What Happened to the Tembel?

November 28, 2007 - 5:00 PM by

This (really bad) scan of former L.A. Mayor Tom Bradley visiting Israel back in November 1976 is kind of interesting.

Mostly because he’s wearing one of those “Kova Tembel” thingies on his head that were ALL the rage with the tourist set back then.

Dig out the family album from your grandparents’ or mom and dad’s “mission trip” to Israel and… Yup. Kovah Tembel. Heck, dig up just any plain old pictures of anyone visiting Israel during that time period and Voila! There’s the hat.

Literally translated, kovah tembel means “Idiot Hat”.

I can’t say I disagree. I mean we’re not talking Marc Jacobs here.

The motivation for its inception – to protect Israeli soldiers from the sun while distinguishing them from keffiyeh wearing Arab opponents during the 1948 War of Independence - wasn’t stupid though.

Tags: • Category: History and Culture, Israeliness, Life 

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