The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1874-04-04
The History of Hats,


history of Partisan revolutions was the
history of mobs. An ingenious arch
seologist supplies the Debats with an
interesting paper, from which it may
be inferred that the history of revolu-
tons is also the history of hats Ac-
cording to this learned person the
'chimney-pot, which, though univer-
sally worn, is as generally abused as
the most announcement of all head COW
erlngs, as an institution venerable for
its antiquity. Chimney-pot hats were
commonly worn in Thibet long before
the days of Magma Charter There
We're, however, distinctions. A native
of Thibet III these days could tell who
and what the wearer was from the color
of his hat 1t was white for civilians,
black for officials, yellow for monks,
and the Grand Lama, alone had-and
the Debats assures us still retains-the
privilege of wearing 'chapeau of the
finest red. The Debats regrets to find
that the Hebrews have not IN any way
contributed to 'hatology;' but the
writer surely goes little too far III in
ferring from the fact that he has been
unable to discover any Hebrew name
for hat, that theJe entirely discarded
that useful article of dress The Spar
tans wore felt hats, not that they par
tlcularly affected any covering for their
heads, but as a distinguishing mark
The felt hat was the outward sign which
distinguished the freeman from the
helOt. The natives of Egina wore hats
of peculiar character; they were SO
thick that they might serve for shield,
and so heavy that they formed dan
gerous and offensive weapon When
Draco went to Crete, he went to the the
atre to read out his code of laws. The
Cretans determined that he should be
summarily eXtinguished, and forth
Draco did not recover. The hats had
proved too much for him. | was not
aware of this curious episode, but if it
be founded on fact, it is [ believe the
only instance on record. The Romans
sensible peOple-on wore hats for use
not for rnament-broad-b rimmed
straw hats, to keep off the sun and rain.
In France hats appear to have been
worn toward the close of the Hundred
Years War The first King that is
represented with this civilian head gear
is Charles VII When he went TO Rome
he wore ON his solemn entry a chimney
pot hat with piece of gold braiding
round it, not unlike the hats now occa-
sionally worn by fOotmen. Louis XI.
"a sensible man-discarded hats. and
resumed the convenient and pictur-
eSque cap of maintenance which had
been the favorite head dress of most of
his forefathers. 1t is not, however
until the days of the League and the
religious wars that the hat rose into po-
htical Importance. The Hoguenots
wore tall felt hats, not unlike those now
worn by tourists, Ornamented with a
single feather the Catholics wore
short felt hats, adorned by the double
cross adopted by the House of Lorraine
This fashion gave rise to not few
squibs. One of these quatrains has
been preserved:
Que veult dire ie Yous prize
&c signe do la double eroix
C'est QUEEN Ia Igne on crucifie
Notre Seigneur Une aultre tots.
Freedom of the press was no better
understood then than it is now. The
author of this quaint epigram was dis
covered and hanged. Under Louis
XIII. and Louis XIV. the hat became
once more a social symbol The hat in
general use was a three cornered affair.
like that worn by London coachmen on
levee and drawing room days. But
doctors wore chlmney-pots about two
feet high priests wore, on the con
trary, shovel hats of the same pattern
as that of Don BdSiljO in the Bar
biere. Under Louis XIV. the hat was
an article for ornament, not use peo-
pie used to wear it not on their heads.
but under their arms. The revolution
came, and made very short work of hats
and the heads that wore them. When
Napoleon fell, and Louis lie Desire
returned to the throne of his fathers.
the hat again became a political en-
blem. The partisans of Napoleon wore
huge machines with a broad turned-up
brlm, weighing over pound the
Legitimists donned light tall silk hats
tapering to a point with very narrow
brlm. Duels-fatal duels-too. were
then very frequent, and it was sufficient
to bring about a deadly renc0rtre for
the wearer of the narrow brim to ask
the wearer Of the broad brim. Who is
your halter J In 1925, when the CON
sol1dated debt was partly reduced to
three per cent. new style of low
crowned hat became very fashionable.
under the designation of Reduced
Consols. The successful Instruction
IN Peru was commemoratedb by Partisan
Liberals by chape0ur a Ia BOIirar.
After the revolution of 1880, the Repub-
llcan Party took tOpointed wideawakes,
and with its usual absurd love Of med
ling the Police made them very popular.
by prohibiting them as seditious en-
blems. At present the chimney-pot is
generally popular, but it is not looked
upon with favor by Belleville, The
chlmney-pot is generally set down as an
emblem of reaction, conservatism, and
anti-republicanism. The soft felt tray
cling hat Is the emblem Of republi-
canism and radicalism of every Shade. |
from that of VI. Grevy and Victor Hugo
to the widest communism But the
Government are wiser in one respect
than that of Louis Philippe. They do
not prosecute hats for sedition. VI De
Lorgeril, one of the ultras of the Right. |
has lmmortaGzcd himself by an attempt
10 tax chlmney-pots, but it has eyre
giously failed, and therefore the incon-
venient emblem ofreaction seems likely
to hold its own"
TNE Bergh Society of Rochester re-
centlyput astop to the favorite diversion
OF Master Daniel Collins. which con-
sisted IN throwing vagrant dogs from