Description:
Child's red leather tall hat with a handwritten label inside the crown: "1812 This hat was worn by Joseph Pocorny when he was 3 / years old and was made by his father for him in / 1812. Mrs. Howard H. Mann, Hanover." His father, Joseph "Pokorny" (d.1817) advertised in The Repetory (Boston, Massachusetts) on October 11, 1811 as a Book Binder in Boston. Working with leather in this way probably gave Pocorny, Sr., the skill to make this hat for his son. Joseph Pocorny, Sr, published his itnent to marry Hannah Fleton of Boston on November 20, 1808. Joseph Pocorny, Jr. (b. Dec. 16, 1809 in Charlestown), married Lydia Clapp of Scituate in 1832 and was an innholder, the "Propriator of Tavern at Four Corners for a time." Joseph died at the age of 44 on June 6, 1854, in Woburn, Massachusetts, probably of cholera.
Label Text:
Modeled after an adult man's tall hat, this rare boy's example required some discipline on the part of its young wearer for it to sit properly on the head. According to family tradition, the five-inch tall hat was made in 1812 for then three-year-old Joseph Pocorny (or Pokorny), Jr. (1809-1854), of Boston by his father, Joseph (d. c.1817), a bookbinder. Early American tradesmen often performed a broad range of related activities to earn a living, even in specialized, urban environments.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/test/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+69.0748 |
