Hat

HAT HISTORY

The ancestor of all hats was probably the fillet. This was a band tied around the head to keep the hair in place. It was worn in ancient Babylonia, Egypt, and Greece.

Turbans and crowns developed from the fillet and today it survives as the band on our hats.

Probably the first real hat was the broad-brimmed petasos of the ancient Greeks. It was worn only for traveling, as a protection against the weather. A chin strap held the petasos on or allowed it to hang down the back when not needed.

The petasos was so practical that people all over Europe continued to wear it throughout the Middle Ages.

The hennin was a headdress in the shape of a cone or "steeple", or truncated cone worn in the late Middle Ages by European women of the nobility. They originated with the warrior queens of Mongolia and became fashionable in Europe after Marco Polo brought one back from his travels.

Barbara van Vlaendenbergh wearing a truncated hennin, Burgundy, ca. 1480

During the Renaissance men of wealth began to wear hats of various shapes, richly decorated to match the rest of their splendid clothes.

The beret originated in Italy during the Renaissance era. It was originally made of a circular piece of cloth gathered onto a band decorated with jewels or embroidery. Inside the band was a string, which could be tightened to fit any head. The tiny bow on the inside of men's hats today is a survival of that string.

The wearing of hats was made compulsory on Sundays and holidays in early seventeenth century Britain, in order to preserve the livelihood of the country's 8,000 hat makers,

Notorious early 18th-century English pirate Benjamin Hornigold once attacked a sloop just to steal all of the crew member's hats. His men had gotten drunk and lost their hats during a party the night before and decided to board a ship to get replacements.

Mad hatters were common in the 18th century because hat makers used mercury to process beaver and rabbit fur and many succumbed to mercury poisoning. The disease gave all the appearances of lunacy beginning with the shakes followed by mental aberrations.

The small bow found inside of many hats is a symbolic memorial to past hatters who had died of mercury poisoning.

When furs from America became plentiful, men of fashion began to wear the wide-brimmed beaver hat, trimmed with drooping ostrich plumes. To show off their curls, they turned up the brim--first on one side and later on two sides. This was called "cocking the hat." Finally they turned up the back also, forming the tricorne. The tricorne was popular throughout the eighteenth century.

Tricorne of beaver fur, c. 1780, Europe or America. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, M.67.8.204.

On January 15, 1797, a top hat was worn in public for the first time. Haberdasher James Hetherington was charged with a breach of the peace on the Strand, London, after several women fainted at the unusual sight. 

Men’s hats were taxed in the UK from 1784-1811. The tax payable depended on the price of the hat.

The Derby hat modeled after the English bowler was first manufactured by James Knapp at South Norwalk, Connecticut in 1850.

The origin of the Derby hat's name is disputed. Some claim it came from England's Earl of Derby, who popularized its style, whilst others say it's from the famous English horse race.

Abraham Lincoln kept his important documents inside his hat.

During the mid nineteenth century, fashion-conscious English ladies wore hats made of whole stuffed pheasants or grouse.

Hatpins began to replace bonnet strings in about 1860. On top of their elaborate hairdress women started pinning small porkpies, covered with trimming.

John B Stetson created the Stetson hat in 1865 after being diagnosed with tuberculosis and moving to the American West for the climate. He realized the cowboys' various headgear was impractical and came up with a lightweight, all-weather hat suitable for the West.

Prince Edward (the future King Edward VII) introduced the homburg hat to Britain, an idea borrowed from his German relatives. He also popularized the wearing of the bowler hat in town.

The Trilby hat takes its name from George du Maurier’s 1894 novel Trilby. Such a hat was worn in the first London stage production of the book.

Factory production of women's hats began after World War I, when block and diemakers began to produce highly styled wood head blocks and metal dies in all sizes.

In 1922 there were a series of riots in New York over whether it was acceptable to wear a straw hat after September 15th.  It originated as a brawl on September 13, 1922 when a group of youths started removing and stomping hats worn by factory workers. The fights escalated and spread to the beating of men wearing straw hats past the unofficial date that was deemed socially acceptable, September 15. The riots lasted eight days, and led to many arrests and some injuries.

The Church of England abolished in 1942 its rule forcing women to wear hats in church.

When Dr. Seuss was stuck writing his books, he would go to a secret closet filled with hundreds of hats and wear them till the words came.

National Hat Day is an annual celebration observed in the US on January 15th of every year. Schools, libraries, and museums have observed National Hat Day since 1983. 

Pexels

FUN HAT FACTS

Tipping the hat comes from the military salute, which in turn comes from men in armor lifting the visor to show their faces.

A ten-gallon hat actually holds a little less than one gallon.

London black cabs are designed to be tall enough for a gentleman to sit in without the need to remove his top hat.

Instead of giving the keys to the city to visiting dignitaries, the mayor of Calgary "white hats" to them.

The “pink hat man” is Jim Anixter who owns Chicago Cub’s tickets. He sits behind the home plate wearing a pink hat so his wife knows that he is at the game and not cheating.

A milliner makes or sells women’s hats. A maker of men’s hats is a hatter. 

The term “milliner” is derived from the Italian city of Milan. The best quality hats were made in Milan in the 18th century.

The tall white chef's hat traditionally has 100 folds. This is said to represent the number of different ways an egg can be prepared.

Russians tend to lower the ear flaps on their fur hats when the temperature falls below –20C.

Sources Daily Express,  Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia © 1998 The Learning Company, Inc