Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900

Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective explores the history of toques and top hats, bowlers, and bonnets to add another dimension to understanding your family photographs

Fanciful, frilly, and fascinating, women's hats made a fashion statement. There were hundreds of choices available each season. And they came with names like Leghorns, Gainsborough's, poke bonnets, and wide-awakes. Home factories produced trim and hats for milliners, while enterprising women raised small birds destined to be stuffed for hat adornments.

Men's hats could be utilitarian. Abraham Lincoln and the men of his generation often carried papers in their stove pipe hats. Their desire for beaver hats led the animal to the brink of extinction.

Using the clues in this book, you'll learn interesting facts about your ancestors by studying their photographs and the hats they wore for portraits.