Lincoln's Stovepipe Hat

[Gene C]

This from Fox News (it's OK, it's non political.)

http://video.foxnews.com/v/5318577859001...show-clips

[RJNorton]

This from Fox News (it's OK, it's non political.)

http://video.foxnews.com/v/5318577859001...show-clips

Was Lincoln's hat not collapsible?

"Lincoln pulled out a pair of reading glasses, secured his manuscript with a gold-headed cane, and tried to lay down his new silk hat. Schurz said, "I witnessed the remarkable scene when Lincoln, about to deliver his inaugural address, could not at once find a convenient place for his hat, and Douglas took that hat and held it like an attendant, while Lincoln was speaking."

https://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lin...gural1.htm

[JMadonna]

I always keep a pair of reading glasses and a pen in my hat. I tried to put my cellphone there but it bothered me when it vibrated.

[L Verge]

I was debating whether or not top hats were collapsible during the time of Lincoln. Wikipedia gave me the answer:

Collapsible top-hats[edit]





The collapsible Gibus
On May 5, 1812, a London hatter called Thomas Francis Dollman patented a design for "an elastic round hat" supported by ribs and springs. His patent was described as:


An elastic round hat, which "may be made of beaver, silk, or other materials." "The top" of the crown and about half an inch from the top "as well as "the brim and about an inch, the crown from the bottom" are stiffened in the ordinary manner. The rest of the hat "is "left entirely without stiffening," and is kept in shape by ribs of any suitable material "fastened horizontally to the inside of " the crown," and by an elastic steel spring from three to four inches long and nearly half an in. wide "sewed on each side of "the crown in the inside in an upright position." Then packed up for travelling, "the double ribbon fastened under the band is "to be pulled over the top of the crown to keep it in a small "compass."[12]

Some sources have taken this to describe an early folding top hat,[13][14] although it is not explicitly stated whether Dollman's design was specifically for male or female headgear. Dollman's patent expired in 1825.[15] In France, around 1840, Antoine Gibus's design for a spring-loaded collapsible top-hat proved so popular that hats made to it became known as gibus.[10][16] They were also often called opera hats due to the common practice of storing them in their flattened state under one's seat at the opera, though the term can also refer to any tall formal men's hat.[citation needed] The characteristic snapping sound heard upon opening a gibus suggested a third name, the chapeau claque, "claque" being the French word for "slap".[17]

I should add that I suspect Lincoln's top hat was not collapsible...

[J. Beckert]

The two hats attributed to Lincoln that I've seen (Smithsonian and Hildene) are covered with beaver skin, which was popular at the time. They would not be collapsible.

Beaver hats were so popular in the 19th. century, that beavers were almost hunted to extinction.

Stovepipe beaver hats were sometimes brushed with stale beer to give them a shine. A contemporary said Lincoln never did this and his hat always looked "as if a calf had just licked it".

[LincolnMan]

We always knew Lincoln was a teetotaler!

[Eva Elisabeth]

We call them like in French "Chapeau-Claque".
   
   

[David Lockmiller]

On a certain evening, Lincoln left his stovepipe hat on a chair in Stanton's reception room. On his return, a very fat woman rose from the place to bow to the President. Lincoln returned the bow, then, walking behind her, picked up the remains of his hat and said, shaking his head sadly: "Madam, I could have told you that my hat wouldn't fit you before you tried it on!"

--David Homer Bates

[Eva Elisabeth]

According to a German newspaper article, there are three manufacturers who still make Chapeaux-Claques, one in the Black Forrest, where the following pictures of the process (all handmade) were taken. Most CCs are made of silk, which is hardened with shellac, but basically every fabric is possible, although leather is difficult to see.
   
The shellac is ironed to be put into shape.
   
It's about 150 different steps and 2-3 hours to make a CC.
   
The spring mechanism.
       
Forms for different sizes.