Candice - I forwarded your question to Merri Ferrell, an expert in all
things related to horses, carriages, and costumes and she had the following
to say about your little hat:

"It's for fox hunting. Long before safety helmets, men and women rode in top
hats and the gromets had a silk cord attached to them with a corresponding
gromet to the riding jacket so the hat (expensive) was not lost in the
field."

hope this helps,
Robin Gabriel

On Thu, Oct 14, 2010 at 10:53 AM, Candace Perry
<[log in to unmask]>wrote:

>  I have encountered an odd silk high hat in our collection – we have many
> of these, I’ve seen many, and this one has stymied me.
>
> First of all, it’s a very small head size.  I have been blessed with a
> large and generally empty skull and it would just balance on the top of my
> head -. and not in a modish Isabella Blow-type style.  Therefore, I’m
> assuming it’s a small woman’s or man’s; maybe a young teenage male.  It has
> the typical curled/curved brim, everything typical – however, it has a
> deliberately placed grommet or eyelet in the center of the top of the
> crown.  Can anyone shed light on what this was for – I can’t imagine one
> would stick a plume in there, which is what I’d like to believe, as that is
> kind of fun and wacky.  I was thinking maybe it was a woman’s riding hat,
> and veiling or netting was attached through the hole, but that seemed weird
> also.
>
> My dear volunteer wittily said it was a place for the soul to escape (we
> doing funerary and ghostly things at the moment) …
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> Candace Perry
>
> Curator
>
> Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center
>
> Pennsburg, PA
> ========================================================= Important
> Subscriber Information:
>
> The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
> http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed
> information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message
> to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read
> "help" (without the quotes).
>
> If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
> [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read
> "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).
>

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).