Very Gentlemanly On the Head

Well, Eureka indeed!

It is Friday and we are going to take a little recess from the history mysteries, though I promise that it will return regularly. Often enough to be fun, but not so often that we all get tired of it.

There will be more ghost stories in the "Only the Dead Know Brooklyn" series, this month, too. And I am also just beginning work on the life story of an eccentric whose life is even more astonishing than that of Fred Bell, the pugilist, Primitive Methodist preacher and fortune teller.

But Fridays, in any case, demand something entertaining and here is just the thing. A hat for all seasons!

You can wear this when you are traveling, especially by steamer boat. And then you can wear it out for an evening on the town in New York, New York after the boat docks down at Pier 49.

Yes, you will be the most styling gentleman of 1874 in your black felt hat, "very gentlemanly on the head." Wear the brim up or turn it down so that it covers your ears (that's what Warnock, the hatter, suggests in the ad) - that will look great. Like a big black felt bucket.

It will go with the big black mustache, no doubt about it.

From the NYPL Digital Gallery.