Original 1860s top hat

HatsEnough

HatsEnough

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Here is a top hat made in the 1860s.

I really love this hat because it is in such great shape. Hats this old are very far and few between.

This hat is similar to the type that Lincoln used to wear (flat brim and all) and below is a photo of how much taller it is from a regular top hat.

Maker: C.A. Avery, New York
Model: Stove Pipe Top Hat
Color: Black, Beaver
Ribbon: 1/2, Black
Crown: 7-5/8 Tall
Size: 7
Sweatband: Leather, 3 Inches
Brim Size: 2-1/2, Flat, Black Bound Brim
Date of Manufacture: 1860s

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Great to see this hat, which looks well preserved overall, considering. What a fantastic find! I am excited to see this.

Since these rarely come up for air, I have a question or 2, and a request. You refer to the color as black/beaver. You do not make mention of what the hat is actually made of. Is this a true beaver felt, or is it is a silk plush "felt". This is what interests me the most! While it looks like silk and I am pretty sure that is what it is, I had to ask just in case it is not. (I am aware that some use the terms interchangeably but that does not help as a historian). Also, I am not familiar with any color in the black family termed "beaver" (beaver is in the brown color family) so I am wondering if that (black/beaver) is a Victorian period terminology for the color?

Any chance of sharing a tight close up of the nap? I would love to see it.

sorry to ask so many questions, but when I saw this is just had to find out more.

Thank you SO much for sharing this rarity with us.

I am thrilled to know you are a part of the VFG, as we don't have many hat collectors, and even fewer who know about men's hats.
 
Hi,

I forgot to add, that just the day before yesterday when I was visiting Manhattan, we were walking past Maiden Lane and I was thinking of what a very old street it is, and of its history. I also wandered a bit in what is left of the old millinery district (in a different part of NYC), and there were still some of the circa 1900-1920 hat makers names painted on the old brick buildings. This hat of yours is quite a thing! If I had known there was a hat maker there at one time, I would have stopped at # 124 and given a salute!
 
Rue de la Paix,

I can't seem to get a suitable photo of it close up, so sorry for that.

Still, it is probably silk plush, but it is very hard to tell. The history of toppers is that beaver began to be left behind and silk plush took its place starting in the mid 1850s. But this one could still be beaver as it is old enough to have been made during that end of the time period that beaver was still used for toppers.

Still, I'd reckon it was silk plush. Top hat makers had quickly converted to silk by the 1860s when this hat was made. Beaver had simply gotten to expensive to use.

So, let me clear up your question by saying... I don't know. LOL

As to color, beaver is a brown to white fair, but hatters deyed their felt in a variety of colors, so the original color isn't as limiting as one might think.

Thanks for the questions and glad you liked the hat.
 
I forgot to add one thing...

The thing that makes me think this is fur felt and not silk plush is that a silk topper underbrim usually shows the dark green or black cloth the hat body is made of. The silk is adhered to the coarser cloth to form the hat body. They rarely if never put the furry silk on the underbrim of the hat. But this hat has the furry look on the underbrim, too. So, it makes me think that it is a fur felt body instead of a cloth body with the silk adhered to it.

Still, it is very hard to tell the difference between silk plush and fur felt in these old toppers. I have heard people more knowledgeable than I say so.

(The hat next to the stovepipe hat, though, it assuredly silk plush)
 
Oh, thank you SO much for that reply. I totally agree about it not always an easy task to determine fur-felt from silk plush, at least not always from a photo. That is why I asked, and why I really wanted to see a close up of the nap. I knew about the top hat "cuspers" who fool even "experts" like us! (although I will be 90 years old before I dare to call myself an expert:hysterical:).

Good to know it does not have the "pile" on the facing of the hat's brim. Now I have to be on the look-out for a plush top hat with a furry bottom!!!

Again, thank you so much for the chance to see this rare gem. I am swooning!
 
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