Crofut & Knapp Top Hat

[jimmy the lid]

My father (who is now 85) is passing along to me a couple of hats that he inherited from his father, and this Crofut & Knapp top hat is one of them. My father believes that, at the very latest this hat dates from 1920. His recollection, though, is that this hat was actually passed down by my great grandfather and probably dates to the turn of the century. I know absolutely nothing about these kinds of hats, so any info would be most welcome.

Cheers,
Jimmy

 

[Orgetorix]

Where's Topper when you need him?

 

[Adam_H]

Crofut & Knapp were one of the bigger millineries among the textile mills in Connecticut.

That hat looks to be in outstanding shape! No rabbit droppings or anything!

It appears in the pix to be napped beaver fur felt, not woven silk, which would probably date it more turn-of-the-century than from the 20s. (Men wore felt top hats for regular wear more often, and by the 20s the silk topper was more prevalent, usually only for formal evening wear.)

 

[jimmy the lid]

You're right, Adam -- it's not a silk hat. My father thought that it could possibly date back to the 1890's, but can't be certain. Sounds like your info might help place it closer to the turn of the century. Very cool.

 

[feltfan]

Crofut & Knapp were one of the bigger millineries among the textile mills in Connecticut.

That hat looks to be in outstanding shape! No rabbit droppings or anything!

It appears in the pix to be napped beaver fur felt, not woven silk, which would probably date it more turn-of-the-century than from the 20s. (Men wore felt top hats for regular wear more often, and by the 20s the silk topper was more prevalent, usually only for formal evening wear.)

If you do a search on Knapp on this site, you should
find some interesting posts. I have not seen that
C&K logo before- looks old.

Adam, since beaver and silk top hats were also made
at the same time and fashions shifted, it seems dangerous
to date the hat based on its finish. I'll be curious
to hear what Topper has to say.

JtL, nice lid, thanks for sharing it.

 

[Topper]

I am sitting in my log cabin workshop with the heater on its cold...

Nice lid - if you had a tape measure on the height of the crown would be nice 6&1/2 plus inches? looks exceptionally straight.

Judging age is hard, the best way with most hats is to look at the maker label, and then the design of the label with any address - then consult historic records.

Sorry I am unfamilar with the American makes, still trying to learn UK ones. If you can get some dates of the firm from corporate records that should give you and idea.

Bearing in mind one of the biggest hat makers at turn of the centuary had over 400 hats styles in their catalogue and over 200 were top hats in different styles - so one style doesn't just fit in one year!

Same as saying "Flaired trousers" were only made in the 70ies.... Wonder what the had during WWII on navy trousers...and back in 90ies - fashions come and go and return....

Than being said, if the height of it is around 7inches and shape would guess around 1880ies onwards The liner is typical of hats of that era shiny finish to the inside gossamer. similar to Dunlap who I have a couple of examples from same era, this is more durable that the later silk /paper liners with their tip dyes.

The sweat is over 2 inches by the look posibly 2.5, though be careful if turn it back likely to break the stitching on the band.

Beaver and silks are easy to tell the difference. Beaver is felt - just like your fedoras, though toppers were often using longer pile 'veloured' felts. The inside of a felt fedora looks the same material as the outer - the difference is the finishing. Similarly with Toppers of a "Beaver top hat" ( or other mixture of felt, e.g. russian rabbit) roughly looks the same both inside and out ( check this on modern New topper if you have one)

Silks are sewed as separate material and then stuck on to a gossamer shell. Which is what you look like having inside.

The top edge of the crown ( called "Square") is were is most often worn away. Around here shoud be stitching if the tip oval ... though if dont see any immediately then good ! hasn't worn away! the Best hatters could disguise thir work very well. So look on the side of the crown ( usually on the left side near bow) Brush the pile smooth as see if there is a very feint diagional if you hold it up to the light. Then would be silk and you are seeing the fabric join underneath.

Silks toppers were made from mid 1790ies onwards but the Beaver was most popular in USA, the silk became mainstream in UK about 1830ies, and a bit later for the USA, in about 1870 majority of city toppers for higher classes were silk, due to its cheaper manufacturing cost compared with best beaver, and lightness of the silk hat, and the sheen finish was greater. . Despite this the name "Beaver" hat was still used to describe silk hats in the US - similarily in Europe a some places called them "Moleskin" hats even though were silk. :deadhorse

 

[jimmy the lid]

Topper -- many thanks for the info! Sorry for the delay in responding to your reply, but I wanted to post some photos of the hat box and it has taken me a bit longer than expected to get around to this. In any event, the hat is 6 inches tall. The case itself is pretty amazing -- a sturdy leather exterior, and a very plush interior to cradle the hat. The interior of the case bears the Brooks Brothers logo.

I'll be interested to see whether or not I can nail down the dating on the hat a bit more precisely, but it's not hard for me to believe that it goes back to the turn of the century.

Cheers,
Jimmy

 

[alanfgag]

1915 Crofut & Knapp nutria top hat

Thought I would add this hat here... there seem to be few examples of C&K top hats archived on the lounge. Purchased for the 1915 wedding of the gentleman in the photo and carefully stored afterwards... in pristine condition.

 

[alanfgag]