The Red Hat Society would not be what it is today without the influence of the poem "Warning," by Jenny Joseph, and the notions that the Red Hatters adopted from this poem about growing old. The poem is a light hearted call for older women to have fun and to make up for all the years that they were serious, prim, and proper. The Red Hat Society's full regalia was developed in credit to this poem's depiction of the old woman who wears a
purple outfit with a
red hat, and does not mind what other may think of her exuberant new lifestyle. "Warning," by Jenny Joseph has a long and heartfelt history with the Red Hat Society, and Red Hatters certainly live by the ideals set forth in this poem.
WarningWhen 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 the 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 practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
-- Jenny Joseph
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