Were hats (fedoras, homburgs) as popular prior to the '20s?

[FedoraFan112390]

They say, at least in America, the President helps in part to set the tone in terms of fashion, or reflects what is currently the norm. Early 20th century Presidents, in particular, TR and Taft, were rarely pictured with lids on their heads. If they were, it was rarely or for a solemn occasion which called for a Topper. TR sometimes wore army-style hats, slouch hats, as a younger man and on occasion cowboy hats, but I never saw him wearing a fedora; same with Taft. Wilson wore a lid on occasion but in terms of Presidents you really don't see the fedora come into play as a major piece of fashion accessory until FDR.

I'm wondering if the rest of the nation sort of the followed this pattern? IE relative hatlessness in general and then an upswing in the 1930s-1940s?

 

[TheDane]

I believe, we should not over emphasize the influence of politicians and heads of states. With few exceptions they seem a couple of decades behind the rest of society - very rarely first-movers.

Watching photos from the first three decades of the 20'th century, it looks like a homburg or fedora was more of a necessity than an accessory.

The decline in hat making already began around the turn of the century, and I'm not aware of an upswing during the 30's and 40's ... on the contrary. I believe it was a gradual and steady decline.

I also don't believe, that Cavanaugh had an upswing in the early 60's, despite the fact that Cavanaugh was JFK's brand of choise.

Politicians are part of the population and products of their times and trends, and it would probably be unwise to act or dress too differently from their voters

Just my thoughts, but then again - I'm not American

 

[mayserwegener]

Can't forget the gentleman in the center! I took this photo (of a photo) and others (will post later) in the Bad Homburg Casino / Spa restaurant.

 

[mayserwegener]

Edward VII of England photos that are hanging in the Spielbank (Casino) Bad Homburg restaurant. I hoping to find prints of these fantastic / informative photos.

(Click on Photo to Expand!)

This one I have seen before but it was great to see it in better detail (late 1800s).

I believe I have seen this one before (late 1800s). It's really great!

In Boater (late 1800s) I haven't seen this one before.

Group photo (late 1800s) I haven't seen this one before.

These are from 1906 and Edward VII appears to be wearing a gray Stiff Felt with open crown Homburg style tendencies. I have never seen these photos before.

 

[Lotsahats]

The decline in hat making already began around the turn of the century, and I'm not aware of an upswing during the 30's and 40's ... on the contrary. I believe it was a gradual and steady decline.

Wow, really fascinating! I hadn't heard the beginning of the 20th century before as the start of hat declines. I'm always looking for numbers for these sorts of things; do we have production numbers to examine?

 

[buler]

Google books is your friend. Try 'hat production 1900' or plug in whatever year. You'll find interesting data.

B

 

[TheDane]

Fantastic photos, Steve!

Wow, really fascinating! I hadn't heard the beginning of the 20th century before as the start of hat declines. I'm always looking for numbers for these sorts of things; do we have production numbers to examine?

Aaron I'm quite sure, I've seen quotes on production/export numbers here on TFL - from Borsalino if my memory serves me right. It could very well have been Steve and/or Brad who posted them(?)

I'm in the middle of an apartment renovation, so I'm on my phone without access to my regular hard drives. Maybe Steve would chime in on the subject and help my dusty memory

 

[mayserwegener]

Production numbers varied (based on economic situation, war time, ect) from major hat producing (America, England, France, Austria, Germany, Italy) countries 1900 - 1940. Also the increasing number of men choosing not wear hats was important. I would take Bill's suggestion and search Google Books. I have some numbers but would have to do some internal searching.

 

[TheDane]

Oh no ... please forget about the endoscopy!

 

[Alexander Sommerset]

I hate to say it, FedoraFan112390, but I don't think a single thing in your opening post is right. There are tons of photos of all the presidents wearing fedoras (as well as more formal top hats) all the way until Nixon's second run at the White House. And, as noted above, we have seen statistics posted here that heats started declining in popularity starting in the 30s and continuing until their near disappearance in the mid 1960s. Further, hats were ubiquitous prior to the 20s, even more so than later. They weren't called "fedoras" but during the civil war era all men worse some sort of slouch hat or some such thing. Seems to me you have your facts a bit garbled.

 

[mayserwegener]

Mayser Ulm / Lindenberg, Germany actually sold 3.5 million hats in 1963. This was a record for the company.

 

[barrowjh]

Prior to indoor plumbing and water heaters men did not wash their hair very often, and a hat was both outerwear and underwear. Close to the same for women, most women wore hats also. Take away the indoor plumbing, water heater, blow dryer, etc. and most modern hairstyles would look ugly/ratty within just a few days. Some sort of hat or cap was almost essential; a man without a hat was an oddball.

 

[TheDane]

Prior to indoor plumbing and water heaters men did not wash their hair very often, and a hat was both outerwear and underwear. Close to the same for women, most women wore hats also

When I was a kid in the late 50's and early 60's my mother and all her woman-friends wore a scarf around the hair. I believe that was the case most places in Europe at the time. Brigitte Bardot wore chiffon scarfs with two small aluminum clips in the sides, turning them into very popular fashion accessories. My older sister wore them all the time in the 60's.

Besides the improved plumbing we also went from coal to oil in our heating systems - with a lot cleaner air with less coal dust as a result. Coal and poorly constructed burners was the reason my dad would never buy a white car ... "I would have to be cleaning it every day", as he put it.

It can be quite complicated to pin point the reasons for changes in fashion, I guess.

 

[Xylophile]

In Edwin Black's book "Internal Combustion" he talks about how much horse manure was a part of daily living, particularly in the city. In winter it was a major component of what was on your shoes and in summer it was a major component of the dust that covered everything. I always thought that hats and gloves were a necessity made stylish, and when things cleaned up and generations changed, they weren't needed so much and their use could decline.