1879 Lumberjacks (Check Out their Hats)

[Shotgun Steve]

These lumberjacks were working about 30 miles from where I was born. And later I moved to Arenac county. The hats really caught my eye as I have seen a lot of lumberjack pictures before but I do not remember seeing any like these. My Grandfather and my Great Granfather were both lumberjacks in the area. All in all a cool photo.

1/6 plate tintype of three identified young lumberjacks. There's a piece of paper affixed to the back of this plate that reads; "J. H. Stoelker, Fred Snyder, Emil Archard / Taken at Point Lookout in 1879". This image came out of a Saginaw, Michigan album. There's a Point Lookout in Arenac County, Michigan, about an hour north of Saginaw, on the shore of Saginaw Bay. Though this was the great Michigan logging era, I'd never seen lumberjacks in these hats before! But after further research I found photos in Michigan archives that show river crews and boom workers wearing them. I believe that the photo was taken in an itinerant photographer's wagon. J(ohn) H. Stoelker (1858-1945) went on to become a very respected citizen of Saginaw, co-publishing the newspaper "The Daily Saginawian", and living to the ripe old age of 87. Some wear to the edges, else clean with a nice, unmarked surface. Uncased. A terrific piece of Americana

Shotgun Steve

[kflach]

I don't understand why people folded up one side of their hat's like that. I've seen it done with other hats, too. I could understand if they did just the front (so it wouldn't obscure their front vision) but why just one side?

[Mogorilla]

Just my $0.02, but the same reason kids/punks wear hats sideways or backwards, they think it looks cool.  That sort of rakish flair with brim hats had gone on for a while by 1879.

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[James Hunt]

Note the single string attaching the hat to their clothing, Alfred Jacob Millar painted this on at least one trapper from the western fur trade period (1838). Not much seen in the American west during our period where we can continue the argument of the frequency of  "bonnet string" use. The presence of those strings suggests that the photo was not simply three guy's walking thru the Mexican hat store and trying a few on for a photo.

[Delmonico]

I don't understand why people folded up one side of their hat's like that. I've seen it done with other hats, too. I could understand if they did just the front (so it wouldn't obscure their front vision) but why just one side?

Just my $0.02, but the same reason kids/punks wear hats sideways or backwards, they think it looks cool.  That sort of rakish flair with brim hats had gone on for a while by 1879.

Yep, you nailed it pretty good.  Strings are interesting, but some of the hat police might say them hats is to big to be proper period, guess these guys didn't get the memo.

[Delmonico]

Interesting note on the windstring, I still ain't found one on a working cowboy and can not find a modern working cowboy who wears one.  Have asked about it and they all agree so far that proper fitting of a hat eliminates the need for and and keeps one from hanging themselves in areas that have a few trees.  One did say he seen a trail rider from town almost hang himself one time.

[kflach]

I guess it could also be the result of them sleeping with their hats on...

[Delmonico]

I guess it could also be the result of them sleeping with their hats on...

Well a lot of folks must have sleptt with their hats on.  Funny in hat terms they don't call it "slept with yer hat on" style, they call it Cavalier style.

[J.D. Yellowhammer]

Wasn't this started by War Between the States (and earlier) cavalry troopers who didn't want to knock their hats off every time they presented their swords (or went to choppin' haids off)?

[Delmonico]

Wasn't this started by War Between the States (and earlier) cavalry troopers who didn't want to knock their hats off every time they presented their swords (or went to choppin' haids off)?

Became popular then, though JEB Stuart may have just slept on his hat, who knows at this point in time.

[J.D. Yellowhammer]

Became popular then, though JEB Stuart may have just slept on his hat, who knows at this point in time.

He never would've dun that! It woulda messed up his fine perm!    (I'm goin' ta hell fer that one!  Specially since all my folks fought on his side!)

[River City John]

I bet it actually traces it's origins to the Revolutionary War or before.
 Betcha it came from them foreigners in Europe, or maybe the Swedes. Yeah, I bet it was them Swedes who wore their hat's brim up when Gustavus Adolphus was fighting everyone on the Continent.

[Frenchie]

When the army "dress" or "Hardee" hat was adopted in 1858, the dress regulations specified that foot soldiers were to wear it with the brim pinned up on the left and mounted troops were to wear it with the brim pinned up on the right. This was so the infantry Support Arms position (musket supported on the left shoulder) and the mounted Carry Sword position (saber on the right shoulder) wouldn't knock the hat off.


Infantry hat

From the 1861 Army Regulations: 1489. ... Brim to be looped up to side of hat with a brass eagle, having a hook attached to the bottom to secure the brim-on the right side for mounted men and left side for foot men. The feather to be worn on the side opposite the loop.

[Dutch Limbach]

When most of us think of Civil War headwear we think of forage caps and kepis. However, the regulation hat was the Model 1858 Dress Hat, more commonly known as the Hardee Hat. Regulations called for the brim to be turn up and pinned to the crown on the right side for the cavalry and artillery, and on the left side for the infantry.

In the field the hat was too hot and heavy to be popular with the troops, so most opted for kepi/forage hats or slouch hats. They were worn with distinction though by the famous Iron Brigade.



I think Frenchie posted while I was typing up my post.

[Dutch Limbach]

I don't understand why people folded up one side of their hat's like that. I've seen it done with other hats, too. I could understand if they did just the front (so it wouldn't obscure their front vision) but why just one side?

One of the upsides to being unemployed is it gives you time to research things you normally wouldn't research. Here is what I found out about the origins of turned up hat brims.

The first manufactured hats were simply a round piece of leather. A ring of holes about the size of a head was punched in the leather circle. A string was woven through those holes. The string was then pulled tight to hold the hat snugly to the head. The excess material created the brim.

To keep the wide floppy brim out of the wearer's eyes it was tied up with a ribbon. It was later discovered that sometimes when the ribbon was removed from the brim it would stay curled by itself. This led to hand curled brims.

To keep them from fraying hat brims were bound with ribbon.  Although advancements in materials have eliminated the need for binding the brim, or pinning it up, the custom remains. To this day we keep our brims curled up because early hatters did not know how to stiffen a brim.

Here are a couple of additional bits of Hat Trivia: When men went off to do battle it was customary to wear a feather from their loved one in the adjusting hatband. Since they were mostly right handed, when sword fighting they lead with their right side. To keep from having their view obstructed at this crucial time they took to sticking the feather and the knot of the adjusting hatband on the left side of the hat. As time went on, they would wrap a ribbon around the crown to hold the feather and hide the tie string knot. Where they remain today.

When the material used for hats turned from leather to velvet some protection was needed to keep the softer velvet fabric from falling on people’s hair, this is where the lining came from. Even though modern hats are stiff enough not to collapse, the custom remains.

Individual sizing eliminated the need for the adjusting tie string, but the bow remains at the back of the hat, serving as a memorial to bygone hatters.

[Drydock]

Pinning or folding up a wide brimmed hat is as old as the origins of the wide brimmed hat, and its done for a variety of reasons, but its thought the original reason was simply to keep a brim, ever softening in the weather, from flopping down in front of your eyes.   Then what the heck, I've got a pin up there, might as well stick a feather in it, and off it goes. Think about it . . .

[panhead pete]

Perhaps they folded their hats depending on which side of the tree they placed their heads whilst "shimmying"/climbing up the tree.  Having the string to hold the hat would help retrieve it if an errant branch or gust of wind removed it.  It would be a lot better to keep your hat on if you spent a significant amount of time aloft and in the sun.  Just a thought as I know almost nothing about 19th century logging.

Panhead   

[J.D. Yellowhammer]

I don't know about climbin' trees (never seen a bunch of loggers in a tree) but it would be a real PIA to knock yer hat off every time you swung an axe.

[Skeeter Lewis]

In Australia and GB hats with the side pinned up were called 'wide awake' hats. You see them a lot in photos from the Boer War. Skeet