The bowler hat, also known as a Coke hat, billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States),[1] is a hard
felthat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849.[2] It has traditionally been worn with
semi-formal and
informal attire. The bowler, a protective and durable hat style, was popular with the
British,
Irish, and
Americanworking classes during the second half of the 19th century, and later with the
middle and
upper classes in the
United Kingdom, Ireland, and the
east coast of the United States.[3]
Origins
The bowler hat was designed in 1849 by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler to fulfill an order placed by the company of hatters
James Lock & Co. of
St James's,[4] which had been commissioned by a customer to design a close-fitting, low-crowned hat to protect
gamekeepers from low-hanging branches while on horseback. The keepers had previously worn
top hats, which were knocked off easily and damaged.[4]
The identity of the customer is less certain, with some suggesting it was
Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester who had estate at
Holkham Hall, in
Norfolk.[5] However, research performed by a younger relation of the 1st Earl casts doubt[vague] on this story, and it is claimed by James Lock & Co. that the bowler was invented for
Edward Coke, the younger brother of
Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester.[6][3] When Edward Coke arrived in London on 17 December 1849 to collect his hat he reputedly placed it on the floor and stamped hard on it twice to test its strength; the hat withstood this test and Coke paid 12
shillings for it.[7]
Cultural significance in the British Isles
The bowler has had varying degrees of significance in
British culture. They were popular among the working classes in the 19th century. From the early 20th century, bowler hats were more commonly associated with financial workers and businessmen working in the financial districts, also known as "City gents". The traditional wearing of bowler hats with
City business attire declined during the 1970s.[2] In modern times bowlers are not common, although the so-called City gent wearing a bowler and carrying a rolled
umbrella remains a representation of Englishmen. For this reason, two bowler-hatted men were used in the logo of the British building society (subsequently bank),
Bradford & Bingley.[8]
Female officers of many British police forces also wear bowler hats as part of their
uniforms. This includes a
cap badge and generally has a black-and-white chequered band (called
Sillitoe tartan) around the hat. Bowlers worn by female traffic police officers have white crowns or covers. These hats are not worn in the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
A typical bowler hat of female British police officers.
A typical bowler of female PCSOs in the UK.
Outside the British Isles
The bowler, not the
cowboy hat or
sombrero, was the most popular hat in the American West, prompting
Lucius Beebe to call it "the hat that won the West".[10] Both cowboys and railroad workers preferred the hat because it would not blow off easily in strong wind while riding a horse, or when sticking one's head out the window of a speeding train. It was worn by both lawmen and
outlaws, including
Bat Masterson,
Butch Cassidy,
Black Bart, and
Billy the Kid. In the United States the hat came to be known commonly as the derby,[5] and American outlaw
Marion Hedgepeth was commonly referred to as "the Derby Kid".
In South America, the bowler, known as bombín in
Spanish, has been worn by
Quechua and
Aymara women since the 1920s, when it was introduced to Bolivia by British railway workers. For many years, a factory in Italy manufactured such hats for the Bolivian market, but they are now made locally.[11]
In Norway,
Hans Majestet Kongens Garde (the royal guards) wear plumed bowler hats as part of their uniform. It was copied from the hats of the Italian
Bersaglieri troops; a regiment that so impressed the Swedish princess
Louise that she insisted the Norwegian guards be similarly hatted in 1860.[12]
In the
Philippines, bowler hats were known by its Spanish name sombrero hongo. Along with the native
buntal hats, they were a common part of the traditional men's ensemble of the barong tagalog during the second half of the 19th century.[13]
The bowler hat was worn by the national hero of the Philippines,
José Rizal, during his execution on 30 December 1896, and it is still seen as symbolic of the history of the Philippine Revolution.
The British bank
Bradford & Bingley owns more than 100 separate trademarks featuring the bowler hat, its long-running
logo.[16] In 1995 the bank purchased, for £2000, a bowler hat which had once belonged to
Stan Laurel.[16]
The bowler is part of the
Droog outfit that main character
Alex wears in the film version of A Clockwork Orange to the extent that contemporary fancy dress costumes for this character refer to the bowler hat.[17][18]
There was a chain of restaurants in
Los Angeles, California known as
Brown Derby. The first and most famous of these was shaped like a derby.[19] A chain of Brown Derby restaurants in Ohio is still in business today.[citation needed]
Many paintings by the Belgian surrealist artist
René Magritte feature bowler hats. The Son of Man consists of a man in a bowler hat standing in front of a wall. The man's face is largely obscured by a
hovering green
apple. Golconda depicts "raining men" all wearing bowler hats.[citation needed]
Choreographer
Bob Fosse frequently incorporated bowler hats into his dance routines. This use of hats as props, as seen in the 1972 movie Cabaret, would become one of his trademarks.[20]
Cornelius Fudge in the Harry Potter series is frequently mentioned as wearing a bowler hat.[citation needed]
Roman Torchwick, a recurring villain in the web animated series RWBY wears a bowler hat. It is later worn by his henchwoman Neopolitan after Roman's death.[citation needed]
In the Series One episode "The Think Tank" of the program Are You Being Served?, the Grace Brothers store policy is revealed to include a hierarchical order for hats male personnel wear: bowlers for departmental heads and above, homburgs for senior floor staff and trilbys or caps for junior floor staff. The character of Captain Peacock is admonished for wearing a bowler when he is only entitled to a homburg, until Mr Grace, the store owner, insists that Peacock wear a bowler.
In the mid-1960s Batman TV series, the
Penguin's band of "fine feathered finks" usually wear derby hats. The only exception was in Batman: The Movie, where his men donned pirate gear to crew his penguin-themed submarine.
There is a giant bowler hat along
I-30 in south
Dallas, Texas.[22]
^Rettenmund, Matthew (1996). Totally Awesome 80s: A Lexicon of the Music, Videos, Movies, TV Shows, Stars, and Trends of That Decedent Decade. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 39.
ISBN0-31214-436-9.
^Hosted by Mike Loades and Chad Houseknecht (26 October 2008). "Chakram". Weapon Masters. Series 1.
^"Riddler". 19 September 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2017.