Vintage 1920s Silk Top Hat with Leather Case - Henry Heath London - 7 1/4
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Brand Poppy's Vintage Clothing
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Here's a quality black silk top hat made by the venerable London hat maker Henry Heath.
This hat comes from the Eadie estate and was the possession of G.H.H. Eadie. Eadie was a captain with the Canadian Expeditionary Force Black Watch during WWI and a major with the Black Watch during WWII. His name is written onto the sweatband in ink. Under the sweatband is a cardboard tag with the date of “24-7-25” written on it. The hat comes with a very interesting leather traveling case that has numerous labels affixed to it. Many are only partially present, but amongst the ones that are intact is one for Hong Kong and another for the Japanese steamship line Toyo Kisen Kaisha. There are others for the Hotel Riviera, the Hotel Seward, a Montreal hotel near the CPR and a London hotel. The case is gold stamped with “R.B.”, so obviously not originally Eadie’s case - maybe borrowed for a trip, I can’t be certain. The hat has no size label, but should fit a size 7 1/4” - it measures 22 3/4” around the sweatband, and 8 1/8” by 6 1/2” across the opening.
The hat is in very good condition, but the silk could use a bit of a brushing in places. The silk is really of superior quality, much nicer than many other examples that I have seen. The case is missing its latch to lock the cover onto the bottom and there is some slight wear to the leather finish and wear to many of the affixed labels, but this still makes a wonderful display piece. This weighs, with the case, 4.5 lbs, so overseas shipping is quite expensive - please double check with me regarding shipping cost if you are interested.Henry Heath was established in 1819 on Oxford St. They were a manufacturer and their hats could only be purchased directly from them, although eventually that practice changed, and this hat was sold through Max Beauvais, a Montreal haberdasher.
This is a wonderful vintage silk top hat by a venerable London maker with a wonderful display case.