Fedoras, first decade of the 20th Century

[rlk]

Why did the "Fedora" name persist in the USA beyond its fashion trend origins and then become more widely applied? It doesn't seem to have stuck elsewhere(more research needed). At this time I don't see men's hats being called Fedora in Europe. And the first Fedoras don't seem to have been called Homburg's either(as we see them looking back).

I realize this academic approach won't interest everyone, but I'm trying to stick with the notion of "Fedora" in a specific time period here.

 

[donnc]

As a winged hat, it became the symbol of Hermes, the Greek mythological messenger god (Roman equivalent Mercury)

Could we get a shot of the sweatband and liner?

 

[Brad Bowers]

Why did the "Fedora" name persist in the USA beyond its fashion trend origins and then become more widely applied? It doesn't seem to have stuck elsewhere(more research needed). At this time I don't see men's hats being called Fedora in Europe. And the first Fedoras don't seem to have been called Homburg's either(as we see them looking back).

I realize this academic approach won't interest everyone, but I'm trying to stick with the notion of "Fedora" in a specific time period here.

I'm all about the academic approach.

It appears to be a classic example of genericization, whereby a brand name, or in this case, a model name, becomes colliquially applied to all examples of the type, regardless of brand. Xerox and Kleenex are two modern examples.

Why did it stick in America? I don't know.

At first glance, we would call early Fedoras as Homburgs, because they look so similar to our modern sense of aesthetics. But there had to be a fundamental difference, and perhaps it was the softness of the felt. Perhaps a Fedora was much softer again than the Homburg. If it originated as a Tyrolean style, perhaps there is some antipathy towards anything Germanic on the part of Americans, particularly around WWI. Just throwing ideas out here.

In any case, the style had changed by the 1920s, yet the name remained.

Could we get a shot of the sweatband and liner?

lol :eusa_clap

Brad

 

[danofarlington]

In any case, the style had changed by the 1920s, yet the name remained.

Brad

But did the name remain? From all of the hat ads I see here, they just say "hats." Maybe the term "fedora" started out in a specialized way in 1883 with Sarah Davenport and the Tyrolean hat, then faded into obscurity until a later date. Just when was it that people stopped calling men's hats "hats" and started calling them "fedoras?"

 

[rlk]

I'm all about the academic approach.


At first glance, we would call early Fedoras as Homburgs, because they look so similar to our modern sense of aesthetics. But there had to be a fundamental difference, and perhaps it was the softness of the felt. Perhaps a Fedora was much softer again than the Homburg. If it originated as a Tyrolean style, perhaps there is some antipathy towards anything Germanic on the part of Americans, particularly around WWI. Just throwing ideas out here.

In any case, the style had changed by the 1920s, yet the name remained

Brad

Those European Homburgs(as in Bad Homburg--Edward and the Germans) were soft, unlike what came to be called a Homburg later here. The stiffer Homburgs seemed to develop later when the modern notion of the Fedora began to become more popular after the 30's. In fact the American Homburgs(our terminology) from the 20's-30's seem to have been nearly as soft as the Fedoras(in my experience). I need to find the first use of the Homburg in the USA too. If anything those late 19th century Fedoras seem stiffer than the early Homburg hats, like they just reduced the shellac in the crown of a Derby/Bowler and punched in a dent(alla Lobbia). Perhaps they thought this looked like the European hats.

 

[rlk]

McKinley 1900

Victorious Republicanism and lives of the standard-bearers, McKinley and ... By Murat Halstead

 

[rlk]

Iron Molders 1900

Iron molders' journal, Volume 36 By Iron Molders' Union of North America, International Molders' Union of North America

 

[rlk]

Some Literary References 1900-01

George Ade Forty Modern Fables

1902

 

[hatophile]

President McKinley- a Cantonite (Ohioan).

 

[rlk]

Typical 1900 ad

100's of these ads. Reads Derby and Fedora --nothing more

 

[rlk]

1901 Straw

Felt:

 

[rlk]

1902

 

[mayserwegener]

Those European Homburgs(as in Bad Homburg--Edward and the Germans) were soft, unlike what came to be called a Homburg later here. The stiffer Homburgs seemed to develop later when the modern notion of the Fedora began to become more popular after the 30's. In fact the American Homburgs(our terminology) from the 20's-30's seem to have been nearly as soft as the Fedoras(in my experience). I need to find the first use of the Homburg in the USA too. If anything those late 19th century Fedoras seem stiffer than the early Homburg hats, like they just reduced the shellac in the crown of a Derby/Bowler and punched in a dent(alla Lobbia). Perhaps they thought this looked like the European hats.

I agree regarding the Homburg. The early ones from Edward's time were gray and had tall tappered crowns and from what I can tell no brim binding. I have no idea about the pliability but the photo of the one from the Bad Homburg museum looks soft. There are southern German traditional styles (not Tyrolean) from the same time (1880) and much earlier that have Homburg like elements. Lembert (Augsburg) still has blocks for some of these type of hats. I really should have visited Lembert last year but couldn't fit it in. Dreispitz (Dieter) lives nearby but I don't think he has paid them a visit yet. The Bad Homburg city museum and the hat museum in Lindenburg are also places worth checking out. Also the city museum of Nový Jičín(Neutitschein) Czech Republic.

 

[Brad Bowers]

From your latest postings, Robert, it looks like Fedora had become a generic name for soft hats by 1900; 1883, it's a model name, 1900, a generic name.

Now, I want to know the history of the "wide-awake."

Brad

 

[rlk]

From your latest postings, Robert, it looks like Fedora had become a generic name for soft hats by 1900; 1883, it's a model name, 1900, a generic name.

Now, I want to know the history of the "wide-awake."

Brad

Except every image I can find in an ad so far still looks like a Homburg.[huh] The center crease is still the key for the word Fedora. It seems the public is applying the name more broadly than the hat manufacturers.

 

[Brad Bowers]

Except every image I can find in an ad so far still looks like a Homburg.[huh] The center crease is still the key for the word Fedora. It seems the public is applying the name more broadly than the hat manufacturers.

I've never come across a reference for Crofut & Knapp (et al) Fedoras. They always called them just soft felt hats. I don't know about other manufacturers, but I figured it was more of a public idea than an industry-wide one.

Brad

 

[rlk]

I've never come across a reference for Crofut & Knapp (et al) Fedoras. They always called them just soft felt hats. I don't know about other manufacturers, but I figured it was more of a public idea than an industry-wide one.

Brad

I've been supplementing the 19th Century Thread with more ads. Stetson seems to have joined the Fedora trend in 1897 but no C & K so far(checked up to 1910)

 

[rlk]

I've never come across a reference for Crofut & Knapp (et al) Fedoras. They always called them just soft felt hats. I don't know about other manufacturers, but I figured it was more of a public idea than an industry-wide one.

Brad

I've been supplementing the 19th Century Thread with more ads. Stetson seems to have joined the Fedora trend in 1897 but no C & K so far(checked up to 1910)

 

[rlk]

Knox hype again---

 

[rlk]

Note all the styles mentioned...