Great great Grandad's fedora.

[Grizzly Adams]

Nope, I don't don't have it, but I have been wondering just how long men have been wearing the fedora on this continent? I know it dates back to the 1890s, but just how popular was it prior to WWI? Anyone know of any images from that period showing men wearing a "fedora?"

 

[Shangas]

The Fedora started out as a chick's hat, if that affects popularity in any way...

 

[Dinerman]

The Fedora started out as a chick's hat, if that affects popularity in any way...

The term "Fedora" for a mens soft hat caught on in the USA in September 1883 and has stuck around ever since. The play "Fedora" opened in the US in October of that year, and had premiered in Paris December 1882. The hats of the two were only loosely related, and the term "Fedora" at that point was applied almost exclusively to mens hats.
September 26, 1883 - The New York Sun

212 Broadway
5th Avenue Hotel
340 Fulton St. Brooklyn

 

[Grizzly Adams]

Thanks, Dinerman, that's interesting, indeed! So Knox was making the fedora before Stetson? Anyone have any images of fedoras during this period?

 

[mayserwegener]

The following threads will give you a good idea of the origin of the Fedora. The early Fedoras were similar (if not the same) to Homburgs. As far as I know the term (same with Homburg) wasn't used in pre WWII Continental Europe. Also there is just a tiny bit of hype going on in the Knox the Hatter ad.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?48956-Fedoras-in-the-19th-Century.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?49010-Fedoras-first-decade-of-the-20th-Century

 

[Grizzly Adams]

Most instructive!:eusa_clap Thanks for the links.

 

[mayserwegener]

If I was running this site, those threads would be pinned.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

If I was running this site, those threads would be pinned.

+1