churches at the time. Threat, scary, red lights, people telling you you don't need a man above you telling you what to do and giving you tithings to. Oh, we

Rachel: 38:25

that threat, threat level midnight. Um, but these really are the hashtag good guy Christians. So, good for them. Good for the Religious Society of Friends.

Laura: 38:35

Yeah. And Quaker, just a little side note, Quaker, uh, quote, worship ceremonies are often entirely silent or people just sit in a room together and then people randomly blurt things out. And I'm like, I don't know that I can do that. Like, it just sounds too awkward for a stranger to walk in

Rachel: 38:55

No, okay, that sounds familiar. So you have to, like, you wait until you feel in, like, the Holy Spirit. Yeah, compulsed. And, but what if it was just like,

Laura: 39:07

I have to fart.

Rachel: 39:10

Yeah, you're just like looking at somebody in front of you and you're just like, Droopy boobs, man boobs, droopy man boobs. Cause I feel compulsed to say that kind of shit all the time.

Laura: 39:20

Mole, mole, mole, Mole, mole, mole.

Rachel: 39:24

Just like, Just, oh my god, they look like they haven't seen the sun in 50 years. Is that God? Is that God telling me to say that?

Laura: 39:32

Probably not. So Quakers, they also, they don't fight in wars. They have their own way of dress, uh, simple dressings always. Um, they refuse to swear oaths, like oaths to country.

Rachel: 39:46

Or like

Laura: 39:46

like that? Yep, exactly. They oppose slavery and they don't drink. So they are teetotallers. They were generally not liked wherever they went.

Rachel: 39:58

Well, who could like somebody who's not gonna like, swear an oath of allegiance, right? I don't quite know where you stand. You're not gonna have my back in a battle, and you're not gonna say that you believe in the same things that I believe in. And also, we can't get shit faced together. I don't, I don't trust you.

Laura: 40:16

I mean, the inherent human bonding experience, right? You get shit faced and then, like, tell each other your dark secrets and

Rachel: 40:22

That's... like where all my friendships begin.

Laura: 40:25

I know this one did. So, they were in the Americas along with the Puritans in the 1660s, Puritans are not the same as Quakers, I feel like people a lot of times get them confused, and, uh, the Puritans, they killed a bunch of Quakers for heresy because they were teaching Basically, the antithesis of what Puritans believed. Puritans were telling people, listen to your leaders, fall in line, women are subservient to men. And to Quakers,

Rachel: 40:56

In other words, the same shit we're being sold today.

Laura: 40:59

I mean, yeah, I mean, by certain people, by certain people, I don't paint everyone with a broad brush, but I, I feel you.

Rachel: 41:07

This is the same message for the last thousands of years, Laura. Don't act like it's like me being

Laura: 41:14

You're right. You're right. You're right. You're right. Okay, but the, the Quakers, uh, to the Puritans, they were straight from hell. They're threatening this new country, this new way of life, and they tortured them. They drove them out. They executed them.

Rachel: 41:29

America! Fuck yeah!

Laura: 41:32

Not too far to how the witch was to be treated, right?

Rachel: 41:37

No one should suffer a witch, or a pacifist, so let's go on.

Laura: 41:43

To live. Yeah. but the rub Quaker hats, they aren't pointy, but there is some historical hubbub about Quaker hats in general. One of the Quaker founders, George Fox, he refused to take off his hat in the presence of Oliver Cromwell. And if you don't know that name, it might ring some vague bells, prominent English statesman. And when George Fox was asked why, he replied.

Rachel: 42:14

When the Lord sent me forth into this world, he forbade me to put off my hat to any high or low. Such hat Honor was invented by men in the fall and in the alienation from God.

Laura: 42:35

Oh, I like it. That was wonderful. I love that. And so the result of this very impassioned response was to him being imprisoned for three separate occasions of this problem. And in the States, or what would become to be known as the States, because in that timeframe we're not yet an independent country, we are an

Rachel: 42:57

Just a bunch of fucking randos out and a bunch of wilderness

Laura: 43:01

Exactly, the Quakers there, they refused to ever take off their hats in public in solidarity with their founders. So

Rachel: 43:11

again. No, God is worth that level. I take my hat off, take my top off, you know, I'm trying to stay alive.

Laura: 43:19

public, well, that's, but that's the thing, right? These are very principled people, you know, and, and so to them, they said, they said, no, I'm not taking off my hat. This is.

Rachel: 43:32

willing to die

Laura: 43:33

I'm willing to die for it, exactly, Which is

Rachel: 43:36

is kind of ridiculous.

Laura: 43:38

is, but you know, I, I got to respect consistency. It's not my, not my thing, but you know, people do as they do. And, and for me, I think this one is the winner. It fits with the geography. So we're looking at America and England. The timeline fits, Quakers were originated in 1650. Give them 50 years to move over into the United States. make an impression? upon people. There's this hat incident and the big hubbub with the hat. And of course the similarities with the look of the hat, minus the pointiness, persecution of the Quakers. And I think that what happened is just some artists of the day. Took some artistic license, gave that hat a pointy end, again, pointy, symbolizing, you know, devil, devil horn, maybe, according to some people, and bingo, you got yourself a witch's hat and the easiest Halloween costume of all time. If you don't own a witch's hat, do you even Halloween?

Rachel: 44:36

Well, I... I don't think I own a witch's hat, but I do Halloween because I'm, I mean, but okay, so if you're making fun of, not making fun, if the, if it really did come from not liking the Quakers, is that any better than not liking the Jews? Here's the thing. Has America ever not been an equal opportunity prejuder, right? Like, could this be a combination of the Quakers and antisemitism? Like all these people who are different than us slap them together, put them on a witch and burn them at the stake.

Laura: 45:11

I mean, I think that's a good point, but the difference being, of course, there are not a lot of Quakers anymore, like, look it up, it's, it's, there's one. In the whole, like, St. Louis, St. Charles, like, thinking like a whole, uh, yeah, one church in all of the area.

Rachel: 45:27

Quaker. And I was like, that's very bold to put yourself out there like that. Hi, I'm the Quaker.

Laura: 45:34

There is one place in, uh, the St. Louis and surrounding metro areas, uh, that is a active Quaker church. At least the only one that advertises on the internet. And again, not advertises, but it's even listed on the internet. And I know because I looked into it before, cause I was like, I need something

Rachel: 45:54

Honestly, there's more churches devoted to Satan than that in the St. Louis area. No doubt.

Laura: 46:00

And, and way more synagogues, you know? So I mean, the sense of like, okay, where, I mean, could it be an amalgamation of both? Yeah, it, it absolutely could. Uh, the timeline is a little bit sketch, but, the thing is, is like, yeah, people care if it's anti Semitic. People don't care if it's anti Quaker, because there aren't any.

Rachel: 46:20

Well, exactly. But okay, so here's somebody who works in corporate America in a creative field. What happened, I 100%, this is my guess, what happened is some creative made this beautiful design and they sent it to their boss, and their boss was like, I just want it to pop. I just, I just need it to pop more. And so they were like, well, fucking A. And they just drew a triangle and they were like, there you go. it pops. And then by that point they had the customary, um, you know, the appropriate amount of reviews and approval. So they just said, send it out. There you go. And that's where witches came from.

Laura: 46:56

And.

Rachel: 46:59

Middle management, we should make middle managers wear pointy hats so we can identify them and they're packed with the Satan that is 1%.

Laura: 47:12

So that's it! There we have it. That's the super sketch history of the witch's hat. And the short answer to the question at the top is, the witch's hat anti Semitic? No. At least

Rachel: 47:23

not that

Laura: 47:24

else. Exactly! So, wearing a witch's hat, whatever, do it. It might have been inspired by the Utencap, but there's no way to know. It's one of those tropes that is so old, we truly do not know where it came from and where those roots are. Uh, we just have a bunch of theories, so pick what you like, leave the rest, wear what you want, and enjoy your spooky season!

Rachel: 47:51

but if you wear a witch's hat, I'm low key judging you

Laura: 47:55

I have an awesome witch's hat. I loved it. I bought it when I was at a spirit Halloween store in like 2005 I wasn't gonna be a witch that year. I just liked it so much. I was like, I have to have this one I've worn it several times. But yeah, I just I

Rachel: 48:08

well, Okay, I did see witch's hats that were like Made handmade and like handcrafted at the Pagan Festival here at my, by me. Oh, yeah, I was like, okay, I can get behind that because that's made with love,

Laura: 48:22

hmm Well, mine was mass made, but it's still really cool

Rachel: 48:26

And yeah, like if you're wearing it in appreciation, which come on, this day and age, people aren't wearing witches outfits to be like, hee hee those sneaky jews, no, they're like, I'm wearing this because I have crystals in a tarot and I believe in the supernatural, so you know, I guess, you do you. It's just all about intent, as it goes back to all of those costumes that'll get you canceled, it's all about intent. So be witches, dress however you think a witch dresses, but most importantly, be witches.

Laura: 49:03

And also, just throw it on when it's Halloween night and you already had all those parties and you already put on all your makeup for all the parties and then you're like, it's Tuesday, I don't want to put on my Halloween costume, so I'm just going to be Halloween y and put on this witch hat and hand up candy at my door on a Tuesday

Rachel: 49:17

Yeah, put on, put on the hat, but also like put on a little something, something, you know, a little tight, maybe some fishnets. I'm just saying we

Laura: 49:25

That's exhausting. It's a Tuesday night, Rachel, and I'm not going to put on fishnets. I'm eating Reese's and watching The Evil Dead.

Rachel: 49:34

but we appreciate it. just saying if you do, I appreciate it. As a hundred percent heterosexual woman, I'm like... You look good. I like it. I like the vibes. I appreciate the effort. And who does, who doesn't like to look at like shapely women? Sorry. That's, that's the world we live in.

Laura: 49:51

All right. Well, that's a wrap on this one. We will see y'all in another two weeks. Don't forget everybody. Tell your buddies. Share the podcast. Leave a review for us little nobodies. Be the cool kid that's into a podcast that no one else has heard of and be like, Oh, I got this cool podcast you should listen to. It's called Ability Society.

Rachel: 50:12

Be the illustrator who first drew a pointy hat on a witch. You can set the trend, but the most important thing, do not forget, never ever forget, especially on a cold eerie night in October, stay rude. and keep marching to the beat of your own drum.

Impolite Society: Exploring the Weird, Taboo & Macabre

Are Witch Hats Antisemitic?

Listen to this podcast on