The Civil War Hat Catalog

Page Two of Five

The General Lee - $ 80

Robert E. Lee was the epitome of the genteel southern gentleman as well as one of the greatest generals America ever produced. Benjamin H. Hill of Georgia, in an address delivered at the time of General Lee's death, thus beautifully describes his character: "...a soldier without cruelty; a victor without oppression, and a victim without murmuring. He was a public officer without vices; a private citizen without wrong; a neighbor without reproach; a Christian without hypocrisy, and a man without guile. He was obedient to authority as a servant, and royal in authority as a true king."

Robert Burton collection

Photographs of Lee show him with two different color hats. In the early part of the war his hat was black, but this hat was soon replaced in favor of the more well known light-colored hat. The hat we have reproduced is a close copy of the ones seen in the photographs. After the hat has been worn for some time, it will begin to have a slightly concave crown as can be seen in the old original photographs. This is a result of the weather gradually affecting the shape. But don't worry, a fur felt hat can be reblocked and reshaped.

Photo Courtesy Library of Congress

The Beehive - $ 85

The beehive was a product of the war time economy. This hat is almost unique to the The War For Southern Independence with very few photographs showing these hats in use afterward.. To understand why this is true, one must understand how fur felt hats are made. The hat body takes shape as a cone as the fur is felted, it is then dipped in boiling water and pressed to shrink the felt. Once this is accomplished, a process called back shop blocking stretches and flattens the bottom of the cone into a round shape, thus, the felt become a hat body.

The next step is called front shop blocking. This is where the hat is blocked to size, ironed, trimmed and finished. The beehive was apparently rushed through the back shop blocking process during the war. This produced a hat with a brim that dishes up in a concave fashion. Normally, the brim would lie flat. Also, the shape of the cone is very discernable in the crown. The reason these hats were not widely seen after the war was that hatters went back to producing hats in the usual, more time consuming manner, and the beehive hats were gradually worn out and discarded. Wool felt hats are different in that they will lose their shape after a good wetting and will either lose their stiffness and look like a piece of luncheon meat or revert back to the cone shape. It is important to remember that all Clearwater Hats are made of 100% fur felt, not wool felt or wool/fur blends such as Dynafelt. Our hats can be reshaped and reblocked any number of times. Contrast this with wool hats that will not tolerate reblocking.

This familiar image to the right shows a classic beehive style on the nearest Confederate.

The image to the left  shows a tall beehive.

Photo courtesy Library of Congress

The Gettysburg - $ 90

This hat is called the Gettysburg because we first sold one to a fellow who earns his living providing horseback tours of that battlefield. The photograph above shows two Confederates captured at Gettysburg wearing this style of hat. Shown below is a portion of a particularly good elevated photograph of Grant and his staff outside Massaponax Church where several of these hats are visible.

Of all the hats we make, this is Bob's personal favorite. He has worn one for several years. The styling of this hat is timeless, fitting easily into the modern or antique world.

Photo by Matthew Brady-Courtesy Library of Congress

Among the excuses offered for exemptions during the Civil War, some are  extremely ludicrous. In one northern state, we learn, one man on enrolling himself wrote opposite his name, "one leg too short." The next man that came in, noticing the excuse, and deeming it pretty good, thought he would make his better, and wrote opposite his name, "both legs too short!" from Modern Eloquence, Copyright © 1900  University Society.

All original material copyright©1998 Clearwater Hat company