Evening star., 1938-09-15
OF STARS,
MEN AND ATOMS

Notebook of Science Profrsss
in Field, Laboratory
and Study.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.
CAMBRIDGE, England (By maiD -
Why did men start wearing hats?
There is nothing more absurd"-take
1t on the word of Lord Raglan, eminent
British antiquary-"than that the hat
was an invention to protect the head"
1t Is absurd, he insisted, because half
the people on earth. including the pop
ulations Of whole continents. wear no
hats. Moreover, he insisted, II head
protection was q hats primary purpose
the headgear Of men and women would
tend to be the same because whatever
the difference inside their heads they
are just the same on the outside"
The growing disuse Of the hat even
in severe weather by both men and
women in temperate climes, he said, in
dicates that there Is no very strong
human motive in protecting the head
from the weather.
The most plausible explanation, Lord
Raglan said, Is that the hat was derived
from the crown, intended as symbol OF
authority or decoration and perhaps
initiated from the sun. The masses
started wearing something or other on
the tops Of their heads to initiate royalty,
and whatever this was has developed
through the ages into the modern hat.
In many cases. he said. its convenience
as 4 protective device has been recog-
'nized and 1t has been modified to meet
certain conditions, such as the heavy
rains Of India or the hot sun Of the
tropics. But its utility Is purely Sec
ondary.
The now rapidly disappearing stove
pipe hat, he said. was q development out
Of the cooked hat Of the late 18th CEN
tury, for time was worn almost uni.
versally by the well-dressed man, but
now its use is restricted to bishops.
undertakers and bank messengers" !"
Other hat lore he dispensed:
Two stylish hats OF the 14th century,
when headgear began to appear. survive
in the cap Of the bishop and the skullcap
OF the circus clown.
This fashion was Immediately sue
ceeded by the broad. nat hat which now
survives as the academic cap" worn by
college graduating classes and the
bonnet" of the Scotch highlanders.
The tall. pointed "witcks hat" was
the height Of fashion in the days of
Queen Elizabeth, was initiated by the
peasant women when the fine ladies
began to discard 1t. and probably was
the actual hat worn by country matrons
in the 17th century. when most OF the
witch burnings took place. It still Is the
hat style Of Welch country women.
Closely allied to the hat Is the wig,
which. Lord Raglan pointed out, frst
was introduced in the early 18th CEN
tury as part OF the dress Of extreme
dandies wishing to impress the court
ladies. Everybody started to initiate
them. Then the fashion died out and
wigs were discarded by everybody except
English judges, the speaker Of the House
OF Commons and some members of the
legal profession. Up to that time, he
said. lawyers had dressed just like every
body else and why their attire should
have become frozen" at certain point
in history II inexpNcable. There is no
evidence, he said, that before this the
wig had any particular legal associa.
tions.
The same is true Of the Characteristic
dress Of the clergy. 1t was the height
Of fashion in the 18th century. Pre-
Vously priests had dressed like every
body else. As with the lawyers. their
dress suddenly frose, although it had
no special clerical dgnifcance, and has
come down almost unchanged ever since.
The attire Of the figures on playing
cards. he said. was the common fashion,
able dress of the 10th century, when
these were first invented. The frock
coat Of fashionable male attire also is
. "freexing" of q once popular style.
The same thing "froze" with the Irish
peasantry, who share the garment with
the haute monde.
The beautiful costumes Of peasant
women throughout Europe, Lord Raglan
said, are In no sense indigenous creations
Of the peasantry, but are limitations Of
court costumes OF the 17th century.
All this goes to show. he said, that
nothing regarding the origin of an object
can be deduoed from its present use and
dress. which usually is regarded as having
been devised for specific purposes. al
most always has been entirely irrational
and decorative in its origin.
This Is shown, he said, by the fact that
In Europe and America all men wear
pants and all women wear skirts and
this Is looked upon as the proper order
Of things, while historically all over the
continent of Asia women have worn
pants and men have worn skirts and
any departure from this costume has
been considered an absurdity.
The history Of dress, he said, also
shows that fashions always have trickled
down from the highest society to the
lowest and that a peasant never in
vented anything" If so, he insisted,
there certainly would have been peasant
innovations in such = fundamental thing
~ dress.
Ts SSa