The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-07-19
LAND OF HATS
Varied Assortment Worn In the
Hermit XIX Com.
HEADeEAR ALWAYS KEPT ON.

~ --D 49, |
BAD Form For Koreans to BE Seen /.
Hat1ess--Gixe Of Some Hats Esti-
mated In Square Ecet-One style
the Wind Blows Tighter. ON the
Head-Another Resembles . Fly
Trap.
"Korea is the land of hats" declared
a traveller who lately returned from 9
visit to Seoul and other towns in the
| oriental country that is the chief bone
Of contention between Russia and ia
pan, says the Chicago Chronicle.
Indoor hats, outdoor .Lits. court hats.
enormous umbrella Eata. AIS .or Lair
weather, hats for bad weather. hats
with wings, inter hats, hats which
look like inverted soup plates made of
plated straw, and delicate, transparent
structures of woven horsehair, Of fine
silk thread, in strange geometrical
/ shapes, are among the varieties.
There is one Korean hat which the
wind can blow tighter On the head.
but which it cannot blow off in ever SO
playful a mood. There is a Korean hat
which looks like a new. shiny, patent
fy trap. Split bamboo, fine silk or
gauzily woven horsehair compose the
fabric. which has a truncated conical
crown measuring five inches in diane
ter below and about five inches in
height. 1t has a broad circular brim
about half a yard in diameter.
The beautiful inter hat is worn as
an article Of deshabille. This is really
quite a becoming headgear and some
what resembles the papal tiara. with
turreted effect. This has several pin
nacles. If you hold II in your hand
you are surprised to find how light it
is. Its weight is scarcely perceptible.
1t is not considered proper for a 10
rean to be seen hatless. On entering a
house he leaves his shoes outside. but
enters with hat firmly on his head.
When he sits down to eat he divests
himself Of some outer garment, but al
ways keeps his hat on. No early Eng
lish Quaker could stick to his broad
brim more rigidly than does the Ko-
rean to his hat. Percival Lowell re-
marks that a Korean man would part
with any or all of his clothing" rather
than take off his hat.
This halo of horsehair OF oiled silk
is occasionally removed in order to try
on another. There is also a black skull
cap or undercap worn beneath the big
hat by all but the very lowest class of
Koreans.
In Korea it is true emphatically that
the hat makes the man. The young
Korean marks his betrothal by wear
ing a hat of yellow straw. This is dis
carded when he is married, and he then
assumes his black silk hat, a sort Of
badge, like the 'toga virilla" of the
ancient Romans.
A courtier's hat has oval crown, fits
tight on the forehead and has winglike
appendages, paddle shaped ears the
better to hear the emperor's commands.
Grades in rank are marked by differ
ence in wings. The higher the courtiel
the thicker grow the wings of his hat.
A high noble has wings made Of two
fold material instead Of single ply silk
, The emperor's bonnet has wings
i which stand erect instead of standing
out at the sides. They say you should
not venture into the emperor's pres
ence without a winged hat.
The size of some Korean hats is es-
timated in square feet. The mourner's
: hat has a six sided rim. 1t is made OF
J plated straw. The heavier it's weight
the greater load of grief supposed tc
be endured by the unlucky mourner,
! The superficial area of a mourner's hat
is about six feet square. The general
shape is of a flattened hemisphere will
: a diameter of between two feet and
two and a half feet.
1t is said the mourner t~estifies to the
depth Of his bereavement by wearing
this vast piece of millinery abroad fol
3 a term of three years.