Who Wears Hats Today?

BOOK REVIEW

Who wears hats today? That is the question Rose Q. Jamieson & Joanne E. Deardorff ask in the opening information to their recent book High Fashion Hats, 1950-1980. The answer ranges from cowboys to England’s Queen Elizabeth. However, hats as the fashion statement they were in the middle of the 20th century has definitely disappeared. Today, in this country, they’re usually just worn for practical purposes.

By the 1950s, several things were affecting the importance of hats: the mass exodus to the suburbs and a more casual life style was one of them; fancy hair styles themselves became a fashion statement and there was little desire to cover up the hair; plane travel became common, but there wasn’t much space for carrying a wardrobe of hats along.

These conditions escalated in the 1960s. With hair styles such as the enormous beehive popular, the only hat that could be used at all was a little pillbox that sat on top. Wigs were also “in.” Millions of women wore wigs when they went out in the evening. If a woman had paid for a wig, she certainly wasn’t going to cover it up with a hat!

Nevertheless, from the 1950s to the 1980s, hats still continued to be worn, although on a more limited basis. (There was nothing like a large hat to cover the hair on a bad hair day.)

Hats of the 1950s were designed to complement or complete an outfit. The shallow pillboxes were one such style, worn either flat on the head, or held on with a small plastic comb. large hats needed to be designed with high crowns, large enough to cover all the hair of the “big hair” styles. (Davy Crockett hats were popular in the 1950s, too.)

By the 1960s, there was much less interest in wearing hats, but there were several styles, from lampshade hats and crocheted bangle hats to hats that were more of a helmet. The movie Dr. Zhivago made Russian style hats popular. If a woman wanted to wear a hat, she did have a lot of styles from which to choose.

By the 1970s, very few women were wearing hats. Those that did had a variety of ethnic-style hats from which to choose, including berets, turbans, bandeaus and Gaucho styles.

If you love hats, or just want a trip down memory land, you’ll enjoy this book by Jamieson and Deardorff. It includes the most well-known designers and the type of hat each was designing, some of the historical events taking place during each time period, hair  styles,  contemporary photos of people - in hats, of course - and lots and lots of hats. High Fashion Hats (ISBN: 0-7643-2450-0)is a Schiffer publication. It is priced at $29.95.

Donna Miller

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New Price Guide Available

BOOK REVIEW

The 26th edition of Schroeder’s Price Guide,  with colored pictures on every page, is now available from Collector Books.

Approximately 500 categories, with information provided by a 400-member advisory board from around the United States, continue to make this one of the most valuable resources that any collector can have. The introductory material provided with each category, including information on reproductions where this is an issue, also is an effective aid for helping collectors make the right decisions.

You’ll find familiar categories included in the book, such as Advertising, Depression Glass, and Movie Memorabilia. But the book is also fun to just browse through and find some categories which are completely new to you - such as Susan Frackelton, Nordic Art Glass, or Soap Hollow Furniture (at least, these are new to me!)

Schroeder’s Price Guide, 26th edition, (ISBN: 978-1-547432-571-3) is priced at $17.95. Check with your local bookseller or buy online at www.collectorbooks.com.

Donna Miller

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Lamps Produced In Many Styles, Shapes & Materials

BOOK REVIEW

Popular Art Deco Lighting, Shades of the Past, by Herb Millman & John Dwyer, showcases several hundred lamps and lighting fixtures from the 1920s to the  1940s.

The first section covers accent and figural radio lamps. (A radio lamp receives its name from the fact that many were designed to be placed on the early floor model radios; they were not a combination radio-lamp.) The lamps were made of white metal, cast iron, brass or bronze, with a variety of finishes. The female figure, nude or clothed, was a popular motif, as were other animals, shown in motion. Multi-colored glass shades from Czechoslovakia, as well as American-made shades were popular.

Boudoir lamps from this period were usually cylindrical, and often sold in pairs. Pressed, cased and frosted glass shades were most commonly used, with  bases of pressed glass, chrome, white metal and Bakelite.

Table and desk lamps were made of almost every possible material, including white metal, cast iron, alabaster, brass, bronze and ceramic. Some especially interesting ones were made of chrome and aluminum. Geometric shapes were popular.

For overhead and wall lighting, manufacturers produced chandeliers with matching wall sconces using white metal, brass, bronze or nickel. Many of the wall sconces had slip shades made of cased or pressed glass in a variety of colors and patterns. Amber satin or crystal satin were especially popular colors. The same colors of shades were also found in the chandelier shades. Architectural designs were commonly seen in the chandelier metal work.

Floor lighting is covered in the final section of the book. Torchieres, ranging in height from 4’ to 6’ were popular, with three-way bulbs that ran up to 350 watts, housed in porcelain sockets that could withstand the heat. White metal, brass, bronze, cast iron, marble alabaster, bakelite and celluloid were all used for the bases. Bridge lamps were another common style, so named because the light socket and shade extended off a bridge from the main shaft of the lamp.

Approximately 600 photographs illustrate the above types of lamps in this Schiffer publication. Popular Art Deco Lighting, Shades of the Past (ISBN 0-7643-2043-2), is priced at $49.95. Contact your local bookseller or visit the Schiffer web site: www.schifferbooks.com.

Donna Miller

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