By CJ Tiernan It’s my estimation that when James P. Hat invented the first hat over two hundred years ago, he sat down at a picnic table in the sun, with his brow shaded, and said, “ahhh. That’s nice.” Again, I wasn’t there, I’m just guessing. Since then, the hat industry exploded. You can’t throw a stick of dynamite these days without hitting a haberdashery. Tall hats, short hats, soft hats, hard hats, there are so many hats you could put a hat on a hat (I mean, you knew I

By CJ Tiernan Nicknames of historical figures are curious. Did all of the members of his cabinet refer to Abraham Lincoln as “Honest Abe?” Did he even like that nickname? Did they just whisper it in halls of the parliament building or whatever it is or did they say it to his face? Did that nickname even exist or was it manufactured after he, so to speak, bit the bullet? I don’t know whether some of these nicknames were crafted by contemporaries or issued by historical arbit