Fedoras in the 19th Century.

[rlk]

Freud Family 1897

 

[rlk]

 

[Yeps]

...The Homburg or "Fedora" hat, as it is sometimes called...

Now ain't that the darndest thing. Not only do old fedoras look like homburgs, they were the same thing!

 

[rlk]

New York Tribune

For women too at the end of the Century:

 

[Brad Bowers]

It just gets murkier, doesn't it?

Brad

 

[rlk]

The Professor

for Brad

Anyone interested in the rest of the story? http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86069873/1899-11-21/ed-1/seq-8.pdf

 

[danofarlington]

It just gets murkier, doesn't it?

Brad

Yes, but at least it appears that the critical years to sort through are 1883-1900, more or less. Probably what society meant by "fedora" had one or few interpretations at that time. More evidence is needed to clear it up. Then however the meaning of the term changed subsequently, is a different question.

 

[feltfan]

Anyone who has ever been misquoted by a journalist
or had their position entirely misrepresented by a journalist
who didn't take the time to understand the issues or for that
matter anyone who reads articles about hats in today's newspapers
will not be surprised by confused, contradictory, or uninformed
reporting back in the old days. Scary as it seems, there were
even fewer constraints on journalists then.

Unfortunately, old articles are useful, but not definitive.
Old promotional materials are as trustworthy as today's equivalent.

 

[mayserwegener]

The dress Homburg of Edward (whatever it is called) is pretty well documented -> Gray, tall tapered crown, center dent with curled medium sized brim with no binding. I have been searching Austrian velour hats in early 1900 USA newspaper ads and I have seen some strange descriptions and factual errors. I am not sure the translation made it across the pond (or in the pond) correctly all the time.

 

[rlk]

Robert Mantell

The man who played Loris Ipanoff opposite Fanny Davenport in the first US Fedora

 

[rlk]

Robert Mantell

The man who played Loris Ipanoff opposite Fanny Davenport in the first US Fedora

 

[danofarlington]

The man who played Loris Ipanoff opposite Fanny Davenport in the first US Fedora
[]

These are very illuminating. Someone needs to interest Ken Burns in a documentary to be called "The History of Hats," and use RLK as his principal researcher.

 

[rlk]

Anyone who has ever been misquoted by a journalist
or had their position entirely misrepresented by a journalist
who didn't take the time to understand the issues or for that
matter anyone who reads articles about hats in today's newspapers
will not be surprised by confused, contradictory, or uninformed
reporting back in the old days. Scary as it seems, there were
even fewer constraints on journalists then.

Unfortunately, old articles are useful, but not definitive.
Old promotional materials are as trustworthy as today's equivalent.

Note spelling of Playwright Sardou's name above

 

[buler]

Essential reading bump.

B

 

[lecky]

All this research is fantastic!
One big question remains - when did the style of hat that we now know as a fedora come together with the name?

 

[mayserwegener]

I found this in the September 2, 1899 edition of Deutschen Hutmacher-Zeitung. Moeckel was the original maker of the Homburg hat for Edward VII. This is the first mention of the style as a Homburg Hat that I have run across in a German or Austrian publication of the late 19th or early 20th centuries. The use of English is directed towards export markets.

 

[TomS]

Interesting reading. Thanks.

 

[kolchak]

Fascinating and informative!

 

[buler]

A discussion of soft hat style from summer of 1897. <click for larger image>

B

 

[alanfgag]

A good read... thanks!