Boaters in the 19th Century.

[David Conwill]

A lot of people seem to associate boaters with the 1890s and the 1900s, yet it seems like most of the photographs I see of them being worn are from the 1920s and later. Can anyone point me at a photographic record of boaters being worn in the Gilded Age? Not that I don't believe it was done, I just want to see it and what people were wearing with them.

-Dave

 

[David Conwill]

Found one!

Well, twenty views and no replies. That seems to tell me that a lot of people are interested, but nobody has what I'm after. A bit more noodling on Google netted this:

The Richardson family having a croquet party in Denver, CO, c. 1890. Interesting that only the young boys are wearing boaters and it's the older fellows who have stuck with the derby.

If you're reading this in the morning, and you've got more pics, I'd love to see them.

-Dave

 

[LocktownDog]

Perhaps its due to the greater amount of family photos taken in the 1920s compared with the 1890s? Photography was much more formal in the earlier period. When personal cameras started coming into play, we seemed to get more candid shots of family members. Boaters aren't necessarily suited for formal sitting portraiture.

That pic is great. Not a smile among them. Gotta get me a derby and bow tie.

 

[Feraud]

I would search period works of art..

 

[DominusTecum]

Well... those folks look like a really cheery bunch. If the chap in front wasn't posing on the ground, you'd think they were on their way to a funeral.

(Yes, I know it's just period photography.) Usually, I think of boaters as being a '20s and "Jazz age" type thing. It was seen as rather decadent during the depression, I think, which is why they kind of fell from popularity -as a summer hat, the Panama took over. Probably, this is when they "came into their own," but beforehand, they undoubtedly lived a quieter life as summer headgear. I've heard that they're actually a short, straw form of the top hat, which leads one to believe that they're probably contemporary with universal topper-wearing. Perhaps they originated in the 1850s?