HATS AND HAT TIPPING
by Gienna Christen
Ah, friendly soldiers touching the brims of their hats to all the ladies
We ladies certainly appreciate the thoughtful gesture. With that appreciation
in mind I offer the following information: if you behaved in that manner
in the last century, the ladies you greeted very likely would be quite surprised,
if not offended, by your attempts to be friendly!
You could be considered rude on at least two counts.
First, merely tipping the brim of one's hat was considered to be far too
perfunctory a gesture for true politeness. Etiquette books throughout most
of the last century often described, and occasionally illustrated, the proper
hat tipping method. Later in the century the descriptions became particularly
precise. One of the clearest examples is as follows:
A gentleman when bowing should lift his
hat slightly from his head. To merely touch the brim of his
hat, or make a gesture toward it, is not correct form. But while
the hat should be lifted slightly it should not be carried away from
the head with an ostentatious flourish. A slight inclination of the
head at the time the hat is lifted should occur; but the body need not be
bent.
In meeting a lady
friend wait for her to bow to you and in returning her salutation, remove
your hat. To a gentleman you may bow, merely touching your hat, if he is
alone or with another gentleman; but when he has a lady with him, raise
your hat in bowing to him. If you stop to speak to a lady, hold your hat
in your hand, until she leaves you, unless she requests you to replace it.
With a gentleman you may replace it immediately.
The second, and perhaps greater count of rudeness would
be for greeting ladies with whom you are not well acquainted, and any lady
who has not acknowledged you first. This concept generally goes against
our friendly, modern practices, but times and social customs have changed.
The prevailing attitude
of the last century was that "ladies" were delicate and In need
of protection. By Implication, a lady's reputation was also very fragile,
so it was her duty to guard it carefully. For this reason it was the lady's
privilege to acknowledge a gentleman in public or not. If she greeted a
gentleman it was his duty to respond In kind, however, if she passed him
by, he was expected to accept this and pass on without response.
If a lady greats you first, you now
know the polite response. If you act accordingly, she should be very Impressed
by your gallant manners. If she does not greet you first, she very likely
has brushed up on her last century etiquette. in that case, she is being
a proper lady and so, would realize you are being thoughtful of her reputation.
After all, what lady wants to be greeted by every stranger and common soldier
she encounters? Heavens! We can only imagine what kind of woman would be
on such friendly terms with so many different men. She might even be mistaken
for that kind of woman! So now you wish to avoid risking poor ladies' delicate
reputations, wait for them to smile and nod before you take your hats
off to the ladies.
Now that you know the rules, you may decide to break them if that behavior
fits the persona you have created. Remember, not every man was a gentleman
any more than every woman was a lady. If your first person character is
that of an ill-bred, ill-mannered lout, insolently greeting a lady could
make for an interesting scene. The lady so greeted should be very indigent,
but she should express her indignation with great dignity and refinement
to avoid drawing further unwanted attention to herself. Not only could such
an encounter be entertaining for those involved, but more importantly, it
would serve to emphasize what was proper behavior by contrasting it with
improper behavior.
I do
not offer this suggestion to encourage widespread ill-manners, but rather
as an occasional option. Insolence will only be effective if everyone around
you is behaving like proper 19 th century ladies and gentlemen, particularly
the lady being so rudely greeted. To help make that possible, I ask you
all to spread the "politeness" word.
I am often asked whether a lady should wear a hat, bonnet or just decoration on her head. I hope to give a little bit of guidelines on that subject. These are by no means the only guidelines to go by. This is information that I have come across in the books of The Everyday Clothing of the Rural Woman; The Clothing Guidelines of the Civil War Era; The Hair. Hat. Hood and Bonnet, the Era of the Hood. by Heidi Marsh, several different articles written in Civil War Lady and others. They all seem to agree on a few main topics.
MORNING CAPS OR BREAKFAST CAPS
They were worn indoors with a dressing gown or with a day time gown at any time of the day. They were usually worn by married woman only. Some matrons did not even wear these until after the birth of their first child. During the latter part of the Civil War these were considered old fashioned. Our ‘young ladies should not be wearing such a cap. Then the snood and after the last article, I think most of the ladies are quite informed on the snood.
BONNETS
Bonnets were the acceptable head covering for all ladies, for all occasions and all seasons. It is felt that these bonnets actually accentuated the shape desirable in most of the mid century for ladies. These bonnets should have a lace or fabric ruffle around the back. This ruffle was called a "bavolets". This was to keep the nape of the neck from showing. There was another bonnet called a "spoon" bonnet. This was high in the center and it was very fashionable during the early 60 s. The bonnet was considered the only proper head covering, for church, most ceremonial occasions like weddings, funerals, christenings, opera, this type of activity. However the hood also came in for use for the evening activities such as operas, theater. If you did not have a-hood, a bonnet would be appropriate. These bonnets were very fashionable but unfortunately, did not afford much protection for a ladies face. So, they were often replaced with the less refined sun bonnet or slat front bonnet. This is especially true in the South, by country women or by working women and children.
A fashionable lady would always have a parasol. A working lady needed her hands free, thus she needed a bonnet which would give her more protection. Fashionable ladies who wore the bonnets without the protection often added a sheered fabric brim which was made out of bone and netting and would be attached over the brim of theirs to form a type of veil for more sun protection. This was called an "ugly".
Hats were considered "fast" because they exposed the back of the neck. They were however, soon well, accepted. They were wide brimmed, straw, capped, sailors, all types of different shapes and materials. Most hats were worn fairly level or tilted forward slightly to allow room for the chignon or the hair styles. Flat crowned hats were considered as country wear and very seldom show up in photographs but would probably be more appropriate for this territory. A hat style that was of flat felt or straw was called the "wide awake". Worn by both men and women, it was flat brimmed, low, round crowned and did not have a nap to cover the neck. It would tie under the chin and often had long streamers down the back which were called "follow—me—lad". There is evidence of hats similar to the pill box and the Scottish cap as early as 1862 in the fashion magazines. However, these were primarlly really introduced post war. Even the forage cap was made into a fashionable hat towards the end of the war.
EVENING HEAD DRESSES
Evening head dresses were based on fancy combs, flowers, laces, more than any type of hat. However, you would still wear either a bonnet or a hood going and coming from any activity.
NIGHT CAPS
Night caps were worn, usually matching the night dress and they were worn either for warmth or to preserve a hair style.
MOP CAPS
Mop caps are from another era and usually only worn by domestic servants during the time of the Civil War.
MOURNING CAPS
For a lady in full "mourning" an important part of her wardrobe was a black crepe, silk or cotton bonnet with a mourning or "weeping" veil, that falls from the crown of the bonnet to the shoulder elbow, waist or sometimes, even the calf, depending on the ladys preference. Veils were usually of fine silk. For poorer ladies or because of our circumstances in the territory, they could not be expected to have special wear for mourning. Usually, they could get a bit of cheap sheer crepe and they could make an impromptu veil which they usually attached to the hair or a small head piece without a colored trim or any type of flower, or to a plain dark bonnet. For a non—family member, it was very appropriate to wear a dark bonnet with not much trim or some dark trim but not necessarily a veil. Hats, were however, very ‘fast and not encouraged. As the lady of any circumstance would reach the end of her deep mourning period, she could start to gradually change her bonnet. The weeping veil would be set aside and the colors would change with the introduction of deep violet. Grays could be used sparingly, as well as some white trim. Then over a period of months, lighter shades of gray or purples could be used until the time was up and she could go back to her regular colors. I have discovered in the book THE AFTER LIFE, by Karen Wren Mehaffey, there was a definite time span to be used depending on the relation who was deceased. This, however, did take some liberties during the time of the actual war. So, it is important for us to try and realize exactly what we are portraying when we try to do a mourning persona.
I hope this has helped clear up some information and remember this is just information that I have gathered. There is a lot more material out there to be discovered and shared.