Figure 1.-- This cabinet card portrait was from a Massachusetts estate. It is an unusal large format portrait (7.5 by 9 inches, cardstock mount 10 by 12 inches). e are unsure what the group here, but suspect it is sme kind of church/sunday school group. There are about 70 kids an adults (in five rows). Almost every one is wearing a hat, with only a fw exceptions. One dour woman is wearing a hat, and a holding a little boy's dark flat top wide-brimmed sailor hat. Notice the streamer. We guess she is holding the hat because unlike the relativeky narrow brim hats, this broad-brimmed hat would cover up the boy's face or hide the faces of the children behind him. It is a little difficult to assess the crowns, but quite a few look to have flat or flatish crowns. Notice only a few boys are wearing what might be seen as caps, a sailor style. Everyone else is wearing some kind of hat. The portrait is undated, but looks like the 1880s to us, but we are not at all sure, but the small bows suggest strongly that itis not an 1890s portrait. Put your cursor on the image to see the rest of the group.

We see more varied headwear styles for boys in the 1880s. We note boys wearing some adult hat styles in the late 19th century. We see some boys wearing what we would describe as adult style hats like bowlers (derbies), homberg, but top hats were rarely worn. The boy on the previous page with a derby (bowler) hat is a good example (figure 1). America's growing prsprity may have been afactor in th incresed variety. Straw boaters appeared in the late-19th century. We begin to see them fairly commonly in the 1880s. We also see some caps, but not very many. Many of the caps we see are seasonal winter caps. By far the most common headwear was hats. And by a side margin the principal style was the rounded crown hat with a modest brim. We see some boys wearing wide-brimmed sailor hats, but this was mostly younger boy. The basic headwear for most boys was the standard rounded crown hat with a modest brim. We notice the boys wearing mostly narrow/medium brimmed hats, but quite a few of the boys here had flat or flatish crowns (figure 1). This was a change from the the rest of the 19th century when rounded crown hats were almost universal. We are not sure what these hats were called at the time. In catalogs we just see them being called hats. Thre were differences in the crown amd brim, but basically the hats were quite similar. Girls also wore rounded crown hats, but with more variation and often decorations which the boys' hats did not have.

Variation

We note a range of varied headwear in merica during the 1880s. Throughout the 19th century, headwear was very commonly worn by both children and adults. Here we see men wearing bowlers (derbies) and pork pie gats. An eldely woman wears a rather strange hat. Girls wear decorated hats and bonnets. We see more varied headwear styles for boys in the 1880s, including some modern styles liked the peaked cap which crssed the Atlantic from Britain. We also see boys beginning th win sailor caps. Sailor hats appeard earlier, bur we see sailor caps in the 80s. We note boys wearing some adult hat styles in the late 19th century. We see some boys wearing what we would describe as adult style hats like bowlers (derbies), homberg, but top hats were rarely worn. The bowler in the Massachusettes image here seems very popular. The boy on the previous page with a derby (bowler) hat is a good example. The increasing prosperity of America may have been a factor. Most of the boys'hats are similar, narrow brimmed hats, but there are many variations. There were differences in the crown and brim, but basically the hats were quite similar. Girls wore both hats and bonnets. Bonnets seemmost common with younger girls, but we see school age girls wear them as well.

Styles

We see many different style of hats, both adult and juvenile styles. Straw boaters appeared in the late-19th century. This was a style worn prmarily by adults, but we see some boys wearing them. Bowlers begin to see them fairly commonly in the 1880s. This was mostly for adults, but we see a few boys wearing them. And by a substantial margin the principal style was the rounded crown hat with a modest brim. We see some boys wearing wide-brimmed sailor hats, but this was mostly younger boy. The basic headwear for most boys was the standard rounded crown hat with a modest brim. We notice the boys wearing mostly narrow/medium brimmed hats, but quite a few flat or flatish crowns (figure 1). But very few are as flat as the classic pork pie hat. It is, however, difficult to assess the crowns on the hats of many of the hats the boys are wearing. This appears to be is was a change from the the rest of the 19th when the crowns seem to be more clearly rounded. century when rounded crown hats were almost universal. The image here is also notable for the variety of ways that the brims were done. We see for ecamples upturned, flat and down-turned brims.

Caps

Hats were by far the dominant headwear for boys in the 1880s. We do see, however,some caps. Caps were seen as less formal headwear. We see several varieties. We still seea few Civil War kepis. And sailor caps can ve seen. Many of the caps we see are seasonal winter caps. By far the most common headwear was hats. A factor here is that this seems to a church group of some sort, with all the children we would guess is probably a Sunday School group. This would presumamnly mean that everyone was dressed up in their Sunday best. We suuspect that some of the boys might have have had headwear for everyday dress, This could include caps, although we do not know to what extent caps were involved.

Terminology

We are not sure what these hats were called at the time. In catalogs we just see them being called hats which is of no help. We note some similarity to a preacher's hat. Catholics use the term padre hat or Capello romano. We have also seen the term planter's hat. We also see the name amish hats being used. These all have flat brims. And we see boys wearing these styles. But many of these hats worn by boys had upturned brims. We also see down-turned brims, but these were much less common. And the brims were mostly narrow or medium width. Wide brims existd, but were mostly worn by younger children n popular in the 18880s-90s. We see some beung wirn with Fauntleroy suits. But this was just a small fraction of the much larger number of narriw- and medium-brim hats. The crows wre generally rojunded or roundish, but we also see fltish crowns, but these were less common than thn the rounded crowns. Perhaps we will find a name for these hats as HBC develops. There should be a name as they were so widely wonn by so many boys for such a long period. We may invnt a name ecause it is a style of such importance.

Ages

Age was clearly a major determinent in headwear duting the 1880s, at least for men and boys. The men here wear mostly bowlers. Two may be wearing pork pie hats, but that is a little difficult to tell as the crowns can not be seen in detail, One younger teen wears a bowler. The boys in contrast seem to be wearing mostly hatsith narrow btims and roundish crowns, lthough there is a huge variety involved here and the crowns in many cases can not be assessed prescisely, in many cases not even seen. But the difference in styles for the men and bots is very apparent. The situation is very different for the women and girls. The firls seem to be wearing styles that were very similar to those worn by their mothers. Age does not seem a major factor here, lthough for some reason there are few women in the image. Notice that the age range for the popular rounded crown, medium brim hts is very range. We see boys weating them before breeching even into their early teens, lthough at about 3-years of age they begin to become lass common.

Gender

Both boys and girls wore rounded crown hats, but there were many other styles as well. But there are noticeable differences. The unturned brims are less common with the girls. And we see older girls wearing wide broms. The most notable difference is that the girls' hats are highly decorated. we see more variation and often decorations which the boys' hats did not have. Actually we are a little surprised that there is such a difference beteen the boys' and the girls' hats. we have seen all the styles of girls hats that we see here. We got the impression that younger boys and girls wore some similar hat styles, although many hats were clearly for girls. The decorted hats are clearly for girls. Here we, however, see little overlap between the headwar worm by boys and girls. Some of the plainer styles the boys here are wearing could be worn by boys and girls. But we only see one girl here wearing a hat that might of be worn by a boy. And while the material used to make the hats is not always clear, straw hats seem much more prevlent with the girls than with the boys. The boys' hats also seem to have relatively notable crowns. Many girls have crowns that are either covered up or can not be seen.

Created: 1:08 PM 5/14/2016
Last updated: 3:39 PM 5/15/2016