Were fedoras worn during WW1?

[Feraud]

It was a number of factors including -- but not necessarily limited to -- automobiles, haircuts being more of a fashion thing, WWII, etc. Like the armholes debate, you can't really point to one smoking gun... to think one man held that gun seems, to me, a bit silly. Especially considering the same thing happened overseas.

Not to mention those 20-30's era frat boys and their rebellious streak.

 

[pgoat]

Well, it's been said before, Kennedy killed the hat! He all but refused to wear his top hat for his inauguration and seemed to be the death knell for top hats.

Leon Russell

Mac Rebennack

-Reg Dwight

Perhaps 'Slash' will revive the trend, although some of these guys have failed previously!

-dixon cannon

marc tried it too (see my avatar)

 

[carter]

Young Indiana Jones

They're re-running that on Saturday mornings on the History Channel.

It was on the History Channel late last night on DirecTv in Dallas.

 

[Pat_H]

The aggravating movie viewer

It was on the History Channel late last night on DirecTv in Dallas.

You know, now I can't watch this series, in the ones in which he's in his teens, without thinking "I wonder if that Fedora is correct for this era?".

I was already chronic about picking apart movie details as it was.

I'm still watching, however.

 

[RBH]

Men's single breasted suits
Cir. mid-1920s
<a href="http://imageshack.us"><img src="http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/4006/20smenssuitsoz2.gif" border="0" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/></a>

from cir. 1919
<a href="http://imageshack.us"><img src="http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/7157/1919ad4.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/></a>

From the looks of the hat in the top photo {the one on the right}
it looks as if the hat Young Indy wore was pretty spot on .

 

[Spellflower]

I think if Slash had any chance of bringing Top Hats back, it would have happened at the height of Guns N' Roses' popularity over a decade ago.

However, my brother is the singer in a band called A Three Ring Circus, and he received a Top Hat for Christmas, so maybe he'll start something.

 

[Pat_H]

Men's single breasted suits
Cir. mid-1920s
<a href="http://imageshack.us"><img src="http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/4006/20smenssuitsoz2.gif" border="0" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/></a>

from cir. 1919
<a href="http://imageshack.us"><img src="http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/7157/1919ad4.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/></a>

From the looks of the hat in the top photo {the one on the right}
it looks as if the hat Young Indy wore was pretty spot on .

Whew! Now I can feel better about that while watching the show.

 

[Pat_H]

Whew! Now I can feel better about that while watching the show.

Although. . . it does appear that the bash began to change a bit after 1920. Wonder what motivated that?

 

[TimBer]

Other failed attempts to bring the top hat back

 

[Jovan]

Whew! Now I can feel better about that while watching the show.

Or... you can just accept that it's a show.

 

[Pat_H]

Stars & Stripes article specifically referring to the Fedora. The articles are really about the campaign hat, lamenting that the Quartermasters did not intend to replace overseas caps with them, but the fedora is noted in one, in reference to the soldiers ultimately returning to civilian life.

http://www.oldmagazinearticles.com/pdf/Old Campaign Hat.pdf

 

[Pilgrim]

Judging by the pix posted on page one @1915, it appears that Homburgs and other rolled-brim styles were popular in that era. I saw some fedoras, but more hats with rolled brims. It does look like a period of transition.

 

[Erik]

That Dumb and Dummer photo... MY EYES!!!!! AAARGGH!

Funny movie for what it is, though.

 

[Dinerman]

From the '20s, but similar in style to the ones in the pictures.

 

[Pat_H]

In the current issue of Rural Heritage, at page 108, there's a photo of a Jell-O wagon circa 1913. The driver is wearing a Fedora. It's not a crystal clear shot, but it looks to be as much of a Fedora as the photo Eisenhower holding one, while greeting JFK, which was recently linked in here.

 

[Pat_H]

In the current issue of Rural Heritage, at page 108, there's a photo of a Jell-O wagon circa 1913. The driver is wearing a Fedora. It's not a crystal clear shot, but it looks to be as much of a Fedora as the photo Eisenhower holding one, while greeting JFK, which was recently linked in here.

I should note the crease isn't quite like most Fedoras, but very much like Ike's in the photo noted. Having said that, it sure looks like a Fedora.

 

[J. Baxter]

http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/2007/02/city-of-shadows-sydney-police.html
The portrait photos in this book are very early 20s, and almost all of those photographed are wearing fedoras.

My 20s Stetson homburg also seems to have some very close similarities with a few of the hats in the Sears catalogue.

 

[Dinerman]

An old family photo from the time period. Fedoras?

 

[J. Baxter]

...with stiff brims I reckon.

 

[Brad Bowers]

Here is an advertisement I recently added to my collection.

This is a full-page ad, and very colorful by advertising standards back then. The hat is boldly styled, similar to the famous photo of Capone. It features side creases instead of a front pinch, but still looks strikingly like what we think of as a fedora.

The year?

1908.

Compare it to the typical Crofut & Knapp from 1906, which is also typical of most hat companies' ads of the time:

Based on my research so far, I have to attribute this new hat styling and marketing to John Cavanagh, GM and VP of C&K at this time. It was his suggestion to reintroduce soft felt hats in 1906. His handiwork is seen all over this ad.

I find it interesting that Cavanagh, who was such a forward-looking innovator and visionary when it came to C&K and Dobbs hats, held his own baby brand, Cavanagh Hats, in a kind of time warp, almost unchanging and very conservative, from 1928 until the early- to mid-1950s, after he had retired from the company. Granted, his retailing concept of an exclusive store raised the bar that no company ever matched, but it's still funny.

Brad