History of The Top Hat

The first top hat was thought to have been invented in 1760 by a hatter in Florence. The other story was it had been invented in Canton in about 1775 by a wealthy Frenchman who eagerly carried his head-piece back to Paris. In the eighteenth century beaver felt was much preferred in the making of the very finest top hats. They used a process called “carotting” where by coarse hairs were plucked from the beaver pelt and coated with a solution of mercury nitrate. Subsequently the workers inhaled the fumes and it gave them brain damage. It was from this, the saying “as mad as a hatter” came about.

The Silk Top Hat

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