Top Hat Styles and the Master's Hat

[Adcurium]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Everyone! I have a question regarding Top Hats that I hope you can answer. Here is the setup: I am hoping to be elected Master of my lodge in January (God and the Craft willing). And our master (I think like all Masters in the US) wears a hat. And at our lodge, the master wears a top hot. While some Masters buy their own top hats, others go to the closet and choose one that a past master has left behind as he traveled to that place from which no man returns. I went to the closet the other day to evaluate my options and I noticed that some hats are very tall, while others are short. Did style dictate the size of a top hat? One of the hats in my size is very tall. And I would like to somehow date it (I'm not sure which Master(s) wore this particular hat and there is only the name of the manufacturer (or maybe store) inside. It would be really great if I can determine that a master from XXXX to XXXX wore it. So is there a period where some men wore taller hats while they wore shorts hats during a different period?

 

[splintercellsz]

For dating, photos would be of great help! There were many styles about through the years, both tall and short making photos vital!

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[Adcurium]

Some interesting evidence…

The inside of the hat has a marking that reads: William Barton, Providence. Barton was a colonel in the Revolutionary Army, and was responsible for capturing Maj. Gen. William Prescott. The Remnants of the Revolutionary war readout that overlooks Narragansett Bay in my town was renamed after Col. Barton. His other career was that of a Hatter. I don't know if he was ever a member of my lodge (I will need to do with that more research on that) but was born the next town over. At this point I am surmising that one of our past Masters purchased the hat from Col. Barton's shop. Based on other events in Col. Bartons life, That would put this hat somewhere before 1830.

For dating, photos would be of great help! There were many styles about through the years, both tall and short making photos vital!

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[splintercellsz]

Very nice! It seems to look that way. It's great when one is able to place an item with the owner in a specific area of times past. If possible, please share some photos of those toppers here:
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?36577-Toppers-Unite

And check this thread out as well:
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?49169-HATS-WITH-HISTORY

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[Adcurium]

I'll take a few more photos and post them once I get to my desktop on Monday!

Very nice! It seems to look that way. It's great when one is able to place an item with the owner in a specific area of times past. If possible, please share some photos of those toppers here:
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?36577-Toppers-Unite

And check this thread out as well:
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?49169-HATS-WITH-HISTORY

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[splintercellsz]

absolutely stunning my friend!

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[Adcurium]

And a few more iPhone photos…

absolutely stunning my friend!

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[splintercellsz]

Stunning my friend, absolutely stunning. Such a historical piece. It's amazing what lies hidden to be found again.

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[Adcurium]

I'm pretty excited now...

 

[alanfgag]

So is there a period where some men wore taller hats while they wore shorts hats during a different period?

Top hats did change size and style over time, with the trend towards shorter crowns as time progressed. Taller hats (7") were in fashion in the 19th century, 6" in the early 20th century, and 5 1/2" by the 1930s. The hat you've shared appears to be silk plush, 1830 sounds very early to me.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Nice hat. How tall is the crown? You're right in that crown height varied according to fashion. the 1860s for example were VERY high crowns. What's this, like 7-8 inches? More? :eeek:

 

[Baron Kurtz]

p.s. for me, this hat looks like a 1900-1910 model. 'Course if you could find out who left it (it surprises me that the Lodge has no info on this! My father's Lodge has full biographical info on all its relics) that would give you a rough guideline.

 

[Adcurium]

The crown is 6 1/2 inches high. Based on the fact that William Barton was in prison from when he was in his 60's into his 70's, I figured he wasn't making hats then. So I was basing the date on when I would have expected him to have gone from war hero back to hatter (but before Defendant)...

p.s. for me, this hat looks like a 1900-1910 model. 'Course if you could find out who left it (it surprises me that the Lodge has no info on this! My father's Lodge has full biographical info on all its relics) that would give you a rough guideline.

 

[alanfgag]

If you search Google books you will find links to William Barton, hatter and furrier.... starting in business in 1856, the store appears to have been in business at least to 1899 and perhaps beyond. I think the Baron's assessment of age is a good marker.

 

[Adcurium]

Boo!!! Not that 1900-1910 doesn't make it old, but I was hoping to be wearing a relic!

 

[Brad Bowers]

I agree with the Baron and Alan on this one, that it's a later hat. It has a rudimentary D'Orsay curl, and from everything I've seen, those are more of a post-1860 brim style. It may not be a coincidence that there were two William Bartons in the hat business in Providence. This one could be the grandson.

Brad