Allan Quatermain's hat in the books

[Russ]

There are several threads here on the hats worn by Allan Quatermain in the movies, but not much discussion on the hats of the original book character.

I'm presently making my way through the other Allan Quatermain books written by by H. Rider Haggard after he wrote "King Solomon's Mines" and "Allan Quatermain." Allan appears in about 12 additional books if I am not mistaken. These other books are fascinating because the popular image of Allan as a brave adventurer really starts to develop in them.

Also it is fun to find those scant references to his hat. Although he sometimes mentioned wearing or removing his hat, he rarely described it. In "Allan and the Holy Flower" he mentions wearing "dark-coloured cloth hat" when swimming across a crocodile-infested channel during a lightning storm -- while holding his rifle above the water. He also mentions in a later incident how a stray bullet fired by a Zulu "touched" the brim of his hat.

Does anybody know anything about cloth hats with brims during the late 19th century? Could he have been wearing a deerstalker in the hot African sun? Or did people back then consider felt to be a type of cloth? Or am I mistaken in thinking these hats in two separate incidents were the same hat?

He also mentions his helper Hans wore a "filthy wide-awake hat" which was a broad brim felt hat usually associated with the Quakers.

I still have about 9 books to go, so I'm sure many more hat references are waiting to be discovered.

 

[Frederick Chook]

I'd still consider felt a kind of cloth, especially if you compare it to, say, leather.

 

[Rick Blaine]

Felt:

Felt is a non-woven cloth that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers. The fibers form the structure of the fabric, so it is very soft.

Felt is the oldest form of fabric known to man. It predates weaving and knitting, although there is archaeological evidence from the British museum that the first known thread was made by winding vegetable fibres on the thigh. Felt dates back to at least 6,500 BC where remains were found in Turkey. Highly sophisticated felted artifacts were found preserved in permafrost in a tomb in Siberia and dated to 600 AD. Felt can be any colour, and made into any shape or size.

 

[Russ]

I understand what felt is, and where it came from. I'm just wondering if people in the late 19th century had the habit of calling a felt hat a "cloth hat" (we certainly would not, when "felt" describes it so much better) or if perhaps Quatermain's hat was not a felt hat at all.

 

[Rick Blaine]

A thousand pardons

I understand what felt is, and where it came from. I'm just wondering if people in the late 19th century had the habit of calling a felt hat a "cloth hat" (we certainly would not, when "felt" describes it so much better) or if perhaps Quatermain's hat was not a felt hat at all.

...this felt info was news to me.

 

[Serial Hero]

I ordered “Safari, A Chronicle of Adventure” from Amazon last week.

http://www.amazon.com/Safari-Chroni...=pd_bbs_5/002-8797515-9247242?ie=UTF8&s=books

It’s a history of safaris from the 1830’s to the present (1988). There are a lot of period photos of different hunters.

It talks a lot about Haggard, the Allan Quatermain character; where Haggard got the inspiration for the character, and the influence Quatermain had on the idea of what a safari is.

I wish the book would have gone into more detail in describing the types of clothing worn, but there are plenty of photos for reference.

From studying the photos, the large brim felt hats, as the ones described in other threads, seemed to be very common. There are also a couple of shots of the double brim hat similar to the one Stewart Granger was wearing in “King Solomon’s Mines”.

Since Haggard took inspiration for Quatermain directly from the real life hunters of the period, I think it would be safe to say the character probably wore a felt hat similar to his real life counterparts.


**On a side note, does anyone know where I might find copies of the other “Quatermain” novels?

 

[Russ]

Sounds like an excellent book!

I recalled a reference to a close-fitting cloth cap on Sherlock Holmes in the Boscombe Valley Mystery which is shown in the illustration as his deerstalker cap. True, it is a cap and not a hat, but it may shed some light.

You are probably right that Quatermain wore the type of wide brim felt hat that all hunters wore back then. Probably the cloth hat was an extra which was packed away and not usually worn, which could be why it was mentioned in the story at all.

As for the other Quatermain stories they should be available at Amazon. I downloaded most of them from Project Gutenberg and am now reading them on my old Apple Newton which has been resurrected as an e-book reader.

Here are the books as far as I know:

1. King Solomon's Mines (1885)
2. Allan Quatermain (1887)
3. Allan's Wife (1887)
4. Maiwa's Revenge: or, The War of the Little Hand (1888)
5. Marie (1912)
6. Child of Storm (1913)
7. The Holy Flower (1915)
8. The Ivory Child (1916)
9. Finished (1917)
10. The Ancient Allan (1920)
11. She and Allan (1920)
12. Heu-heu: or The Monster (1924)
13. The Treasure of the Lake (1926)
14. Allan and the Ice-gods (1927)
15. Hunter Quatermain's Story: The Uncollected Adventures of Allan Quatermain

I got this list from Wikipedia. It's best to read these in the order in which they were written since names and events are mentioned in subsequent stories after they appear. And you get to experience the same thrill the public must have felt as they waited for each new story to be published.

 

[Russ]

I am still making my way through the books, and have discovered another reference to Allan's cloth hat in Child of the Storm where he met a certain witch doctor:

"I took off my shabby cloth hat and bowed, then, remembering my white man's pride, replaced it on my head."


This time he was not swimming in any river, or under any other special circumstances that might warrant a special hat, so it appears that this cloth hat was his regular hat he wore all the time. I wonder what it might have looked like.

The Boers are prominent in some of his adventures, and we know that they seemed to prefer felt slouch hats judging from old photos.

So Quatermain (were he not fictional) would have been very familiar with these, and could have worn one if he chose to -- assuming his cloth hat was not actually felt. So back to square one!

 

[Russ]

Here is one such photo of Boers at the time:

 

[TheYell]

found two online sources for free

"The dress of the Boer is of the roughest description and material, and suited to his occupation. Corduroy and flannel for the body, a wide-brimmed felt hat for the head, and soft leather-soled boots fitted for walking on the grass, complete the regulation Boer costume, which is picturesque as well as serviceable. The clothing, which is generally made by the Boer's vrouw, or wife, makes no pretension of fit or style, and is quite satisfactory to the wearer if it clings to the body. In most instances it is built on plans made and approved by the Voortrekkers of 1835, and quite satisfactory to the present Boers, their sons, and grandsons. "

Howard C. Hillegas, "Oom Paul's People" 1899
http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=hillegas&book=people&story=boer

"The Voortrekkers would strike us now as being very simply dressed. Those men who could afford it wore clothes of tanned leather, but the majority were content with linen jackets and flap-trousers; sockless feet were thrust into home-made velskoens, their heads were covered with wide-brimmed hats of straw or felt. The women favoured print and linen dresses together with an embroidered shawl spread across the shoulders and a kappie on the head to protect it from the sun. Sunday clothes were packed into a kis within the wagon and they would only rarely be taken out until their journey came to its end. "

Oliver Ransford, "The Great Trek" Ch. 6
http://www.ourcivilisation.com/smartboard/shop/ransford/chap6.htm

I'm betting Haggard decked out his rugged hero in good old Boer wool felt, as opposed to straw or European beaver.

 

[Russ]

More than one hat

I will keep posting my findings here, not that I believe there is a lot of interest at present, but this thread will make a valuable source of reference in the future. I'm now reading "Finished" where Quatermain apparently has more than one hat (which should not be surprising). He was still in Africa as a hunter when he is quoted here:

"After this I put on the best coat and hat I had, feeling that as an Englishman it was my duty to look decent on such an occasion..."

So much of my scrutinizing is for nothing since what may be said about one hat does not necessarily apply to the other!

 

[Lord Jagged]

What an excellent thread - I've only read King Solomons Mines in this series and will now have to rush out and find the rest. Thanks for the heads up on the list and the interesting history of felt.

 

[Russ]

We can thank Rick Blaine for the interesting history of felt, which I can now see does add a valuable angle to this discussion.

 

[Mike K.]

As Serial Hero pointed out, the original inspiration for the Quatermain character was the legendary Frederick Selous, considered by many to be the greatest white hunter in African history. The Safari: Chronicle of Adventure book has a lot of excellent photos and period drawings from the hunters themselves. Additionally there is at least one page depicting hat & pith helmet styles available around the late 1800s - early 1900s.

In addition to the photo of the Boers posted earlier, here are a couple of pics of Selous himself. I'd model any Quatermain hat after these. I'd also recommend watching Out of Africa as it depicts a number of fairly accurate hat and clothing styles common to early 20th century Africa.

 

[jimmy the lid]

Books by Bartle Bull...

I echo Mike K's recommendation of "Safari: Chronicle of Adventure," by Bartle Bull. I've also always thought that folks here at the Lounge would really enjoy Bull's fiction, as it is set in exotic locales during the Golden Era -- books like "The White Rhino Hotel," "A Caf?© on the Nile" and "The Devil's Oasis," to name a few.

 

[Russ]

Those photos are very close to the image of Allan Quatermain in my head after reading several stories.

I did find another reference to his hat in "Finished" where he actually lost his hat during the war between the Zulus and British. Then he wandered alone and hatless on a horse in the hot sun which nearly killed him. To quote the witch doctor who later found him nearly dead and nursed him back to health, "I think the sun smote you first who had no covering on your head..."

Let that be a lesson to us all. Don't get involved in wars between the Zulus and British.

BTW I love "Out of Africa" as well, mainly for the costumes, and also the scenery. That DVD was my very first purchase I bought after I bought my first DVD player.

Now I need to hunt down the stories of Bartle Bull...

 

[Russ]

Hans' felt hat

I just finished The Ivory Child and have begun Heu-Heu and discovered Quatermain's assistant Hans' hat was called his "felt hat" in both stories. In the Ivory Child, an elephant eats Hans' felt hat, so the local natives give him a straw hat as a replacement, which makes him very happy. So Haggard has described hats as cloth, felt or straw so far in these stories, and so far Quatermain's own hat has only been called a cloth hat.

Only a few more stories to go. Hopefully we will still find Quatermain's elusive felt hat!