Description:
Woman's hat made of dyed navy blue or black straw with matching velvet trim and the "Bonwit, Teller & Co." label inside the top of crown done in mustard gold thread on black. This hat was worn by Eleanor E. Esleeck of Greenfield, Massachusetts. She traveled to New York for much of her clothing, where she purchased higher priced ready-to-wear garments and accessories; Esleeck’s shopping habits reveal the strong link that some western Massachusetts women had with New York fashion. Bonwit Teller was a leading New York department store established in the late 19th century; throughout its heyday in the early-to mid-20th century, the store offered in-house designs and American manufactures, as well as creations imported from Paris. Esleeck purchased other items from Bonwit Teller that are in the Historic Deerfield collection, including a black silk moire dress from the early 1920s, accession number 94.004.13. The straw, which has a shiny surface treatment, is a done in a fine braid sewn in a spiral for crown and brim; the oval crown is 3.5" tall, 6.25" wide, and 7.5" deep; the brim is about 4" deep and wired and cocked on right side (in an organic undulating form); the interior crown is lined with black silk with a draw string to adjust fit. The hat is undecorated except for slightly gathered 2" wide navy velvet ribbon along top edge of brim; however, the hat may have been originally trimmed with artificial flowers evidenced by the presence of threads indicating possible removal of other decorations. Esleeck purchased other items from Bonwit Teller that are in the Historic Deerfield collection, including a black moire silk dress from circa 1925, accession number 94.004.13. These items well-illustrate the patronage of exclusive department stores by wealthy residents of the Connecticut River Valley. Bonwit Teller was founded by Paul J. Bonwit (1862-1939), a German immigrant who moved to America in the 1880s. He founded the department store with Edmund D. Teller around 1897, and by 1911 their Manhattan store was located on Fifth Avenue. By the mid-twentieth century, following the general trend of other department stores, Bonwit Teller had opened up other store locations throughout the country. Bonwit Teller went out of business at the end of the twentieth century, with the Fifth Avenue store torn down in 1990 to make way for Trump Tower.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+94.004.21 |
