Mollie Levine

Gilded Ages Assignment #1

October 22, 2015

A required fashion in the late 19th and early 20th century, a man of any status would not be caught dead without a hat on his head. From its material to its stature, all of the qualities of a man’s hat became an important signifier of his class and dignity.

I. Basic Description

Sitting approximately nine and a half inches tall, with a front to back brim of roughly

twelve inches wide, this top hat (seen in Figure 1) is indicative of a man’s power and status

during the early 1900’s. Beige beaver wool of varying hues covers the hat on all sides. The

bare skin of certain portions of the hat’s surface implies habitual wear. Furthermore, the

irregularity of beaver wool strokes displays use of the hat in less than optimal climactic

conditions.

Additionally, textured beige silk ribbon details the start of, and edges of the hat’s brim.

With small tears and discoloration, it appears that parts of the hat could not be repaired. The

edges of the hat’s brim are bent inward on all sides. At the top of the hat, directly in the

center, are seven small punch holes, most likely for the purpose of ventilation. Although it

may seem ineffective, these tiny holes allowed ones head to “breathe” during an entire days’

wear.

The inside of the hat displays further deterioration due to use. The sand colored silk that

lines the inside of the hat has become detached and discolored in many areas. Additionally,

the stitching that binds the inner leather (figure 2) to the beaver wool brim has become

separated. Unlike other parts of the hat, the maker’s mark inscribed inside the top of the crown, remains in pristine condition. It reads in bold black writing, “Extra Quality.

Trademark Dunlap & Co. Copyrighted”. I will continue to further research the meaning and significance of this trademark.

II. Production

At the young age of twelve, Robert Dunlap became Charles Knox’s apprentice from whom he learned the hat business. After being refused a raise, Dunlap left Knox with a partner name Golding and opened a business in Park Place called Dunlap & Golding. The

House of Dunlap went into business in 1857, which specialized in high-quality derby hats through agencies in many cities in America. He set the style in derbies, and other makers would wait for Dunlap’s styles to be published before designing their own. For the entirety of their careers, Charles Knox and Robert Dunlap were in constant competition with one another. When both of the hatters passed, the two businesses, once again, became combined into one (Updegraff 1889-1977).

The original location of Dunlap and Co was No. 557 Broadway, but close to 1870, Robert

Dunlap established his headquarters at Nos. 178 and 190 Fifth avenue: one which was devoted to retail and the other to wholesale. During all his years, Robert Dunlap manufactured and sold some of the best quality headwear to the fashionable public in New

York, and all over the United States (History and Commerce of New York 85). The factory of their production was located in Brooklyn in a four-story building, equipped with three large steam engines and five boilers, both of which made it the largest factory in the world.

The factory produced “everything in silk, felt and straw hats, while the firm import[end] the latest novelties and styles in English hats, so that their stores everywhere display[ed] a full line of gentlemen’s fine hats of every description… in a profusion of styles nowhere else duplicated” (History and Commerce of New York, 1891, 85).

Figure 3: Dunlap & Co. factory in Brooklyn NY c. 1875 http://www.oldprintshop.com/cgi-bin/gallery.pl?action=detail&inventory_id=68978&itemno=1

In the factory, shown in Figure 3, wages differed based on the different types of work and hat making that was performed. Additionally, the wages in the United States were much greater than those in England. For example felt hat-makers in England made $12 versus

$17.49 in the United States. Hat makers worked fifty-five hours a week, usually taking a half-day on Saturday, whereas in England, employees worked closed to seventy hours a week. Woman in the factory usually took the role of ‘trimmers’ and earned a third of what men earned (The Tariff Review, 1916).

III. Marketing The hats produced by Dunlap and Knox were to be worn by the upper echelon. Well-to- do men, such as Abraham Lincoln and other US presidents, were some of the best customers;

“Dunlap hats have crowned the heads of some of the best men in the land”. Higher priced hats, such as the beaver top hat in the New York Historical Society, sold very well at a price of $20 (The American Hatter, 1919, 100). This price equates to approximately $560 today

(Friedman).

The name “Dunlap” became widely recognizable from various advertisements and marketing techniques. There is an old rhyme that signifies this brand recognition, as men would walk down the street reciting the poem:

“There once was a very fine preacher,

Who called the hen a great creature;

So while he took a nap

A hen laid in his Dunlap.

And thus did the Henry Ward Beecher”

(Marketing Communications Volume 66, 1909).

Yet, despite the Dunlap hat belonging to the aristocracy and highest of social classes, the advertising was meant for individuals of lower social status (Marketing Communications

Volume 66, 1909). Common advertisements read as follows: “Celebrate Hats for Ladies and

Gentlemen and The Dunlap Silk Umbrella”. Instead of “Ladies and Gentlemen”, the upper class would have been addressed as “Men and Women”. Additionally, the phrase

“celebrated” would be meaningless to the general publics, who have never had an opportunity to own one of these hats themselves (Marketing Communications Volume 66,

1909). IV. Use

Men during the Gilded Age would most likely incorporate a hat into their day’s attire.

Since there were so many different styles, the hat choice often depended on a man’s occupation.

Outfit requirements varied from job to job, as well as from day to night. For example, the cowboy hat or sombrero became archetypal hat of a cowboy, and train conductors wore stiffer, flat-visor caps. For formal occasions, men wore silk top hats during the daytime in lighter colors such as grey or white, and black in the evening. Other outings called for different hat styles. For instance, to the opera, men would likely wear an opera hat: top hats that could be easily folded and placed under the seat during a performance. Other styles included the derby hat, which had an inflexible top and a narrow curved brim, and the trilby, a hat with a dented crown and a wider brim (Condra & Stampler, 2011, 332-333).

Certain types of top hats, namely the black formal headwear, were characteristic of the pompous elites. Socialites and mega-wealthy industrialists and financiers were typified by the term “robber barons”. Men belonging to such families as the Rockefeller, Carnegie and Mellon fit this stereotype of boastful men in sleek coats, tails and a black top hat (Smiley & West, 2012,

101).

V. Meanings

A Dunlap hat was a symbol of aristocracy and exemplified wealth and stature. The

Dunlap brand had a following, and typically those who wore the hats had been born into the upper echelon. The Dunlap brand signified an elite social status and those that could afford to purchase a hat became loyal customers of Dunlap (Marketing Communications Volume 66,

1909). Those who frequented their stores trusted that they were purchasing the latest fashions before anybody else. With countless varieties to choose from, “every hat bearing the Dunlap trade mark is a gem of art and taste” (History and Commerce of New York, 1891, 85).

By the end of the 19th century, Dunlap Hats were known for its incomparable quality and craft. The owner of the beige beaver wool top hat was Charles Thomas, who was evidently a man of wealth and class. To purchase such a hat of this particular color and material meant that

Charles Thomas could afford luxury goods. The light color points to the fact that this top hat was meant for the daytime, ensuring that the owner would have a comparable, if not superior, hat for formal evening celebrations. Dunlap hats, especially the top hats for day and night became the status symbol of the time and signified wealth and fashion in the Gilded Age of United States history.

Themes

During the Gilded Age, clothing and accessories were a demonstration of one’s wealth and status in society. Men wore hats of varying styles, materials, and colors to suit both their occupation and daily celebrations, as well as to display their position of power and masculinity.

Members of the aristocracy, businessmen and powerful politicians were the trendsetters in men’s fashion. In the same way that they brought hats into fashion, however, they also took them out.

Standing 6-foot-4-inches tall, it is difficult to imagine Abraham Lincoln without his iconic top hat. By the mid-1800’s, the hat “had become the irrepressible symbol of prestige and authority” (Carter, 2013). In fact, in February of 1860, just prior to his famous speech at the

Cooper Institute in New York, Lincoln purchased a new top hat from Dunlap’s biggest competitor, Knox. The turning point, and the man who made hats “un-happen”, was John F.

Kennedy. Before Kennedy, all presidents wore top hats on their inauguration; although he brought one, Kennedy was the first president to remove his hat before addressing the crowd. Signaling status with luxury goods is also a common theme in the modern-day Gilded

Age. Men who frequently wear a tie are attributed the characteristics of ambitious, polite, and respectful (Šakić et al. 2007). The idea of the ‘power tie’ has often coincided with suiting luxury brands, such as Hermès, Etro or Salvatore Ferragamo. Yet, according to an article published by the Wall Street Journal, the necktie is “no longer a requirement for the power elite” and is

“starting to disappear in the corporate realm” (Ortved 2013). It is not uncommon to see powerful politicians, such as President Obama, at a public appearance without a tie. Today, some of the most influential members of the tech and entertainment industries, as well as more conservative politicians and lawyers, have dropped the tie completely. In fact, in the same way that the tie and the top hat used to be a sign of importance, today, forgoing these items signify even greater power- they show that a man has ‘made it’.

Works Cited

Carter, Steven. “Abraham Lincoln’s Top Hat: The Inside Story.” Smithsonian, November 2013. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/abraham-lincolns-top-hat-the-inside-story-

3764960/.

History and Commerce of New York, 1891. American Publishing and Engraving Company, 1891.

Marketing Communications, 1909.

Morgan, Friedman. “The Inflation Calculator,” n.d. http://www.westegg.com/inflation/infl.cgi.

Ortved, John. “The Tie Is Dead. (Long Live the Tie).” Wall Street Journal, October 19, 2013, sec.

Life and Style.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304106704579135772899428460.

Šakić, Vlado, Renata Franc, Ines Ivičić, and Jelena Maričić. “Tie – an Accessory Fashion Detail or

a Symbol?” Croatian Medical Journal 48, no. 4 (August 2007): 419–30.

Smiley, Tavis, and Cornel West. The Rich and the Rest of Us. Hay House, Inc, 2012.

Stamper, Anita A., and Jill Condra. Clothing Through American History: The Civil War Through

the Gilded Age, 1861-1899. ABC-CLIO, 2011.

The American Hatter, 1919.

The Tariff Review. American Tariff League., 1916.

Updegraff, Robert R. (Robert Rawls). The Story of Two Famous Hatters, 1889.