Hat

Dateca. 1850

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

MediumPressed felt with paint and gilding

DimensionsOverall: 6 1/8 x 14 1/4 x 12 1/2in. (15.6 x 36.2 x 31.8cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1988.410.1

DescriptionThis is a flat-brimmed, tall-crowned hat of pressed felt painted overall red with decorative designs and lettering on the crown ."DECATUR" and "F. E. CO:" are inscribed in gilded letters on the front of the crown with a gold enclosed medallion of a portrait bust of a man in a high-collar coat with epaulets. Flanking a hydrant depicted on the back of the crown are the gilded letters "F" and "A." (See n. 1). "E V Bunn" is painted on the inside of the crown, and on the underside of the top of the crown is painted "P/Paid."
Label TextIn the 18th and 19th centuries, volunteer firemen often named their companies after heroic figures. The Decatur Fire Company of the Frankford District of Philadelphia so honored Stephen Decatur, a young naval lieutenant whose daring exploits in the Tripolitan War (1801-1805) caught the public's fancy.

Show hats like this one were worn when companies turned out for parades and musters, both of these being festive occasions on which companies vied for the approval of the crowd by displaying spiffy, colorful attire and immaculate, well-maintained equipment.

Inscribed"DECATUR" and "F. E. CO:" are inscribed in gilded letters on the front of the crown. Flanking a hydrant depicted on the back of the crown are the gilded letters "F" and "A." (See n. 1). "E V Bunn" is painted on the inside of the crown, and on the underside of the top of the crown is painted "P/Paid."

n. 1: Both the "F A" letters and the hydrant symbol stood for the Fire Association of Philadelphia, an association of volunteer fire companies founded in 1817 that sought to become self-supporting through the profits derived from insurance fees. See AMERICAN FIRE MARKS: THE INSURANCE COMPANY OF NORTH AMERICA COLLECTION (Philadelphia, 1933), p. 43.
ProvenanceJohn Gordon, New York, NY; Howard and Catherine Feldman, Bethlehem, Pa.

Exhibition(s)