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labricoleuseWhile in NYC last week, i took a day trip up to the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum in Norwalk, CT, where they are hosting an exhibit on the history of the top hat. "Top This! History of Top Hats," is curated by Stacey Danielson and features a selection of top hats on loan from Reginald Borgia, who was vice president of the Hat Corporation of America, a premier American hat manufacturer in Norwalk in the 1930s-1970s. There's a great article on Borgia and the history of the Norwalk hat industry in this April edition of the Norwalk Citizen.
Throughout the 19th century and the first half of the 20th, Norwalk and Danbury were the hatmaking capitals of America, when it came to the manufacture of blocked hat styles from felt and straw for both men and women.The exhibit is not mentioned at all on the LMMM website, nor is the cost of admission ($10). I found out about it via a hatmaker's newsletter. In the gift shop, i met one of the women whose father's top hat collection contributed to the exhibit; they were very excited i'd come so far just to see their hats!
The exhibit was small, contained just within the music room of the mansion, but featured probably around 30 hats, over a dozen hatboxes and top hat luggage cases, as well as a display of blocks and tools. I enjoyed the display showing top hats made from wool felt, beaver felt, silk faille, and silk plush, for the opportunity to contrast their appearance. It was also cool to see a rounding jack that was 200 years old, but i have to say, mine made by Mark DeCou is way better! :)
In the gift shop, i purchased two excellent books, both by hat historian Debbie Henderson: The Top Hat: An Illustrated History, and Hat Talk: Conversations with Hat Makers about Their Hats--the Fedora, Homburg, Straw, and Cap.
My god, people, get these books if you are at all interested in mens hats!
The Top Hat contains much of the notecard label text from the Norwalk exhibit, as well as a lot of great photos and engravings and info about the history of the style. Most excellent, however, is its appendices, in which Henderson reprints two pamphlets from 1942, "How a Silk Hat is Made" and "How an Opera Hat is Made." They explain in detail exactly how old-style toppers and collapsible toppers were manufactured, including photos and diagrams.
Hat Talk is more of a rich oral history of the hatting industry, and is largely a series of interview transcripts that Henderson conducted with really old men who'd worked in the hat industry before it largely folded--blockers, foremen, salesmen, guys from companies like Knox, Stetson, Dobbs, Borsalino, Cavanaugh, Bollman--plus tons of sales literature images reproduced throughout. Also highly recommended, but if you only get one, get The Top Hat for those appendices.
And, if you find yourself up that-a-way, check out the exhibit and the beautiful Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum!
Throughout the 19th century and the first half of the 20th, Norwalk and Danbury were the hatmaking capitals of America, when it came to the manufacture of blocked hat styles from felt and straw for both men and women.
The exhibit was small, contained just within the music room of the mansion, but featured probably around 30 hats, over a dozen hatboxes and top hat luggage cases, as well as a display of blocks and tools. I enjoyed the display showing top hats made from wool felt, beaver felt, silk faille, and silk plush, for the opportunity to contrast their appearance. It was also cool to see a rounding jack that was 200 years old, but i have to say, mine made by Mark DeCou is way better! :)
In the gift shop, i purchased two excellent books, both by hat historian Debbie Henderson: The Top Hat: An Illustrated History, and Hat Talk: Conversations with Hat Makers about Their Hats--the Fedora, Homburg, Straw, and Cap.
My god, people, get these books if you are at all interested in mens hats!
The Top Hat contains much of the notecard label text from the Norwalk exhibit, as well as a lot of great photos and engravings and info about the history of the style. Most excellent, however, is its appendices, in which Henderson reprints two pamphlets from 1942, "How a Silk Hat is Made" and "How an Opera Hat is Made." They explain in detail exactly how old-style toppers and collapsible toppers were manufactured, including photos and diagrams.
Hat Talk is more of a rich oral history of the hatting industry, and is largely a series of interview transcripts that Henderson conducted with really old men who'd worked in the hat industry before it largely folded--blockers, foremen, salesmen, guys from companies like Knox, Stetson, Dobbs, Borsalino, Cavanaugh, Bollman--plus tons of sales literature images reproduced throughout. Also highly recommended, but if you only get one, get The Top Hat for those appendices.
And, if you find yourself up that-a-way, check out the exhibit and the beautiful Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum!
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Date: 2010-06-07 04:57 pm (UTC)Well as of a few minutes ago, if you go to the LMMM website and click on the calendar of events, the exhibit is right at the top of the list and notes that it's included in the price of the tour.
Exciting, all around! Maybe they can even shed some light on one of the problems I've been having, hatboxes for tall hats.
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Date: 2010-06-07 05:10 pm (UTC)They had several boxes and cases for taller toppers on display, so if you have a chance to swing by, it's worth a look.
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Date: 2010-06-10 03:51 am (UTC)http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127627752&sc=fb&cc=fp