Figure 1.--This tweed hat was the most popular type of hat worn by American boys in the 1920s and 30s. |
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I'm not quite sure what these peaked caps were called. I believed that the correct term is a "flat cap" and have noted several references to this term. . Some are referred to as golf or shooting caps. They are often made out of tweedy materials. There were strong social class conotations associated with these caps. They were commonly worn by American boys in the 1920s-30s before baseball caps took over. Boys at the time did not generally wear baseball caps as they were not commonly available in stores and Little League where boys played ball as part of organized, uniformed teams had not yet developed. Most boys wore these tweedy hats or beanies, except during the winter when warmer styles were needed. They were rarely worn by British boys who wore school caps. But they were worn by British men and are generally associated with country wear.
I'm not quite sure what these peaked caps are called. Quite a few names are associated with these caps. One of the most common is "cloth" cap. HBC is unsure to what extent these names reflect actual stylistic differences. Some are referred to as golf or shooting caps. Other contemporary souces refere to the "rattin (h)at". They were also called windsor caps. HBC is not the only group having difficulty with the name for this type of cap. A HBC reader writes,"I'm having some difficulty pinning down the name of the kind of caps worn by boys and men in the 1930s, the ones with only a very short brim in the front, kind of peaked in the back, the hat I associate with boys hawking papers "Extra extra ... read all about it!" Do you know what I mean? These boys would have on suspenders or vests. What do you call this kind of cap?" HBC has noted the term "flat cap" in several sources and believes that this is the most appropriate term as well as the most commonly used in contemprary sources. HBC is not sure if the different terms to describe this cap, actually described different styles or if they were simply different names for the same hat. There were other names as well. An American reader writes, "Three of us were talking about these caps at lunch today. One man from Chicago called it a "traveller's cap" (he was wearing one he had bought in
Ireland.) The Brit said they called it a "flat hat." In Massachusetts I remember as a child hearing it called a "shally cap," but I haven't heard that term used in years." [Orlen]
There are several different styles of flat caps. Weare at this time still trying to determine of these different names for flat caps are actual different styles of the caps.
The ebonic version of these caps, later introduced in the 1960s and 70s and made greatly oversized.
This may be a smaller, modern variation of the flat cap style. I remember in the
late 1950's into the mid 60's some men wore this cap with casual clothes (adding a rather urbane element to their leisure wear), and some boys even wore this cap with suits, though this was not very common.
This is another country style for adults. I have noted golfers wearing it in the 1920s, I 'm not sue just when they began. Some golfers still wear these caps.
There was also a "Jackie Coogan cap. Jackie Coogan was perhaps the first child movie star. HBC is not sure if there was any destinctive stylistic detail to these caps. One HBC reader reports that the Jackie Coogan caps were just a new name for newsboy caps. They were named for the cap that Jackie
wore in the movie"the Kid" with Wallace Beery. Our reader has an advert from a 1926 newspaper selling "Jackie Coogan Caps"
Newsboy caps are generally larger and thicker
than the other types of caps, e.g. driving,etc. They are mostly always
sewn in sgments at the top, like the weedges of a pie, culmnating in a
button of tweed at the very center of the top. A HBC reader reports, "I have several, my favorite came from Ireland, and I bought it from Worth & Worth in N.Y. Others came from companies like Mike-the -Hatter,which you can find on the internet.
This is a British term to describe these caps.
This is another British term, used to describde an adult cap of this style. It was worn by country gentlemen involved in a shhot, often for birds or hares.
I assume this is another British term, named for the Duke of Windsor (Edward VIII).
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There were many stylistic minor differences between flat caps. There are differences the bill and the crown that give many different looks. Some with high crowns did not look very flat.
An Act of the English Parliament in 1571 that on Sundays and holidays that all males over 6 years of age, except for the nobility and persons of degree, were to wear caps of wool manufacture on force of a fine (3/4d perday). This bill was designed to stimulate trade. It was not repealed until 1597 by which time the flat cap in England had become recognized as the mark of a citizen, tradesman, or aprentice. Thus the wearing of such caps had become accepted social conventions, as well as carrying spcail class conventions. Note also that the age chosen was about the same age at which boys were being breeched. Some laws know as sumtory laws made it illegal for commoners to wear fancy clothes worn by the nobility. In this case the pourpose appears to have been to promote the woolen garment industry. The early styles had short peaks.
Country genntlen in the 19th centuty adopted the long peaked flat. Country gentlemen adopted a long peaked flat cap--the golf or shooing cap. It is the long peak style commonly called "rattin (h)at" or "Windsor" cap.
Owing its status to early acts of parliament, the flat cap became seen as a working class cap--although the upper class wore them while in the country for sporting events--golf and shooting. Leir Hardie, the first Labour MP, wore one as a gesture of working class solidarity.
These caps were most often made out a woolen fabric. One popular material was tweed.
We have very limited information on cap linings at this time. Good quality flat caps were commonly made in tweed. they were also lined with silk or satin material. We believe that it was very common to line these caps, but we have little information on this, in part because in the available phoographs, the linings are rarely showing.
Flat caps were commonly noted in the historical record by the 16th century and were worn even earlier. HBC begins to see the modern style of these caps being commonly worn in the 1900s. I believe they began to be widely worn in the 1890s, perhaps somewhat earlier. They were clearly most commonly worn by boys in the 1920s. They were also widely worn in the early 1930s--but had declined in popularity by the 1940s. A HBC contributor reports, "The 1920s-30s cap in the photos on this page look a little fuller than the caps I saw when I was younger."
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Flat caps were widely worn in both America and Europe, but probably more commonly in America than any other country. By the late 19th and early 20th century they were being widely worn by working class men. In contrast they were also worn by the affluent class for country outings and golf--pften with kniclers. As a boys style they appear, by the turn of the 20th century, more popular in America than Britain and England as a style of hat for boys. In Britain flat caps had class connotations. They were tghe most popular cap style for boys in the early 20th century for more than three decades. They were also worn in manu other countries, but not nearly as commonly as in america, The one exception here may have been Canada..
Flat caps were seen as not only a boys' cap, but also a working-class man. The actual situaltion was more complicated. A British writer tells us, "A cloth cap
is assumed in folk mythology to represent working class, but it also denotes upper class affecting casualness. So it is undoubtedly classless, and there lies its strength. A toff can be a bit of a chap as well without, as it were, losing face." [Mather] This also applied for boys. These caps were much more common for working-class boys rgan for boys from affluent families. We have, however noted them being worn from boys clarly from well yo do families. Age was a factor. Younger working-class boys wire than than well-to-do boys.
One HBC contributor reports that he has seen a number of films from the 1930s that show
boys wearing flat caps. Warner Brothers featured twin brothers, the Mauch twins (Billy and Bobby), in a couple of films based on the Penrod books of Booth Tarkington in which they (and their friends) wore flat
caps.
Mather, Geoffrey. "Capped for England" BBC Radio 4, 2001.
Orlen, Steve. E-mail message, November 1, 2005.
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