Category:
Headgear
Headgear
The Cat Hat of Kate Fearing Strong
In 1883, William and Alva Vanderbilt spent $250,000 to throw a fancy dress ball. That's the equivalent of around $6 million in today's money. The most memorable outfit was worn by Kate Fearing Strong. Her nickname was 'Puss', so she came dressed as a cat. As reported by the New York Times:
New York Times - Mar 27, 1883
The cats on her dress and hat were real cats — skinned and taxidermied.
More info: "Vanderbilt Ball: How a costume ball changed New York elite society"
Kate Fearing Strong wearing her cat hat
Posted By: Alex - Mon Sep 30, 2024 -
Comments (4)
Category: Headgear, Cats, Nineteenth Century
Tooth Cap
The Southwark Heritage art museum has a nineteenth-century tooth cap in its collection. It offers this description:This cap belonged to a street "dentist" or tooth puller. It is made of brown velvet and felt, and decorated with approximately 88 decayed human teeth, once belonging to his patients. The teeth have been drilled and attached with twine. Wearing a cap like this was supposed to imply the "magician" aspect of the dentists work. As teeth pulling was painful and risky and done without anaesthetic, people needed to have some faith in the "dentist", even if it was only the evidence, worn on the cap, that he had successfully plied his trade.
If the cap looks like something you'd like to own, the website toothantique.com claims to be selling them. Newly made tooth caps, not nineteenth-century originals. They're asking only $100. For that price they say you get a cap "Decorated With 40 Real Human Teeth, Drilled And Attached With Twine."
Are they really selling these caps? I'm somewhat doubtful. The picture of their product is the same picture that's on the Southwark Heritage site. But I'm not curious enough to spend $100 to find out what would arrive in the mail.
Posted By: Alex - Fri May 31, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Headgear, Nineteenth Century, Teeth
World’s Widest Wig
At what point is a wig no longer a wig?More info: upi.com
Posted By: Alex - Thu May 30, 2024 -
Comments (4)
Category: World Records, Headgear, Hair and Hairstyling
The Straw Hat Riots of 1922
Allow me to quote at length from Wikipedia. But visit that page for even more details.The Straw Hat Riot of 1922 was a riot that occurred in New York City at the end of summer as a result of unwritten rules in men's fashions at the time, and a tradition of taunting people who had failed to stop wearing straw hats after autumn began. Originating as a series of minor riots, it spread due to men wearing straw hats past the unofficial date that was deemed socially acceptable, September 15. It lasted eight days, leading to many arrests and some injuries.... By the early 20th century, straw boaters were considered acceptable day attire in North American cities at the height of summer even for businessmen, but there was an unwritten rule that one was not supposed to wear a straw hat past September 15 (which was known as "Felt Hat Day").[1] This date was arbitrary; earlier it had been September 1, but it eventually shifted to mid-month. It was socially acceptable for stockbrokers to destroy each other's hats, due to the fact that they were “companions”,[2] but it was not acceptable for total strangers. If any man was seen wearing a straw hat, he was, at minimum, subjecting himself to ridicule, and it was a tradition for youths to knock straw hats off wearers' heads and stomp on them.[3] This tradition became well established, and newspapers of the day would often warn people of the impending approach of the fifteenth, when men would have to switch to felt or silk hats.[4] Hat bashing was only socially acceptable after September 15, but there were multiple occasions leading up to this date where the police had to intervene and stop teenagers.[2] The riot itself began on September 13, 1922, two days before the supposed unspoken date, when a group of youths decided to get an early jump on the tradition.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Apr 02, 2024 -
Comments (3)
Category: Customs, Riots, Protests and Civil Disobedience, Headgear, 1920s, Pranks
Weird Easter Hats
The strange hats appear about halfway thru.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Mar 15, 2024 -
Comments (0)
Category: Holidays, Easter, Headgear, 1950s, United Kingdom
The Date Hat
Edward Oliveira of Newport, Rhode Island was granted a patent (#2,749,555) in 1956 for a "date hat". His idea was that, by wearing the hat, a young woman could display whether she was available for a date on a specific day. From the patent:In high schools, colleges and the like, it is often impossible to carry on very much of a conversation during, or even between classes. Since many dates between boys and girls are most easily made when they are gathered together in school, it is a disadvantage not to be able to tell whether a girl is already dated for a particular day and hour. If a boy knew that one girl is already dated for the particular time he desires, he would quickly be able to attempt to date another girl who was not already dated. However, up to the present time, this has been difficult because, in many instances, there is not sufficient time to talk to every available girl to determine their date status. In order to remedy the above situation, it is one object of the present invention to provide an article of wearing apparel which can be set to indicate to any observer whether a girl has a date for the particular time desired.
I can see a problem with this concept. Would a young woman really want to publicly display that no one had asked her out?
Also, had Oliveira attempted to get dates by systematically asking out every girl in his school? Thus leading to his frustration that there was "not sufficient time to talk to every available girl to determine their date status."
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jun 01, 2023 -
Comments (3)
Category: Patents, Headgear, 1950s, Love & Romance
Miss Grill of 1949
If no one is selling that hot-dog hat, someone should be.
Life - Nov 14, 1949
Posted By: Alex - Mon Feb 20, 2023 -
Comments (2)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Headgear, 1940s
Merry Christmas 2022!
Posted By: Paul - Sun Dec 25, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Holidays, Headgear
Hair Rental—You know it makes sense
These hair rental ads ran for about five years in British papers. So I assume the company must have done decent business.I've heard of wig rentals, but for some reason the idea of toupee rentals seems weirder.
Sunday London Mirror - Mar 11, 1973
Posted By: Alex - Tue Dec 06, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Business, Headgear, 1970s, Hair and Hairstyling
Cosmic Vision Helmet
Not a bad toy, but the advertising claims sure laid it on thick.This is magic! You put on this helmet and nobody, but nobody can tell who you are, but you can see everybody and everything!
This sensational discovery is as new as the hydrogen bomb! As exciting as a ride through space. Makes you a super space cadet.
This sensational discovery is as new as the hydrogen bomb! As exciting as a ride through space. Makes you a super space cadet.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Dec 01, 2022 -
Comments (5)
Category: Toys, Headgear, 1950s
| Who We Are |
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |