To who ever called it "BS", check this out.


"When I first sang this verse from ‘Yankee Doodle’ as a schoolgirl, I thought the hero had decided to name his horse ‘Macaroni’. A precocious child, I knew it was nonsensical for Yankee Doodle to call his hat ‘Macaroni’, as many of my classmates professed he had done. But as I grew older, I was determined the song was simply a frivolous nursery rhyme devoid of any real meaning, and designed to appeal to a child's sense of humor (macaroni being quite a fun, tasty, yet comical food to the grade school set). After a little research, however, I've uncovered the truth behind the Yankee Doodle mystery. Our Revolutionary War hero was, in fact, an aspiring dandy—a member of the elite and haute couture Macaroni Club of the 1770s.

The Macaroni Club consisted of young, wealthy British gentlemen who traveled to France and Italy and adopted the ostentatious and flamboyant fashions popular in those countries during the eighteenth century. The Macaronis, not members of a true club but rather a new generation of continental society, were often ridiculed by the British establishment. The Macaroni moniker was a tongue-in-cheek reference to their import of foreign cuisine as well as fashion. Macaronis wore form-fitting trousers and short waistcoats with ruffles and braiding, and sported superfluities such as tasseled walking sticks, spy glasses, and nosegays. They wore elaborate toupees and wigs topped by tiny tricorn hats that were definitely form over function. These trends may have been en vogue at the Court of Versailles, but they didn't go over well back home with the more staid Brits, who perceived the Macaronis’ style as extreme, effeminate, and silly."
[link to www.jolique.com]