The cheesehead hat stands as a sunny nod to America's 'Hold my beer' exuberance, a cheerful confidence that often turns international wonder over certain strains of ignorance into a smile. Americans have long leavened their powerful global image with goofiness, and this hat is a prime example.
Made of sofa foam and bright yellow defiance, the hat was created in the late 1980s as a response to taunting faced by sports fans in Wisconsin, a state that proudly calls itself America's dairyland. When residents of neighboring Illinois shouted 'Cheeseheads!' as an insult, Wisconsinites embraced the term and turned it on its head—especially fans of the Green Bay Packers football team.
Soon, Wisconsin sports fans were appearing at events wearing hats shaped like large, dimpled wedges of cheddar. While the dimples evoke Swiss cheese, American notions of cheese—especially processed varieties—are another slice of Americana. This doesn't mean that a single state has a monopoly on silly hats, though the 'Wisconsin Cheesehead' is now part of the Smithsonian's American History Museum.
U.S. sports, particularly college sports, are filled with fans who throw inhibition aside. They wear horns or animal ears, strip off shirts, and paint their torsos even in freezing weather. This seasonal display is perhaps the most colorful and harmless expression of the 'Hold my beer' exuberance that has defined generations of Americans at home and abroad.
Americans are loud. They do dumb things. They are tribal in both superficial ways—like sports—and significant ones, such as the current political landscape. Yet, they have a pretty good record of stumbling into greatness. The creator of the cheesehead hat, Ralph Bruno, once told Milwaukee magazine that he wasn't thinking too deeply about his inspiration. Now, the hat is trademarked, owned by a professional football team, and sells for $28.99 each.
Above all—literally, with this towering block of fake cheese that just might be a metaphor—Americans are known for being able to laugh at themselves.
