Bowler hat

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Bowler hat 1916
Bowler hat 1916

The bowler hat (also known as a 'derby' or 'billycock'[1]) is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown created for Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester, in 1850.[2]

Contents

[edit] History

A display of new bowler hats for sale in 2005 (Portobello Market, London)
A display of new bowler hats for sale in 2005 (Portobello Market, London)

The bowler hat, known in the USA as the "Derby", was designed by the hatters James and George Lock of Mr. Lock of St. James's Street, a firm founded in 1676 and still in business. It was originally known as the "iron hat". The Locks sent their design to the hatmakers Thomas Bowler and his uncle William Bowler at their works in Southwark, London, and the Bowlers produced the prototype of the hat for Coke. The "iron hat" later picked up the name Bowler because of its makers' family name. There are various theories as to why a hard hat was designed. It may have been to protect the head of a man on horseback against the danger of low tree branches whilst mounted. Alternatively, some have suggested it was designed for the gamekeepers of Holkham Estate in North Norfolk,[citation needed] and was hard to protect them from being hit on the head by night-time poachers. Peaking in popularity towards the end of the 19th century it offered a midway between the formality of the top hat, associated with the upper classes, and the casual nature of soft flat hats worn by the working classes.

The bowler became a cultural identifier, ironically with two completely different meanings: throughout most of England it was associated with professional servants, e.g. butlers, and so upon seeing a man wearing a bowler in a pub or on the street, it was fairly safe to assume he was a "gentleman's gentleman," meaning a valet, manservant or butler; in London itself, however, it was associated with professionals, and so a man wearing a bowler in The City could safely be assumed to be a lawyer, stockbroker, banker or government official. As the traditional headwear of London city 'gents' it has become something of an English cultural icon. The bowler was also to some extent adopted by the surrealist movement, particularly by Magritte, as an object which typified the absurdity of "normal life" and appeared in many surrealist paintings in one guise or another.

However, Englishmen stopped wearing hats as a matter of course in the 1960s, and most young English people in the 21st century have never seen a bowler hat worn as part of normal dress. The decline of the bowler is possibly linked to the rise in car ownership in the 1960s which would make it difficult to wear[original research?]. It is, however, still commonly seen worn at some formal public events, such as by town councillors at Armistice Day ceremonies. It is also traditionally worn by members of the Orange Order in Northern Ireland during their 12 July annual parades, though usage has declined. A bowler hat was once worn by the gaffer of a team of furniture removers although this tradition has died out.

In the United States and England, this hat is also known as a derby hat, after Edward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby, founder in 1780 of the Epsom Derby. The cultural significance in the United States was slightly different. Though certainly not exclusively so, the derby tended to be associated with urban culture, and particularly with the well-to-do that had risen from the working class. Hence, it was often seen on the heads of "machine politicians", urban Irish-descended "ward heelers" and others, and so often appears in movies, comic books and comic strips of the 1930s and 1940s as a silent signal that the wearer is of this group. Al Smith, who exemplified the urban Tammany politician of the 1920s, was often seen in his distinctive derby: typically, men's full-sized derbies are black, but Al Smith always wore a brown derby.

A small bowler hat worn at an angle is typically referred to as a "gruff hat" or "pickle hat".[citation needed]

In Germany, the hat is known as Melone (melon), due to its shape. Similarly in France it is known as "chapeau melon".

It has also been worn by Quechua and Aymara women in Peru and Bolivia since the 1920s when supposedly a shipment of bowler hats was sent from Europe to Bolivia via Peru for use by Europeans who were working on the construction of the railroad. The hats were found to be too small and were distributed to locals. The luxurious, elegant and cosmopolitan Aymara Chola dress which is an icon to Bolivia (bowler hat, Manila Shawl, heavy pollera (a type of skirt) with petticoats, boots, jewelry, etc.) was born and evolved in Chukiago City and it is clearly not provincial but urban. The dress has become an ethnic symbol for the Aymara women. In addition, numerous Aymara live and work as campesinos in the surrounding Altiplano[citation needed].

[edit] Famous wearers

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Hat Glossary
  2. ^ Fred Miller Robinson, The Man in the Bowler Hat: His History and Iconography (Chapel Hill and London: The University of North Carolina Press, 1993). p.15.

[edit] References

  • Village Hat Shop glossary
  • Fred Miller Robinson, The Man in the Bowler Hat: His History and Iconography (Chapel Hill and London: The University of North Carolina Press, 1993).
  • "Whatever Became of the Derby Hat?" Lucius Beebe, Gourmet, May 1966.