I purchased a men's Edwardian beaver top hat today (came in an old Peck & Peck round hat box, although I am pretty they are not a match). It was from an estate sale from an elderly woman that closed her antique shop 30 years ago. Some very cool stuff, but also most was waaaay too expensive. No pics of the hat yet, but I was doing some reseach and came across this snippet, which I got a chuckle from (if only those people could see some of the fashions of today!) "The perpetrator was a haberdasher name John Hetherington, who designed it, made it and was the first person to wear it into the street. According to a contemporary newspaper account, passersby panicked at the sight. Several women fainted, children screamed, dogs yelped, and an errand boy’s arm was broken when he was trampled by the mob. Hetherington was hauled into court for wearing "a tall structure having a shining luster calculated to frighten timid people." It was much ado about nothing, really; Hetherington had merely concocted a silk-covered variation of the contemporary riding hat, which had a wider brim, a lower crown, and was made of beaver. There was initial " The above is from this: top hat resource article Sue
Bwah ha ha ha! I viewed this a few minutes ago, but have only just now been revived with smelling salts. :P Thanks, Sue! Steph
