The Hat Museum

Alyce and her partner the Hat Museum are as much a part of Ladd’s Addition as anything here. Her house and all you will see including Alyce herself is fascinating. I got a tour some time ago during an open house and it is something I have never forgotten!

I discovered the Hat Museum by accident while doing a search for something else and saw this on the Google map. I’ve loved hats since high school and was thrilled to see that this entity existed– I was a little less excited when I found out it was $ 75 to tour, but that was for a group from 1 – 6 people. Four of us went and it became a birthday gift for me from my beloved. Alyce was our guide, and she definitely knows her stuff about the house, the hats, and history. Her love and passion for this particular topic shone through. There were a couple of questions my friends posed that I think may have thrown her, but I want to stress we weren’t playing ‘stump the volunteer guide.’
The tour as advised took around 90 minutes, and for a hat lover and not quite afficionado like me, it was compelling and delightful and very unique. Most of the hats aren’t to be touched, but you can stand and gaze at them for as long as you like. There are helpful elements of magnifying glasses around some of the more intricate work on various hats that, once explained how they are made (often with straw) are nearly impossible to believe. Alyce supplemented the explanations, history and showing of hats with supplemental books, some of which were how-​tos that showed exactly how time-​consuming some of these items were to craft.
There is a lot of standing to the tour, as there are hats and other display items everywhere (which is the point!), but there’s a lovely respite in the men’s hat room where you can sit down while learning about men’s headpieces.
This museum is very fortunate in that they’ve received many one-​of-​a-​kind items, autographed historical documents and hats, and hat-​related items like hat pins. All in all, a highly unique experience that gave me a new appreciation for a part of human clothing that has been with us for thousands of years. As other reviewers have noted, by purchasing a tour, you and your group also receive $ 5 coupons that can be used in their gift shop. I was fortunate enough (with a very child-​sized head) to find not one, but two vintage hats on sale that are now in my personal collection. :)

I really enjoyed the tour. Alyce was informative but flexible and wanted to make sure we learned what we wanted to learn about.
Lots of fabulous, beautiful, fantastic hats. You get to touch some, try some on, and look at a great many others.
A good hour ¹⁄₁ spent in the Ladd Reingold house.

My parents came to Portland to visit for Thanksgiving and requested to visit The Hat Museum. Checking out their website for tour times (they are by request only, but don’t let that put you off, they seem to be very accomodating), I was dreading going. But trying to be the good daughter I made a reservation and figured I’d chalk it up to a bit of payment for all the years of anguish I surely caused them growing up.
I believe Alice was the woman’s name that gave the tour and although she had cue cards placed around the house, 95% of the information of the tour came without any cueing. Not only do you get a ton of information about the hats themselves, but also about Portland history and the history of hat making.
At $ 15/​person for the tour, it’s not cheap but you’ll spend at least 1 ½ hours there. You’ll pick up a ton of trivia and stuff you never even knew you wanted to know about hats. Plus, my mom ended up finding a hat in the gift shop she really liked and was able to apply the $ 5 discount that comes with every tour ticket to the purchase.
If you’re looking for something unique or you know someone that has a thing for hats, check this place out. I really can’t say anything bad about it at all.