Five Men Share Stories Behind Their Cherished Hats

For many, hats are more than a way to keep the sun off your face.

They tell stories and hold memories from far and wide.

Five men share the memories stitched into the hats they've worn for years.

The collection

Laid out across the dim light of Joe Caruana's shed, his hat collection reads like a timeline.

Covered in cobwebs, grease stains and patchy holes, each hat is imprinted with memories of a life lived under the north Queensland sun.

With hats aging back 50 years, they're more than a decoration; the collection is a keepsake.

Born and bred on the outskirts of Ingham, Mr Caruana looks at each hat like a photograph.

His eyes light up as he reflects on the days shared with his many hats over the years.

"It brings back a lot of years, like you say, a lot of memories," he said.

"They're all good memories."

From catching 130-centimetre barramundi in the Gulf of Carpentaria to many pig-hunting trips, his hats have been there.

"I can't go anywhere without a hat. I can go to bed without a hat, that's about it," he said.

Hat of heritage

West of Cairns at Mareeba, a town known for its sunshine, mango grower Joe Moro wears the same hat he's had for nearly 30 years.

He has hundreds of hats and caps sitting in his collection, but this one is his favourite — a gift from his late uncle.

Despite the sweat marks and discolouration, he still wears it with pride and looks back fondly on the first time he put it on his head.

"[My uncle] bought it in Sydney for me. I used to visit him a lot. I still did until he passed away," Mr Moro said.

"It's endured a number of mango seasons with me in the paddock, and as you can tell, the sweat and everything has left its marks all over it.

The cyclone evacuee

Further south near Tully, Greg Shannon's prized cap was bought at the first north Queensland Cowboys NRL home game in Townsville.

The cap has become so special that it was one of the few things Mr Shannon took with him when he had to evacuate during Tropical Cyclone Yasi in 2011.

"The first home game was March 11, 1995, so we rocked up there to Townsville, and I walked in and bought this cap. I think it was $12.50, and it's a radio cap," he said.

"It's got a little aerial that you pop up, which looks like Inspector Gadget, and it's just got a battery and a little tuner, and you could just adjust the volume, and you pick up any station."

Felt and friends

At Angelo Crema's farm in Lower Tully, his wide-brimmed Akubra reminds him of good times at the cattle saleyards.

"I used to go to sales on a regular basis with some real good friends who are no longer here," he said.

Some of Mr Crema's hats have travelled well beyond the saleyards.

When he used to farm bananas, one of his French backpackers became fascinated with wide-brimmed hats, so Mr Crema gave him one of his old ones lying around in the shed.

"He left, and about a month later, he sent me a message and a photo from Nepal of him standing on top of one of those other big mountains with my hat on his head."

"I thought, well, that hat's been around."

A new hat, a new era

Back near Ingham, Warren Russo sits in the shed at his sugarcane block, wearing a new hat.

Nearly every year for the past 50 years, he's had to buy a new one, after destroying too many old hats with the lawnmower.

So, his hat collection is minimal.

But his memories of wearing those hats live on, as he remembers the years spent repairing harvesters, fencing, and planting sugar cane.

Mr Russo looks forward to the new experiences he will share with his fresh hat.

That's assuming he doesn't run it over with the lawnmower this time.