Fedoras in the 19th Century.

[buler]

June 1891

June 1891:

 

[rjenkins]

Unless I'm seeing things, in the photo with the red border ('Davenport as Fedora' in the first group of pics) 'the hat' is hung on the end of the mantelpiece?

Look at the top center of the picture.

The light spot could be the edge of the feather (or a mark on the photo..)

 

[rlk]

Woman's style 1900-ish

Hats: a history of fashion in headwear By Hilda Amphlett

 

[rlk]

Walt Whitman:

Edward Spangler, conspirator hanged for Lincoln's assasination:

These are traditional soft hats worn by the average person, not a fashionable urban formalized hat. They are basically open crown with a flattish brim. Might classify as a slouch hat of the time. We now may think of these as Fedora examples, but for the late 19th century the center creased crown and curled brim would be the characteristics of the "new style". Its the transplantation of a trendy European style(also with humble origins). For the purposes of tracing the form and name during this period this is a different hat despite its similar soft construction and common ancestry dating back hundreds of years.

We could have a more generalized thread for 19th century hats.
Not for this thread, but I would consider them direct ancestors of the Open Road/Alessandria style.

 

[rlk]

Another question to explore is when the "Fedora" name came to be applied to men's soft hats more generally, as the 19th century term certainly applied to what most would now describe as a "Homburg"(in a softer form).

 

[Brad Bowers]

Another question to explore is when the "Fedora" name came to be applied to men's soft hats more generally, as the 19th century term certainly applied to what most would now describe as a "Homburg"(in a softer form).

Possibly when the hat itself changed from a curled brim to a relaxed and even snap brim, which seems to be around WWI and shortly after. Even by 1920, the hat style was still in transistion.

I can't help much here, as Crofut & Knapp only referred to them as Soft Felt hats, and not Fedoras.

Brad

 

[Garrett]

Civil War Era "Soft Hats"

I would consider these fedora variants

 

[danofarlington]

I would consider these fedora variants

Or, fedora forerunners.

 

[rlk]

I guess we do need another thread.
It doesn't matter what we would consider them. No one at the time would have called any hat a Fedora. This illustrates the point that there wasn't really anything definitively new about the hat body. They are either pork-pie or free form for the most part here. Nothing really with a firm front to back crease. You can find similar hats back to the Middle Ages(maybe even earlier).

However, during the last two decades of the 19th century the name was applied only to center-creased curving brim soft felt hats of moderate brim width. No one at that time would have seen a Fedora style hat in these two photos.

I'm tracing the origins of the term "Fedora" and its application to hats, not the history of soft hats as broad as today's American definition of "Fedora"(if there is one).

 

[Garrett]

Would you like me to delete them?

 

[rlk]

Would you like me to delete them?

I modified the title and introduction to make it more specific.

I'd like to see another thread about 19th century soft hats and style- history.
There are so many great early photographs. Why not open up with these.

My apologies for my somewhat misleading opener. Your observations are correct for a more general view.

 

[danofarlington]

I'm tracing the origins of the term "Fedora" and its application to hats, not the history of soft hats as broad as today's American definition of "Fedora"(if there is one).

I thought they were called that as an outgrowth of the Fedora Lounge. Wasn't that the origin?

 

[barrowjh]

RLK's Post #15

fftopic:

RLK's post #15 is an article about Loewe (D. E. Loewe) Hats, and I have seen references to this company before. I have an extremely nice OR clone with 'Loewe' across the liner, and I wonder if it was made by this company. The hat features the vapor barrier behind the sweatband, and an opaque tip, so I have been thinking it was 1940s. However, I believe it is the only Loewe anyone here has ever heard of, and you would think that if Loewe & Co. had survived into the 1940s that there would be more of their hats seen. So, sometimes I suppose it was a local hatter somewhere, but maybe it was from Loewe & Co.

I know this is a teeny bit off topic, but I wanted to spark some comments, if anyone else has ever seen a Loewe hat?

 

[rlk]

fftopic:

RLK's post #15 is an article about Loewe (D. E. Loewe) Hats, and I have seen references to this company before. I have an extremely nice OR clone with 'Loewe' across the liner, and I wonder if it was made by this company. The hat features the vapor barrier behind the sweatband, and an opaque tip, so I have been thinking it was 1940s. However, I believe it is the only Loewe anyone here has ever heard of, and you would think that if Loewe & Co. had survived into the 1940s that there would be more of their hats seen. So, sometimes I suppose it was a local hatter somewhere, but maybe it was from Loewe & Co.

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb307/barrowjh/110207005.jpg[/IMG]

I know this is a teeny bit off topic, but I wanted to spark some comments, if anyone else has ever seen a Loewe hat?

Any photo of the Loewe logo on your hat available to compare?

HAT FIRMS STAND BY SUIT.; D.E. Loewe, Whose Firm Sued Strikers, Tells of Long Labor War.



July 23, 1910, Saturday
Page 14, 1214 words
D.E. Loewe of Danbury, Conn., whose firm was brought to public attention through its successful prosecution of suit against the United Hatters of America, was in the city yesterday. The case against the United Hatters of America is to be brought up in the Circuit Court of Appeals in October.

More legal problems in 1922

D. E. Loewe Aged Hatter Incorporates
Danbury Man, 74 and Nearly Blind, Starts Business Again With $100,000 Paid-in Capital
The Hartford Courant (1923-present) - Hartford, Conn.
Date: Nov 9, 1926

Abstract (Document Summary)
Another episode in the already long and colorful tale of the activities of Dictrich E. Lowe of Danbury in the hat industry opened yesterday when incorporation papers were filed with the secretary of the state by D. E. Loewe and Company, Incorporated.


He died in 1935, I think the new Incorporation didn't make it so your hat is probably a different firm

 

[barrowjh]

Thank you

Thank you for the information. It is in a box downstairs, but the opaque pre-plastic tip makes it difficult to get a good pic. Based on the information you had there, it must have been a custom hatter's work. Although there is no mention of beaver anywhere in the hat, the felt is as good as my very best (which does not necessarily make it beaver).

 

[rlk]

Clothier and Furnisher 1888

Tourist becomes Fedora?
Fedora seems to have been applied to the pre-existing soft, creased "Tourist" felt hat. President Harrison no doubt increased the popularity of the style

 

[rlk]

Bicycle Hats

A new style with a flatter brim.

1896

1897

 

[rlk]

Contemporary hat styles directly related to Fedora origin

Cristiano Lobbia(Italy) and Edward Prince of Wales(Germany/England)

Mellegari's current Homburg pages illustrate:
Italian:

English(used Wikipedia as source):

 

[rlk]

Lobbia 1869

from Roberto Manzoni(RMR)

Contemporary history

 

[mayserwegener]

Here are some old Habig plates that have early Fedora like hats (on left side).

I believe this is an original Möckel Homburg (from the Bad Homburg City museum collection).