Top hat

Comment by Andy Chase on July 29, 2016 at 9:14am

That is a beauty.  I have a wool felt top hat that I bought in college and it's acquired a patina of comfortable use, but I've been keeping an eye out for a dressier old top hat for years.  I expect ones large enough to fit my large cranium were relatively rare then, making them exceedingly rare now. 

Comment by Paul Draper on July 29, 2016 at 9:26am

You're right about sizes. It seems the old hats that have survived are very small, for whatever reason (from my very limited experience). I've yet to find a good-fitting old derby. Most sit on top of my head and look like a clown accessory.

Comment by Brian Kimerer on August 9, 2016 at 8:09pm

Here is my banjo playing outfit. I inherited the bowler from my Father In Law. That is as much as I know about it. It is a really nice hat and fits me perfectly.

You can tell from the look on my face that I take my banjo playing seriously.

Comment by CURTIS PAYNE on December 11, 2016 at 5:52pm

Comment by CURTIS PAYNE on December 11, 2016 at 5:53pm

trying on a hew top hat. This one is beaver at $350, but it's really nice. 

Comment by Scott Danneker on February 17, 2017 at 8:41pm

For what it's worth, the hat that Napoleon wore at Waterloo was made from the remains of a beaver from Montana.   Really.

Comment by Al Smitley on February 22, 2017 at 7:12am

It doesn't surprise me that it came from North America.  It does surprise me if it came from as far west as Montana by 1815, however.  On the other hand, perhaps they were trappers affiliated with Great Britain, who had more of a presence on the northern Pacific coast.  Scott, is it a documented fact?

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