How important is a classic Bowler or Derby? Why would you need one?
The right hat may be a key to a whole educational experience. It might be critical to your whole ensemble.
By Leon Pantenburg
Disclaimer: The American Hat Company supplied the product for this review, and Survivalcommonsense.com is an affiliate. If you order a hat from this website, we may get a small commission. I don’t work for American Hat Company and I was not paid to write this review. Nobody had any input into the contents. All we ever promise is a fair and unbiased testing and review.
I’m a big advocate for wearing protective, effective headgear. So how does that tie in with a bowler hat review? After all, that was the signature headgear for comedian Charlie Chaplin back in the silent film era. It helped define his “Little Tramp” comedy act. (His trademark derby was too small on purpose so it would look funny.)
On the practicality scale, a bowler or derby is as bad or worse than the iconic American baseball cap. A derby can protect the top of your head, but the thin brim offers little to no protection from rain, wind, snow, sleet or sun. The traditional black color absorbs high temperatures, and the high crown is not ventilated and holds heat in. About all a derby can offer is style, and I wouldn’t wear one on any outdoors activity. But I have needed one for a long time.
Before COVID the Thorn Hollow String Band performed regularly at the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon.
As a retired community college instructor, I believe that the best way to encourage the study of history is to have people from that era talk to students. One of my hobbies is playing old time string music and participating in Living History presentations.
It’s all about having fun – As a Mississippi River keelboater I played period music from that era at Natchez (MS)-Under-the-Hill. This was after we played Irish music at a historical fair at Old Jefferson College near Natchez. I’ve been a Civil War soldier and participated in several reenactments. I frequently turned my coat, portraying a soldier from either side as needed. Once, I got to help fire a cannon at the Vicksburg (Mississippi) National Military Park. As a Prisoner of War, I was tied to a cannon at the Old Court House Museum as punishment when I refused to stand as the rebels sang “Dixie.” As a Civil War soldier, I frequently represented the grumbler, malingerer or slacker who is present in every army of every war.
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I was a Yankee Prisoner of War in this 1982 presentation at the Old Court House Museum in Vicksburg, MS. The rebs stole my shoes. I complained to the tourists.
For most of my era-correct outfits, the pants, vest, shirts and shoes I already have are historically accurate. But I need hats from different eras and regions because the head covering helps define the time period. I have a hand-made corn shuck hat, an 1800s straw farmers hat, a Civil War Kepi and several other felt hats of different styles.
The derby style according to Google, was originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849. It has traditionally been worn with semi-formal and informal attire.
The hat was originally designed to protect the heads of gamekeepers on the Holkham Hall Estate in Norfolk, England. The gamekeepers wore top hats while riding horseback, but the hats would often fall off when branches got tangled in them. The bowler hat was designed to be a close-fitting, low-crowned hat made of stiff felt that would stay in place.
In America, the hat dates back about 150 years, and was a standard for mens’ dress hats until it was displaced by the fedora in the early 1920s. The men in the Old West didn’t wear their dirty, sweat-stained cowboy hat into town on a Saturday night – they had a town hat, which may have been a bowler, a homburg or something similar.
A derby fits in well with Irish and traditional American music.
Here are the American Hat Company bowler specs:
- Brim 1-1/2″
- Crown 4-1/2″
- 1 1/4″ Width Grosgrain Ribbon
- Lightweight Felt Wool
- Flipped Stingy Brim | Finished Brim Trim
- Easily adjusts to your head size with hidden sewn-in pull straps
- Package includes two (free) adhesive size reducers to make a perfect fit
- Imported
Here’s how the Chaplin worked out:
Fit: I wear an XL hat, and this derby fit me well. Initially, the hat was tight on my forehead and the back of my head. This was because my head is not round. My hat stretcher and wearing the hat made it comfortable.
A derby can be a great addition to your Living History ensemble.
Brim: At 1-1/2 inches, the brim is largely decorative. It’s not going to give much – if any – protection from the elements. But because of its classic style, it looks really good.
Crown: I prefer a higher hat crown because it offers some buffer against heat and cold. In the Chaplain, there is plenty of room, and it is comfortable to wear under normal conditions.
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