Man wearing a top hat.

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A top hat, top-hat, gentleman's cap, or cylinder hat (sometimes also known by the nickname "topper") is a tall, flat-crowned, broad-brimmed hat worn by men throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. Now, it is usually worn only with morning dress or evening dress, or as a specific pop cultural fashion statement, such as by guitarist Slash. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (3039x4723, 1043 KB) Description Austin Lane Crothers, former Governor of Maryland in the United States. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (3039x4723, 1043 KB) Description Austin Lane Crothers, former Governor of Maryland in the United States. ... Duke Ellington wearing a top hat. ... // Roller coasters are composed of various elements, the individual parts of the design and operation, such as a track, hill, loop, turn, etc. ... Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... The Oxford -er is a colloquial, sometimes facetious, abbreviation once prevalent at Oxford University (from about 1875), which gave rise to such slang as rugger for Rugby football, soccer for Association football and the now archaic footer for either code (but more usually soccer). ... A hat is an item of clothing which is worn on the head; a kind of headgear. ... Morning dress is a particular category of mens formal dress. ... Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II with Commonwealth Prime Ministers, in the 1950s. ... Popular culture (or pop culture) is the widespread cultural elements in any given society that are perpetuated through that societys vernacular language or lingua franca. ... A fashion consists of a current (constantly changing) trend, favoured for frivolous rather than practical, logical, or intellectual reasons. ... Saul Hudson (born July 23, 1965), more widely known as Slash, is an English/American guitarist best known as the former lead guitarist of Guns N Roses and as the current lead guitarist of Velvet Revolver. ...

History

The rise in popularity of the silk topper was met with resistance from those who wanted to continue wearing beaver hats. The top hat's place was assured when Prince Albert started wearing them in 1850; coincidentally, the rise in popularity of the top hat led to a decline in beaver hats, wiping out the beaver-trapping industry in America.^{[citation needed]} The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Prince Albert piercing Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence Prince Albert of Monaco Prince Albert, Saskatchewan Prince Albert National Park, Canada Prince Albert in a Can This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same... For the game, see: 1850 (board game) 1850 (MDCCCL) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday [1] of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

The first top hats were made with felt, most commonly being beaver fur felt. Later, they would be made of silk. The structure underneath the felt or silk was made of a material called goss. This was made from layers of calico covered in a hard glue. When gently heated over a flame, the glue softens, allowing the hat to be moulded to shape. A popular version, particularly in the United States in the 19th century, was the stovepipe hat, which was popularized by Abraham Lincoln during his presidency. Unlike many top-hats, this version was straight, like piping, and was not wider at the top and bottom. Often they were taller than the typical top-hat. It is said that Lincoln would keep important letters inside the hat. A selection of 4 different felt cloths. ... For other uses of this word, see Silk (disambiguation). ... Calico is a textile made from unbleached, and often not fully processed, cotton. ... For other uses, see Abraham Lincoln (disambiguation). ...

The nineteenth century is sometimes known as the Century of the Top Hat. The historian James Laver once made the observation that an assemblage of “toppers” looked like factory chimneys and thus added to the mood of the industrial era. In England, “post-Brummel dandies” went in for flared crowns and swooping brims. Their counterparts in France, known as the “Incroyables,” wore top hats of such outlandish dimensions that there was no room for them in overcrowded cloakrooms until Antoine Gibus came along in 1823 and invented the collapsible top hat. Such hats are often called an "opera hat", though the term can also be synonymous with any top hat, or any tall formal men's hat. In the 1920s they were also often called "high hats". Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1823 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

In the latter half of the 19th century, the top hat gradually fell out of fashion, with the middle classes adopting bowler hats and soft felt hats such as fedoras, which were more convenient for city life, as well as being suitable for mass production. In comparison, a top hat needed to be handmade by a skilled hatter, with few young people willing to take up what was obviously a dying trade. The top hat became associated with the upper class, becoming a target for satirists and social critics. By the end of World War I it had become a rarity in everyday life. It continued to be used for formal wear, with a morning suit in the daytime and with evening clothes (tuxedo or tailcoat) until the late 1930s. (The top hat is featured as one of the original tokens in the board game Monopoly.) The bowler hat is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown created for Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester, in 1850. ... A fedora, which in this case has been pinched at the front and being worn pushed back on the head, with the front of the brim bent down over the eyes. ... Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardised products on production lines. ... A handicraft shop in Delhi-India, other opction is Apus-Inka. ... A hatter is a maker or seller of hats. ... Upper class is a concept in sociology that refers to the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Morning dress is a particular category of mens formal dress. ... This article is about the board game. ...

Men wore top hats for business, pleasure and formal occasions — pearl gray for daytime, black for day or night. Top hat etiquette dictates a man should not wear it flat on his head. He should wear it tilted forward and to one side — very slightly though, no more than 10 degrees in either direction — about the same angle Lord Ribblesdale wore his in the famous portrait by John Singer Sargent. Self Portrait, 1906, oil on canvas, 70 x 53 cm, Uffizi Gallery, Florence. ...

The top hat persisted in certain areas, such as politics and international diplomacy, for several more years. In the newly-formed Soviet Union, there was a fierce debate as to whether its diplomats should follow the international conventions and wear a top hat, with the pro-toppers winning the vote by a large majority. For other uses, see Politics (disambiguation). ... This article is about negotiations. ...

The last American president to wear a top hat to an inauguration was John F. Kennedy.[1] Gerald Ford was not inaugurated at the Capitol and Jimmy Carter abolished the use of morning dress for inaugurations. It was reinstated, minus a top hat, by Ronald Reagan but not worn by any later presidents to date. John Kennedy and JFK redirect here. ... For other persons named Gerald Ford, see Gerald Ford (disambiguation). ... For other persons named Jimmy Carter, see Jimmy Carter (disambiguation). ... Morning dress is a particular category of mens formal dress. ... Reagan redirects here. ...

Nowadays cheap imitations of top hats are made for white tie, as well as events calling for morning dress. They are usually made in the stovepipe style and with a flat brim as making it correctly would be too expensive.^{[citation needed]} Top-hats are sometimes associated with stage magic. In 1814 a French magician named Louis Comte became the first conjurer on record to pull a white rabbit out of a top hat. They also appear as a form of party hat and are popular amongst persons in the gothic subculture. Formal evening dress is more strictly regulated than other forms of dress, and properly consists of: Black tailcoat with silk (ribbed or satin) facings, sharply cut-away at the front Black trousers with a single stripe of satin or braid in the US or two stripes in Europe White stiff... “Illusionist” redirects here. ... The White Rabbit, as seen in Lewis Carrolls book Alice in Wonderland The White Rabbit is a fictional character in Lewis Carrolls book Alice in Wonderland. ... The subject of this article may not satisfy the notability guideline. ... Gothic fashion is a clothing style worn by members of the Goth subculture. ...

Notable appearances

• John Bull, a national personification of Britain and sometimes England
• Uncle Sam, a national personification of the United States
• Rich Uncle Pennybags (AKA Stanley Monopoly, and better known as Mr. Monopoly), the mascot for the game Monopoly
• The Penguin, one of Batman's enemies
• Ebenezer Scrooge, character in A Christmas Carol, is commonly portrayed on stage and film with a top hat in the early and final scenes
• The Disney character Scrooge McDuck is often show wearing a top hat, perhaps as a nod to his Dickensian namesake.
• The Mad Hatter, a character that appears in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
• Willy Wonka, chocolate factory owner from the works of Roald Dahl
• Slash, the former guitarist for [[Guns N' Roses]present guitarist of Velvet Revolver]
• Jimi Hendrix, american rock guitarist
• Mr. Boston as seen in the logo for the brand of liquors of the same name.
• Fred Astaire's signature clothing choice was a top hat, white tie, and tails.
• Mr. Peanut, The dandy-like advertising logo and mascot of Planters.
• Professor Layton, the protagonist of a video game series named after him, wears a top hat.
• Count Bleck, the main antagonist of Super Paper Mario, wears a white tophat.

World War I recruiting poster An earlier John Bull in which he is depicted as an actual bull. ... Britannia arm-in-arm with Uncle Sam symbolizes the British-American alliance in World War I. Germania representing Germany, from 1848. ... The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe, and member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the G8, the European Union, and NATO. Usually known simply as the United Kingdom, the UK, or (inaccurately) as Great Britain or Britain, the UK has four constituent... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... This article is about the national personification of the USA. For other uses, see Uncle Sam (disambiguation). ... Britannia arm-in-arm with Uncle Sam symbolizes the British-American alliance in World War I. Germania representing Germany, from 1848. ... Rich Uncle Pennybags as depicted on the cover of the first edition of the Parker Brothers game that gave the character a name. ... This article is about the board game. ... The Penguin (Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot), is a DC Comics supervillain and is an enemy of Batman. ... Batman (originally referred to as the Bat-Man and still referred to at times as the Batman) is a DC Comics fictional superhero who first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in May 1939. ... Ebenezer Scrooge encounters Ignorance and Want in Dickenss novel, A Christmas Carol Ebenezer Scrooge is the main character in Charles Dickens 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol. ... For other uses, see A Christmas Carol (disambiguation). ... Scrooge McDuck or Uncle Scrooge is a fictional Scottish Glaswegian[1] anthropomorphic duck created by Carl Barks that first appeared in Four Color Comics #178, Christmas on Bear Mountain, published by Dell Comics in December, 1947. ... The Hatter as depicted by Tenniel The Hatter, popularly known as The Mad Hatter (though he is never actually given that name in the book) is a fictional character encountered at a tea party and later as a witness at a trial in Lewis Carrolls Alices Adventures in... The Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (IPA: ) (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by the pen name Lewis Carroll (), was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican clergyman and photographer. ... Alice in Wonderland redirects here. ... Willy Wonka is a character in the classic Roald Dahl childrens book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and its sequel Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. ... Roald Dahl (IPA: ) (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a Welsh novelist, short story author and screenwriter of Norwegian parentage, famous as a writer for both children and adults. ... Saul Hudson (born July 23, 1965), more widely known as Slash, is an English/American guitarist best known as the former lead guitarist of Guns N Roses and as the current lead guitarist of Velvet Revolver. ... Jimi Hendrix (November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American guitar virtuoso, singer and songwriter. ... Fred Astaire (May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987), born Frederick Austerlitz in Omaha, Nebraska,[1] was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. ... Mr. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Super Paper Mario ) is a platform/role-playing video game developed by Intelligent Systems, a division of Nintendo. ...

Further reading

• Neil Steinberg, Hatless Jack - The President, the Fedora and the Death of the Hat, 2005, Granta Books

Neil Steinberg is a news columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Top hat

• Berendt, John. "History of the Top Hat". International Formalwear Association.