Figure 1.--This Aneruian boy, we think in the 1890s wears one of the mamy varied cap styles which look vaguely like a peaked military cap. Perhaps raedes will know a more precise terms. .

We are not sure of the proper name for this cap, but peaked military cap is a reasonable description. I have also seen them called Oliver Twist caps. There are, however there are many stylistic variations and we are not even sure that they all have destinjctive names. By the lare 19th century there were many mail order and other catlogs, but often they commonly do not name all the different styles of caps and hats. Thus we have not been able to find the names for many styles. And this included a range of peaked caps, many iof which had a military look to them, the origial inspiration for the Oliver Twist cap. At the wnd of the 19th century and into the 1900s decade we se see qyite a variety of styles, most of which would largely diappear in the 1910s. A HBC reader believes it is a stylish riding cap. We are not sure about that. He writes, " I also think the cap resembles one worn for horseback riding at the time. That may have been a fashion decision rather than an actual riding cap. The cap appears to be black velvet which would mean the jacket and vest are some other color." Now we think that hat band and small front bow does resemble riding headwear, but not the design of the cap itself. Riding headwear it seems to us was a rounded crown cap, more sesemblig a British school boy cap.

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Created: December 17, 1999
Last updated: 2:30 PM 1/11/2023