The Mexican Hat Dance

The elegant Californio gentleman shown in the accompanying photo may or may not have ever danced on his hat, as the fellow did in Allan Sherman’s 1963 parody “Mexican Hat Dance” (or “Jarabe Tapatío”). Resplendent in his white suit, complete with pinned cravat, watch fob and pearl-handled pistol, he wears a pristine straw sombrero charro that has obviously never been stomped. Of course, the straw hat’s primary purpose is not to serve as the pivot point for a folk dance, but to pr