Figure 1.--Here three unidentified English children are having some summer fun in a row boat. They are uin a reverine estuary. Thevgurk are wearing ratherr flanoyant floppy sut hat. The boy is wearing what looks like a felt down-turned wide brimmed hat. The family snapshot is dated 1932.

A hat that became popular in the early-20th century and is still worn is the sun hat, alythough less commomnly by boys. It was not a school style, but white versions sometimes worn when playing cricket, usually informally. Rather these hats were mostly worn at home during summer vacations. We see many different styles. They were informal styles worn as the name suggests worn during the summer. The dictionary definition is 'a wide-brimmed hat that protects your head from the sun'. This includes many different styles. Here we are talking about the floppy version. It was a version of buckle hat--although without the buckle. We begin to see these hats around the turn-of-the 20th century as an adult fishing hat. Fishermen liked to pin their lures/flies on the cap and still do, although baseball caps have become more common gor fishermen in America. The first ones were felt or tweed cloth One soiurce says that these hats were by Irish farmers and fishermen as protection from the rain. Apparently the lanolin from unwashed raw wool made was atually waterproof. After World War I these hats for adults became known as Irish walking hats and were worn in different countries for what the British describe as 'country pursuits'. In American they were also worn as golf hats. We see them bring done in a canvas-like material. This is what we see British boys wearing. They were very practical because they were soft hats which could be crumpled up and carried in a pocket and cleaned or washed. They were much more practical than wide-brimmed hats, not only because they could not be crumpled up, but because the more narrow brim did not blow up in the wide like the wide-brimmed hats. We are not entirely sure about the chronology. The examples we gave found of English boys weraring them come primarily from a narrow period, the inter-war era and after World War II (1920s-50s). This was primarily a style for boys. There were more whimsical stles for girls which we see here (figure 1). Girls continued to wear after them into th Hippy era (1980s). Women and girls are always willing to experiment and stand out. Boys tend to be more conservative. Any the style that gradually popular for boys over time was as unflamboyant as can be imagined. The geneal style was a flatish or rounded top with a variety of brims, mostly relatively narrow brims and were usually. but not always turned down. They looked like kind of an inverted bucket. Early versions had somewhat wideer brims which were turned down. But the narrow brims became more popular over time. They re no longer commonly wirn by boys. Girls continue to wear the more flamboyant wider brimmed styles, but they were not very common.

Country trends

We see adults wearing these hats in avrious countries includung America and Ireland.The one hat that became popular in the early-20th century and is still worn is the sun hat, alythough less commomnly by boys. The origins seem to be Irish. Irish fishermen wore an early version. Receational fishing and golf was the primary usage in America. The U.S., Army came up witha military version during thE Vietnam War called the boonoe cap. As far as we can tell, Britain and British Empire countries are the only countries in which these floppy sun hats were commonly worn by boys.

Usages

We begin to see the first of these hats around the turn-of-the 20th century as an adult fishing hat. Fishermen liked to pin their lures/flies on the cap and still do, although baseball caps have become more common for fishermen in America. The floppy sun hat. It was not a school style, but white versions sometimes worn when playing cricket, usually informally. Rather these hats were mostly worn at home during summer vacations. We see many different styles. They were informal styles worn as the name suggests worn during the summer. The photographic record shows many examples of mostly boys wearing these hats for a range of summer-time diversions, including biating, cricket, anf hiking. The brim provide shading to the face and was not wide enough o be blowwn off in the wind.

Definition

The dictionary definition is 'a wide-brimmed hat that protects your head from the sun'. The floppy sun hat we are discussing here had genrally narrow brims, although this varied among the different styles.

Styles

There were many different styles of sun hats. Here we are talkking about the floppy version. It was a version of bucket hat--of course named because they looked like an inverted bucket. The geneal style was a flatish orbrounded top with a variety of brims, mostly relatively narrow brims and were usually. but not always turned down. They looked like kind of an inverted bucket. Early versions had somewhat wideer brims which were turned down. But the narrow brims became more popular over time. They are no longer commonly worn by boys.

Chronology

We are not entirely sure about the chronology. We aee still working on this. Adults began weraring hats looking like the floppy sun hat about the turn-of-the 20th century. We do not see boys wearing them until after World War I in the inter-War era. The earliest image we have found so far shows a boy hiking with the family pooch, we thiunk in theraelky-1920s. The hat is a little different than what became the ckassic style with a very wide brim. The examples we gave found of English boys weraring them come primarily from a narrow period, the World War I era, the inter-war era. and after World War II (1910s-50s). this is just a guess ar this point. Our archive is still fairly limited wuth only a few images of these floppy sun hats and not all are dated. We are not yet sure about the 1960s.

Fabric

The first ones were felt or tweed cloth One siurce says that these hats were by Irish farmers and fishermen as protection from the rain. Apparently the lanolin from unwashed raw wool made was atually waterproof. After World War I these hats for adults became known as Irish walking hats and were worn in different countries for what the British describe as 'country pursuits'. In American they were also worn as golf hats. The first boys we see in these hats vor early versions had hats dine in suiting material matching tgheoir suits (1910s). We see them bring done in a canvas-like material. This was usually white material because to an extenbt these hats were associated wuth cricket. This is what we see British boys wearing.

Practicality

They were very practical because they were soft hats which could be crumpled up and carried in a pocket and cleaned or washed. They were much more practical than wide-brimmed hats, not only because they could not be crumpled up, but because the more narrow brim did not blow up in the wide like the wide-brimmed hats.

Social Class

There are also social class elements to these floppy sun hats. Rhe chilsren we see wrearuing them seem to coime from upper or middle-class families. First of al, the photograph record such as family snap shots is much larger for upper and middle-class families than working-class families. Second, the activities the bioys are involved with such as boating are activiyoes that upper.middle class boys would be involved with such as boatiung. This includes sport. We see boys playing cricket with these hats, but not football (soccer). Cricket has an upper/middle-class assocuation while football has a working class association. This not only means the players, but also the spectators. Cricket spectators are a genteel lot. Football fans are a notoriously rowdy group.

Gender

This was primarily a style for boys. There were more whimsical styles for girls which we see here (figure 1). Girls continued to wear after them into th Hippy era (1980s). Women and girls are always willing to experiment and stand out. Boys tend to be more conservative. Any the style that gradually popular for boys over time was as unflamboyant as can be imagined. Girls continue to wear the more flamboyant wider brimmed styles, but they were not very common.

Created: 12:04 PM 3/9/2019
Last updated: 7:36 PM 5/25/2021