I bet you didn’t know…

That a silk top hat is made from hatters’ plush, a soft silk weave with a very long, defined nap.

That they are very rare now since it is no longer in general production. This is because it is believed that there are no looms capable of producing the traditional material any more. The last looms apparently were destroyed by the last owner after a violent breakup with his brother.

Because of this, the secondhand top hat market is very lively, with antique models in wearable condition typically hard to find; price often varies with size (larger sizes are typically more expensive) and condition, immaculate condition being much more expensive.

Many surviving hats are in sizes smaller than an average man today can wear. Silk top hats can be inherited, bought refurbished, or bought second-hand and then refurbished if necessary.

Well for the very enterprising individual, top hats appear to be a very good market to get into.

That town-weight silk top hat is made by first blocking a piece of cheesecloth that has been coated with shellac on a wooden top hat block.

That in Freemasonry top hats are often associated with the position of Worshipful Master.

That the French magician Comte became the first conjurer on record to pull a white rabbit out of a top hat.

That the color white in a top hat is actually grey.

That top hats had become popular with all social classes. Now today mainly associated with the wealthy.

That the character “Mad Hatter” and phrase “mad as a hatter” is believed to be based upon the person, Theophilus Carter, a furniture store owner and not the milner or hatters working in the town of Stockport who were being poisoned from the mercury used in curing hats. Mr. Carter, it seems, had a habit everyday of standing in the doorway of his furniture shop wearing a top hat.

That if you want a variety of Mad Hatter Hats all you need to do is just look below:

MAD HATTER HATS

Filed under: Mad Hatter Hats

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