Description:
Man's black cut pile silk (plush) tall or top hat with a fairly wide, round crown and brim with the latter flaring out at the top in a slight diagnole and the lable for "MITCHELL, HUNT & CO./ MANUFACTURERS, Framingham, / MASS." Modern forms began to invade the world of fashion by the end of the 18th century, and this style of top hat was invented in Florence, Italy, about 1760. The methods were perfected by the 1830s when wearing a "stove pipe" hat was an essential part of being fashionable. Massachusetts was a center for hat making because of the easy access to water power and its close links to the northwest which supplied companies with beaver fur. Mitchell, Hunt & Co. Manufacturers was established in 1823 after the purchase of a company owned by Daniel Brige, founded in 1781. The height and shape varied throughout the period and remained unchallenged until the introduction of the "derby" in 1850. This example, a silk plush version, has a black ribbon encircling the outside point where crown meets brim (secured by newer pin). Inside, the hat is lined in an off-white glazed cotton? The sides of the crown are additionally layered inside with a honeycomb-like layer. The hat tightens inside with a width of black leather threaded with braid at the back.
Label Text:
By the turn of the 19th century, the fashionable man’s hat became taller and more slender. These tall, or top, hats were made from dyed beaver fur, silk, or even palm leaf. Crown height and silhouette shifted throughout much of the century, as did the width of the brim. All, however, have in common an inherent, if impractical, luxury.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2000.11.1 |
