In early February 1915, San Diego was making its first impression on the world. The Panama-California Exposition had opened in Balboa Park just weeks earlier, drawing visitors eager to see the city’s architecture, innovation, and famously mild climate. To highlight this sunny image, local leaders and exposition promoters organized a lighthearted civic event: Straw Hat Day.
Fun times at the Panama-California Exposition. (Photo courtesy of the Panama-California Exposition Digital Archive)
Originally planned for Feb. 2, Straw Hat Day encouraged residents and visitors to wear straw hats — traditionally a summer accessory — as a playful announcement that winter had effectively ended in San Diego.
When hats were a fashion statement at the Panama-California Exposition. (Photo courtesy of the Panama-California Exposition Digital Archive)
Rain postponed the celebration, and it was ultimately held on Feb. 11. When the skies cleared, downtown streets filled with marchers, bands, and spectators as a parade moved toward the exposition grounds. Civic organizations, local businesses, military representatives, and everyday residents all participated, united by the simple visual of straw hats in mid-winter.
The event was also a clever promotional strategy for the exposition. Attendees wearing straw hats received discounted admission, linking the festive gesture directly to tourism and attendance.
Newspapers of the era described the parade as one of the largest crowds seen in the city to that point, noting that former heavyweight boxing champion James J. Corbett, visiting San Diego, participated and praised the event.
Making a Fashion Statement
Straw hats themselves were a fashion statement, worn by men and women to symbolize leisure, prosperity, and good weather. By elevating this accessory into a public celebration, the city blurred the line between everyday style and civic theater, signaling both pride and playfulness.
While Straw Hat Day did not become an annual tradition, it offers a vivid snapshot of San Diego’s civic culture in 1915 — a city confident enough to declare winter over with the tilt of a hat. Today, it remains a small but charming reflection of how creativity and humor were used to define the city’s identity and welcome visitors to the exposition.
Sources
San Diego Union and San Diego Sun coverage of Straw Hat Day, February 1915.
San Diego History Center, Panama-California Exposition archives and ephemera.
Richard W. Amero, Histories of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, San Diego History Center.
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