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Bowler hats were worn by boys in many countries. We note bowlers being worn in England and America as well as other countries. We do not know that they were especially popular in America. More likely it is just that we have a more substantial archive for these countries, especially America. We also note being wormn in Belgium, France, Germany, and Italy. We are lest sure about trends in other countries, but believe that they were worn in other countries as wel, but our information is limited in many countries because of our small archives outside of the major countries. We do not yet have country information as to chronology, conventions, styles, and other matters. The bowler was more of an adult style, but we do notice boys wearing them in he late-19th century.
The origins of some hats is difficult to ascertain with any surity. The origin of the bowler or derby, however, is well established. The bowler is a hard felt hat with a narrow brim, but pronounced rounded crown--roughly half of a circle. It was created for Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester in 1850. It was a kind of early helmet, although different therories exist as for its purpose. Some suggest it was to protect horsenack riders from low hanging tree branches. Other believe it was to protect game keepers being attacked by poachers. The term bowler came into use because of the name of the hat makers who got the first contract (Thomas and William Bowler). They called it the "iron hat", but bowler caught on. In Britain it became identified with butlers and male personal servants as well as professional men (bankers and civil servants). It was more widely worn in America. It was a hat style that seemed to stand between the formality of the top hat (commonly associated with the wealthy) and casual nature flat caps of the the working classes. It was primarily an adult style. Some boys in the late 19th century wore rather adult styles like bowlers. We note some boys after about age 10 wearing bowlers. Families varied. Most chose more juvenile styles for boys, but we see some fairly young boys wearing adult-looking bowlers. It seems rsather strange today, but apprently was quite accepted at the time. We are not entirely sure about the social-class conventions involved. It is a little difficult to foloow trends here. Hats of course are not identified in period photographs. And often even it catalogs, the different hats are not identified by name. Another problem is that hats were so commonly woirn in the 19th andearly 20th century that they were offered in large quantities and great variety. Thus we see many hats with varioys sized brims and a variety of rounded crowns. It is not always easy to identify just which of the hats falls within the designation of a bowler hat. Actually rounded crown hats were very popular for boys in the 19th century, but they tended to wear hats with wider brims and lower crown than the bowler. A good example is a New York boy in the 1880s.
Many headwear styles developed without any actual inventor, at least that we know of. For bowler hats, however, we know just how they originated. The first bowler hat was created for English landowner, William Coke, in order to protect his head from low branches while out shooting on his Norfolk estate. In 1849, in the St James shop of London hatters, he tested its durability by stamping his foot on it twice--when the hat remained undamaged he happily bought it for 12 shillings. The name of course came from its shpe--it looks like an inverted bowl. Today we see the bowler as an adult hat and associate it with bankers. This convention did not exist in the 19th century. Thus we see see boys wearing bowlers in the late-19th century. We are not sure how common this was. The boys weraring bowlers were school-age boys, normally avout 10-years or older. We only notice boys in suits wearing them, but at the time wearing suits was very common. Our English archive is fairly klimited so we can not assess popularity and other cinvebntuiions such as age. We do not see boys wearing them much after the turn-of-the 20th century, although some teenagers may have worn them before World War I.
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