Many is the time one of us would have to wait outside the store for the bundle of papers to be dropped by the curb. Then Harry Dughi or his son Aldo would clip the wire that freed up the papers and we would be able to get one for us (not the top one because that would usually be damaged by the wire during handling).
If I was selected to go for the paper, and if Dad and I had had a good day, relationship-wise, Dad would throw in an extra dime and simply say "10 cents hats". He always dropped the word "of".
I have seen imitation hats since those days, but they simply have lost something and are just not the same.
Tom, Jr. and family went to The Cape this past Patriots' Day weekend and today Tom handed me a bag, completely unmarked, of hats. It was a cleat cellophane bag and contained what appeared to be about 50 hats! I have since opened the bag and am quite pleased to report that these seem to be the real thing, meaning hats as we knew them then. I am not sure how long the bag will last!
Thanks for the memory, Dad! And thank you, Tom!
Exactly 10 cents worth of hats! Two for a penny then!
