A
top hat,
beaver hat,
high hat silk hat,
cylinder hat,
chimney pot hat or
stove pipe hat (sometimes also known by the nickname "topper") is a tall, flat-crowned, broad-brimmed
hatA hat is a head covering. It can be worn for protection against the elements, for ceremonial or religious reasons, for safety, or as a fashion accessory. In the past, hats were an indicator of social status...
, predominantly worn from the latter part of the 18th to the middle of the 20th century. Now, it is usually worn only with
morning dressMorning dress is the daytime formal dress code, consisting chiefly for men of a morning coat, waistcoat, and striped trousers, and an appropriate dress for women...
or
white tieWhite tie is the most formal evening dress code in Western fashion. It is worn to ceremonial occasions such as state dinners in some countries, as well as to very formal balls and evening weddings...
, in dressage, as servants' or doormen's
liveryA livery is a uniform, insignia or symbol adorning, in a non-military context, a person, an object or a vehicle that denotes a relationship between the wearer of the livery and an individual or corporate body. Often, elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or corporate body feature in...
, or as a fashion statement.
The top hat is sometimes associated with the
upper classIn social science, the "upper class" is the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. Members of an upper class may have great power over the allocation of resources and governmental policy in their area.- Historical meaning :...
, becoming a target for satirists and social critics. It was particularly used as a symbol of capitalism in cartoons in socialist and communist media, long after the headgear had been abandoned by those satirized. It was a part of the dress of
Uncle SamUncle Sam is a common national personification of the American government originally used during the War of 1812. He is depicted as a stern elderly man with white hair and a goatee beard...
and used as a symbol of US monopoly power. By the end of
World War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, it had become a rarity, though it continued to be worn daily for formal wear, such as in London at various positions in the
Bank of EnglandThe Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
and City stockbroking, or boys at some public schools.
The top hat persisted in
politicsPolitics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
and international
diplomacyDiplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
for many years, including U.S. presidential inaugurations, last being used in 1961. Top hats are still associated with
stage magicMagic is a performing art that entertains audiences by staging tricks or creating illusions of seemingly impossible or supernatural feats using natural means...
, in particular various
hat trickThe hat-trick is a classic magic trick where a performer will produce an object out of an apparently empty top hat.- Method :...
s.
History
Top hats started to take over from the
tricorneThe tricorne or tricorn is a style of hat that was popular during the 18th century, falling out of style by 1800. At the peak of its popularity, the tricorne was worn as civilian dress and as part of military and naval uniforms...
at the end of the 18th century; a painting by
Charles VernetAntoine Charles Horace Vernet aka. Carle Vernet was a French painter, the youngest child of Claude Joseph Vernet, and the father of Horace Vernet....
of 1796,
Un Incroyable, shows a French
dandyA dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance in a cult of Self...
(one of the
Incroyables et Merveilleuses) wearing such a hat. The first silk top hat in England is credited to George Dunnage, a hatter from Middlesex, in 1793. One of the earliest references to the top hat is in a 1747 etching (part of the series
Industry and IdlenessIndustry and Idleness is the title of a series of 12 plot-linked engravings created by William Hogarth in 1747, intending to illustrate to working children the possible rewards of hard work and diligent application and the sure disasters attending a lack of both...
) by
William HogarthWilliam Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...
, depicting the
Lord Mayor of LondonThe Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London is the legal title for the Mayor of the City of London Corporation. The Lord Mayor of London is to be distinguished from the Mayor of London; the former is an officer only of the City of London, while the Mayor of London is the Mayor of Greater London and...
in a carriage wearing a top hat.
Starting in the 1890s, it was claimed that a London
haberdasherA haberdasher is a person who sells small articles for sewing, such as buttons, ribbons, zips, and other notions. In American English, haberdasher is another term for a men's outfitter. A haberdasher's shop or the items sold therein are called haberdashery.-Origin and use:The word appears in...
named
John HetheringtonJohn Hetherington was an English haberdasher, often incorrectly credited as the inventor of the top hat, which supposedly caused a riot when he first wore it in public on 15 January 1797.-The story:...
introduced the top hat in 1797, but this is untrue. In 1803,
JägersJäger is a term that was adopted in the Enlightenment era in German-speaking states and others influenced by German military practice to describe a kind of light infantry, and it has continued in that use since then....
in the
Imperial Russian ArmyThe Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...
began wearing top hats (Some would say that it was more of a variation of the
shakoA shako is a tall, cylindrical military cap, usually with a peak or visor and sometimes tapered at the top...
), but dropped them in 1812, to the more suitable
Kiver Shako, along with the rest of the armies foot units.
Within twenty years top hats had become popular with all social classes, with even workmen wearing them. At that time those worn by members of the upper classes were usually made of
feltFelt is a non-woven cloth that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing woollen fibres. While some types of felt are very soft, some are tough enough to form construction materials. Felt can be of any colour, and made into any shape or size....
ed
beaver furA beaver hat is a hat made from felted beaver fur. They were fashionable across much of Europe during the period 1550-1850 because the soft yet resilient material could be easily combed to make a variety of hat shapes...
; the generic name "stuff hat" was applied to hats made from various non-fur felts. The hats became part of the uniforms worn by policemen and postmen (to give them the appearance of authority); since these people spent most of their time outdoors, their hats were topped with black oilcloth.
Between the latter part of 18th century and the early part 19th century, felted beaver fur was slowly replaced by silk "hatter's plush", though the silk topper met with resistance from those who preferred the beaver hat. The 1840s and the 1850s saw it reach its most extreme form, with ever higher crowns and narrow brims. The
stovepipe hat was a variety with mostly straight sides, while one with slightly convex sides was called the "chimney pot". The style we presently refer to as the stovepipe was popularized by
Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
during his presidency; though it is postulated that he may never have called it stovepipe himself, merely a silk hat, or a plug hat. It is said that Lincoln would keep important letters inside the hat.
During the 19th century, the top hat developed from a fashion into a symbol of urban respectability, and this was assured when
Prince AlbertPrince Albert was the husband and consort of Queen Victoria.Prince Albert may also refer to:-Royalty:*Prince Albert Edward or Edward VII of the United Kingdom , son of Albert and Victoria...
started wearing them in 1850; the rise in popularity of the silk plush top hat possibly led to a decline in beaver hats, sharply reducing the size of the beaver-trapping industry in North America, though it is also postulated that the beaver numbers were also reducing at the same time. Whether it directly impacted or was coincidental to the decline of the beaver trade is debatable.
James LaverJames Laver CBE FRSA was an author, art historian, and museum curator who acted as Keeper of Prints, Drawings and Paintings for the Victoria and Albert Museum between 1938 and 1959...
once observed that an assemblage of "toppers" resembled factory chimneys and thus added to the mood of the industrial era. In England, post-Brummel dandies went in for flared crowns and swooping brims. Their counterparts in France, known as the “
IncroyablesThe Incroyables and their female counterparts, the Merveilleuses , were members of a fashionable aristocratic subculture of the Directory period...
,” wore top hats of such outlandish dimensions that there was no room for them in overcrowded cloakrooms until Antoine Gibus invented the collapsible top hat in 1812.
A Gibus has springs inside allowing it to be folded flat by hand and stored conveniently, as for example in an
Opera houseAn opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...
cloak-room. For this reason they are often called
opera hats, though the term can also refer to any tall formal men's hat. The characteristic snapping sound upon opening a Gibus suggested another name, the
Chapeau Claque. Invented for convenience at the opera, collapsible top hats are still used as eveningwear.
The top hat is sometimes associated with the
upper classIn social science, the "upper class" is the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. Members of an upper class may have great power over the allocation of resources and governmental policy in their area.- Historical meaning :...
, becoming a target for satirists and social critics. It was particularly used as a symbol of capitalism in cartoons in socialist and communist media, long after the headgear had been abandoned by those satirized. It was a part of the dress of
Uncle SamUncle Sam is a common national personification of the American government originally used during the War of 1812. He is depicted as a stern elderly man with white hair and a goatee beard...
and used as a symbol of U.S. monopoly power. The character
Rich Uncle PennybagsRich "Uncle" Pennybags aka Frank Moneybags, is the round old man in a top hat who serves as the mascot of the game Monopoly. Rich "Uncle" Pennybags was rechristened Mr. Monopoly in a Hasbro marketing effort in 1999. He also is known as Whiff from all the casino slot machines...
, who personifies financial monopoly in the board game
MonopolyMarvin Gardens, the leading yellow property on the board shown, is actually a misspelling of the original location name, Marven Gardens. The misspelling was said to be introduced by Charles Todd and passed on when his home-made Monopoly board was copied by Charles Darrow and thence to Parker...
, wears a top hat.
By the end of
World War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, it had become a rarity, though it continued to be worn daily for formal wear, such as in London at various positions in the
Bank of EnglandThe Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
and City stockbroking, or boys at some public schools.
The top hat persisted in
politicsPolitics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
and international
diplomacyDiplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
for many years. In the
Soviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, there was a fierce debate as to whether its diplomats should follow the international conventions and wear a top hat, with the pro-toppers winning the vote by a large majority. Top hats were part of formal wear for U.S. presidential inaugurations for many years. President
Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
omitted the hat for his inauguration, and John F. Kennedy brought the top hat back for his inauguration (an irony, since he later became famous for disliking all hats). Kennedy did it in part to differ from Eisenhower (though Kennedy did not wear it at his swearing in and during his inaugural speech). However, the next president, Johnson, did not wear a top hat for any part of his inauguration in 1964, and the hat has not been worn since for this purpose.
Top hats are associated with
stage magicMagic is a performing art that entertains audiences by staging tricks or creating illusions of seemingly impossible or supernatural feats using natural means...
, in particular the
hat trickThe hat-trick is a classic magic trick where a performer will produce an object out of an apparently empty top hat.- Method :...
. In 1814, the French magician
ComteLouis Apollinaire Christien Emmanuel Comte "The King's Conjurer" , also known simply as Comte, was a celebrated nineteenth-century Parisian magician, greatly admired by Robert-Houdin....
became the first conjurer on record to pull a white rabbit out of a top hat though this is also attributed to the much later
John Henry AndersonJohn Henry Anderson was a professional magician, born in The Mearns, Scotland. Anderson is credited with helping bring the art of magic from street performances into theatres and presenting magic performances to entertain and delight the audience....
.
Description
A
silkSilk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
top hat is made from hatters' plush, a soft silk weave with a very long, defined nap. This is very rare now, since it is no longer in general production, and it is thought that there are no looms capable of producing the traditional material any more; the last looms were destroyed by the last owner after a violent breakup with his brother.
It is common to see top hats in stiff wool felt and even soft wool. Cotton velour top hats are also becoming increasingly popular. Though limited in variation of shape and height, there are many modern examples from which to choose, including the shorter "half-top" and the "low Derby".
Because of the rarity of vintage hats, and the expense of modern top hats, the vintage/antique market is very lively, with models in wearable condition typically hard to find; price often varies with size (larger sizes are typically more expensive) and condition. Many surviving hats are sized much smaller than the modern average size.
Construction
A town-weight silk top hat is made by first blocking a piece of
cheeseclothCheesecloth is a loosewoven gauze-like cotton cloth used primarily in cheese making and cooking.Cheesecloth is available in at least seven different grades, from open to extra-fine weave. Grades are distinguished by the number of threads per inch in each direction.- Uses :The primary use of...
that has been coated with
shellacShellac is a resin secreted by the female lac bug, on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes , which are dissolved in ethyl alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and wood finish...
on a wooden top hat block (which is made of several interconnecting pieces like a puzzle so the block can be removed from the shell, as the opening is narrower than top of the crown) to form the shell. After the shell has more or less dried but is still a bit sticky, the block is removed and the silk plush, which comes in several different pieces, is cut to the correct pattern, then stuck onto the shell. The top flat part of the crown uses a single flat disc of silk plush that has a circular nap. The sides consist of one or two rectangular pieces with the ends cut at a diagonal. The edge of the crown where the side pieces and the flat disc meet are carefully hand stitched together. The side pieces where the seams meet at the sides are not stitched as the silk nap conceals the seams. The upper brim is also covered with a piece of silk plush or with silk petersham (a ribbed silk). The underbrim is also covered with either cloth or silk. After the hat has fully dried, the brim is curled and bound with silk grosgrain ribbon, and a hat band (either silk grosgrain with or without a bow, or a black wool mourning band without a bow) is installed. Finally, the lining and the leather sweatband are carefully hand-stitched in.
The construction can vary; reinforced toppers sometimes called "country-weight" included greater layers of calico and shellac used to provide a strengthened hat that was traditionally suitable for riding and hunting, though it may not always conform to modern safety standards.
In the present
The standard top hat is a hard, black silk hat, with fur now often used. The acceptable colours of hats are much as they have traditionally been, with white hats (which are grey), a daytime racing colour, worn at the less formal occasions demanding a top hat, such as Royal Ascot, or with a morning suit. In the U.S. top hats are worn widely in coaching, a driven horse discipline as well as for formal riding to hounds.
The collapsible silk
operaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
hat, or
crush hat, always black, is still worn on occasions worn with evening wear as part of
white tieWhite tie is the most formal evening dress code in Western fashion. It is worn to ceremonial occasions such as state dinners in some countries, as well as to very formal balls and evening weddings...
, and is still made by a few companies, since the materials, satin or grosgrain silk, are still available. The other alternative hat for eveningwear is the normal hard shell.
The members of the "Inner Circle" of the
Punxsutawney, PennsylvaniaPunxsutawney is a borough in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, United States, northeast of Pittsburgh. In 1907, Punxsutawney and Claysville boroughs were consolidated and incorporated as Greater Punxsutawney. A high-grade soft coal was mined in the surrounding region...
Groundhog Club wear top hats on February 2 of every year when they perform the
Groundhog DayGroundhog Day is a holiday celebrated on February 2 in the United States and Canada. According to folklore, if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter-like weather will soon end...
ceremonies with
Punxsutawney PhilPunxsutawney Phil is a groundhog resident of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. On February 2 of each year, the town of Punxsutawney celebrates the beloved groundhog with a festive atmosphere of music and food...
.
Freemasonry
In
FreemasonryFreemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
top hats are often associated with the position of Worshipful Master as they are the only member allowed the privilege to wear one, or another appropriate head covering to signify their leadership within the lodge. It is also common for Worshipful Masters to receive top hat related trinkets and gifts on either the day of their installation or as a going away present.
In other countries, especially within certain systems in Germany, top hats are worn by all members of the lodge.
In literature
The
Mad HatterHatta, the Hatter is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the story's sequel, Through the Looking-Glass. He is often referred to as the Mad Hatter, though this term was never used by Carroll...
from
Alice's Adventures in WonderlandAlice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures...
is commonly depicted wearing a top hat with a piece of paper which contains the inscription "
10/
6"
Raskolnikov from the novel
Crime and PunishmentCrime and Punishment is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published in the literary journal The Russian Messenger in twelve monthly installments during 1866. It was later published in a single volume. This is the second of Dostoyevsky's full-length novels following his...
wore a top hat from Zimmerman's shop before killing the pawn broker, but thought better of wearing it to the murder, since it was already unusual and thus too conspicuous in 1860s Russia.
Sir Topham Hatt, is one of three characters of the same name in Rev. W. Awdry's series of railway novels for children about the Island of
SodorSodor is a fictional island in the Irish Sea used as the setting for The Railway Series books by the Rev. W. Awdry, and later used in the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends television series.-Inspiration and creation:...
, based on the
Isle of ManThe Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
's railways. Known in
BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
as the Fat Director or Fat Controller, he is always depicted wearing a top hat, a form of dress worn by senior railway employees until the late 1950s.
Further reading
- Neil Steinberg
Neil Steinberg is an American news columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. He joined the staff in 1987, and his column appears four times a week....
, Hatless Jack — The President, the Fedora and the Death of the Hat, 2005, Granta Books
External links