A beaver hat is a hat made from felted beaver fur. They were fashionable across much of Europe during the period 1550-1850 because the soft yet resilient material could be easily combed to make a variety of hat shapes (including the familiar top hat). Smaller hats made of beaver were sometimes called beaverkins, as in Thomas Carlyle's description of his wife as a child.
Used winter coats worn by Native Americans were actually a prized commodity for hat making because their wear helped prepare the skins; separating out the coarser hairs from the pelts.
To make felt, the underhairs were shaved from the beaver pelt and mixed with a vibrating hatter's bow. The matted fabric was pummeled and boiled repeatedly, resulting in a shrunken and thickened felt. Filled over a hat-form block, the felt was pressed and steamed into shape. The hat maker then brushed the outside surface to a sheen. Beaver hats were made in various styles as a matter of civil status:
- the Wellington (1820-40)
- the Paris beau (1815)
- the D'Orsay (1820)
- the Regent (1825)
- the clerical (18th century).
In addition, beaver hats were made in various styles as a matter of military status:
- the continental cocked hat (1776)
- Navy cocked hat (19th century)
- the Army shako (1837).
The popularity of the beaver hat declined in the early/mid-19th century as silk hats became more fashionable.
- Examples
Video Beaver hat
References
Maps Beaver hat
External links
Media related to Beaver hat at Wikimedia Commons
Source of article : Wikipedia
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