INTERESTING FACTS
1814 first record of a white rabbit being pulled out of a top hat, by a French Magician named Louis Comte.
The American financier J P Morgan loved wearing top hats so much he had his cars made with a high roof so he could ride around wearing his beloved hats!
The doyen of etiquette, the American Emily Post said in the 1920s "always wear your top hat level on your head".
Yet if you look at the best example of a wearer Lord Ribblesdale (Queen Victoria's Lord in Waiting) by John Singer Sargent you'll see the jaunty angle employed.
Fred Astaire wore top hats in 12 of his films (notably Top Hat in 1935) and he wore the hat at a jaunty and rakish angle.
Average Head size today 7 1/8, to 7 1/4. 19th and early 20th century 6 5/8 or even smaller; hence larger hats are at a premium.