Fedoras in the 19th Century.

[rlk]

The man who played Loris Ipanoff opposite Fanny Davenport in the first US Fedora

[danofarlington]

The man who played Loris Ipanoff opposite Fanny Davenport in the first US Fedora
[]

These are very illuminating. Someone needs to interest Ken Burns in a documentary to be called "The History of Hats," and use RLK as his principal researcher.

[rlk]

Anyone who has ever been misquoted by a journalist
or had their position entirely misrepresented by a journalist
who didn't take the time to understand the issues or for that
matter anyone who reads articles about hats in today's newspapers
will not be surprised by confused, contradictory, or uninformed
reporting back in the old days. Scary as it seems, there were
even fewer constraints on journalists then.

Unfortunately, old articles are useful, but not definitive.
Old promotional materials are as trustworthy as today's equivalent.

Note spelling of Playwright Sardou's name above

[buler]

Essential reading bump.

B

[lecky]

All this research is fantastic!
One big question remains - when did the style of hat that we now know as a fedora come together with the name?

[mayserwegener]

I found this in the September 2, 1899 edition of Deutschen Hutmacher-Zeitung. Moeckel was the original maker of the Homburg hat for Edward VII. This is the first mention of the style as a Homburg Hat that I have run across in a German or Austrian publication of the late 19th or early 20th centuries. The use of English is directed towards export markets.

[TomS]

Interesting reading. Thanks.

[kolchak]

Fascinating and informative!