ABSTRACT
A good historical theory needs to explain cause and effect. To say that men stopped wearing hats because their attitudes changed does not explain why their attitudes changed. Perhaps men stopped wearing hats because of a trend started by American soldiers returning from the Second World War. Another set of theories explains the disappearance of hats by appealing to changes in the physical environment. A historian seeks to find the most likely explanation, the dominant cause of change. There are times, however, when historical solutions are not so easy to find, and there are questions which cannot be clearly answered. Questions about the everyday effects of history on cultural life are the best in this regard. While debates about these kinds of questions are unlikely to lead to answers, they promote debate skills and historical thinking.
