Bowler hat

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Paul Strand wearing a bowler hat in 1916.

The bowler hat, also known as a bob hat, derby (US), billycock or bombín,[1] is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown originally created in 1849 for the British soldier and politician Edward Coke, the younger brother of the 2nd Earl of Leicester. The bowler hat was popular with the working class during the Victorian era, and later on with the middle and upper classes in the United Kingdom.[2] Later in the United Kingdom, it would come to be worn as work dress by the officers of the Queen's Guards.[3] In Ecuador especially the women of Quechua people have used Bowler hat since the 1920s when British railroad workers made it famous.

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History [edit]

The bowler once defined British civil servants and bankers, and later American workingmen.[4] It was devised in 1849 by the London hatmakers Thomas and William Bowler to fulfil an order placed by the firm of hatters Lock & Co. of St James's.[4] Lock & Co. had been commissioned by a customer to design a close-fitting, low-crowned hat to protect Coke's gamekeepers' heads from low-hanging branches while on horseback. The keepers had previously worn top hats, which were easily knocked off and damaged. Lock & Co. then commissioned the Bowler brothers to solve the problem.[4]

Especially in Great Britain, most accounts agreed that the customer (and designer of the hat) was William Coke.[5] However, later, a nephew of the 1st Earl of Leicester, provided research that has cast some doubt on this origin story. It is now believed that it was Edward Coke, the younger brother of the 2nd Earl of Leicester, who invented the hat design.[2]

The bowler hat is a traditional part of womenswear among the Quechua and Aymara peoples of South America

When Coke arrived in London on 17 December 1849 to collect his hat he reportedly placed it on the floor and stamped hard on it twice to test its strength; the hat withstood this test and Coke paid 12 shillings for it.[6] In accordance with Lock & Company's usual practice, the hat was called the "Coke" hat (pronounced "cook") after the customer who had ordered it. This is most likely why the hat became known as the "Billy Coke" or "Billycock" hat in Norfolk.

In the Americas [edit]

The bowler, not the cowboy hat or sombrero, was the most popular hat in the American West, prompting Lucius Beebe to call it "the hat that won the West".[7] Both cowboys and railroad workers preferred the hat because it would not blow off easily in strong wind, or when sticking one's head out the window of a speeding train. It was worn by both lawmen and outlaws, including Bat Masterson, Butch Cassidy, Black Bart, and Billy the Kid. It is in America the hat came to be commonly known as the "Derby",[3] and Wild West outlaw Marion Hedgepeth was commonly referred to as "the Derby Kid".

The bowler, called a bombín in Spanish, has been worn by Quechua and Aymara women since the 1920s, when it was introduced to Bolivia by British railway workers. For many years, a factory in Italy manufactured the hats for the Bolivian market, but they are now made locally. Another region that appreciates the bowler hat is the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. The men of this region use this hat as a fashion accessory, along with a walking stick. These fashion accessories, which have become a staple part of the regional costume, were introduced by British colonials in the 1900s.[8]

In popular culture [edit]

Charlie Chaplin's character "The Tramp"

In artworks [edit]

In business [edit]

In song [edit]

  • The song that opens the 1950s TV show, Bat Masterson, has lyrics "he wore a cane and Derby hat, they called him Bat, Bat Masterson."
  • The 2011 music video for Radiohead's song Lotus Flower features lead singer, Thom Yorke dancing in a Bowler hat.[10]

In film and television [edit]

In literature [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Hat Glossary
  2. ^ a b "The history of the Bowler hat at Holkham" (PDF). Coke Estates Ltd. 
  3. ^ a b (See Roetzel)
  4. ^ a b c d e Bowler hat makes a comeback Telegraph (London). Retrieved 25 September 2011
  5. ^ Roetzel, Bernhard (1999). Gentleman's Guide to Grooming and Style. Barnes & Noble.
  6. ^ Swinnerton, Jo (2005). The History of Britain Companion. Robson. p. 42. ISBN 1-86105-914-0. 
  7. ^ The Hat That Won the West, retrieved 2010-02-10 
  8. ^ Eigo, Tim. "Bolivian Americans". Countries and Their Cultures. Retrieved 2008-08-13. 
  9. ^ "Who'll get custody of Bradford and Bingley's bowler hat?". news.bbc.co.uk. BBC News. Retrieved 25 September 2011. 
  10. ^ Radiohead. "Lotus Flower". Retrieved 10 December 2012. 
  11. ^ Thomson and Thompson

Further reading [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bowler hats
  • Fred Miller Robinson, The Man in the Bowler Hat: His History and Iconography (Chapel Hill and London: The University of North Carolina Press, 1993).
  • "Whatever Became of the Derby Hat?" Lucius Beebe, Gourmet, May 1966.
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