Why is the term Tin Foil Hat associated with conspiracy theories?

 

Whether we are talking about the Flat Earth society, the Illuminati or about Pizzagate, everyone has heard about and knows a thing or two about conspiracy theories. And a term most often associated with conspiracy theorists is the tin foil hat.

 

Where did this terminology come from and how has it become a mainstay in describing paranoid and lunatic people as well as embedding itself in our culture? Let’s dive in find out…

 

From what we know the term tin foil hat first appeared in Julien Huxley’s ‘‘ The tissue culture king’’ published in 1926 which became notable for containing the earliest use in fiction of an anti- mind control cap made of foil, later more commonly known as the tin foil hat.

 

The book illustrates the core concept of the tin foil hat, and how it acts as a mechanism to block various kinds of electromagnetic waves.

 

Over time, as conspiracy theories grew and started confronting issues like alien invasions, Area 51 and crop circles. The fame of the tin foil hat grew with it. But it was during the 80’s when the phrase started having a real meaning of what we see today, as it slowly became associated with individuals who would wear them in the belief that they would protect them from being brainwashed or influenced by outside forces.

 

And with the growing popularity for TV shows, it slowly became a full- fledged trope in popular media in the late 90’s. In a 1999 episode of The Simpsons, titled ‘’Brother’s little helper’’, Bart becomes  a paranoid conspiracy theorist wearing a tinfoil hat because he fears Major League baseball was spying on everyone. Apart from the Simpsons, many other movies and shows have taken a similar approach in entertaining and spreading the term of the tin foil hat.

 

Riding on the wave of its popularity, in 2005, an experimental study revealed that tin foil hats do in fact shield wearers from radio waves, which prompted the notion that if indeed, we are to be mind-controlled, it would require radio or microwave signals to do so.

 

And as conspiracy theories do not seem to be going away any time soon, the term tin foil hat is definitely going to live on for many years to come.