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Author
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Comment
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Lotti
Unregistered User
(9/28/02 3:19:10 pm)
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Hats&Caps
Ok, first of all I have to confess that the thread on tailor stories got me started on this one - I am not really stealing the idea, though, I mulled this over for quite some time.
I am an amateur milliner, and as such, I wonder if there are any tales out there featuring hats and caps?
The ones that do come to mind are the different hats/caps that make the wearer invisible, such as the one Sigfried wears in the Nibelungen-Stories. I know some fairy tales with a hat like this (usually together with a pair of shoes that take you to wherever you want to go and a sword that will bring you victory).
Apart from that, I draw a blanc. Are there any other stories out there? It would be too much to hope for a fairy tale starring a Hatmaker, I guess...
Oh, and something that has been on my mind lately as Halloween is drawing closer: Do any of you know where the witches hat comes from? I never pictured a witch wearing a hat until I met the English-speaking world - back home here in Germany the witches wear headscarves, as all the old women (used to) do.
Ideas and thoughts, anyone?
Looking forward to benefit from the stunning knowledge on this board,
Lotti :-)
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Helen
Registered User
(9/28/02 11:56:39 pm)
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Witches' hats ...
Infuriatingly, they were an additional form of punishment for those accused of witchcraft ... similar to dunce-caps in their purpose. No one would actually have donned one willingly, insofar as I'm aware. And now they've become irrevocably associated ... bleh.
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Lizzi
Unregistered User
(9/29/02 12:32:27 am)
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Re: Witch hats
I've also heard that the witch hat also stems from the Welsh national costume.
With reference to hats and headwear in tales - the Mad hatter and what about flower wreaths worn in the hair?
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Janeyolen
Unregistered User
(9/29/02 3:08:31 am)
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A few more
Caps for Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business
Esphyr Slobodkina--it actually comes from an Indian story.
In fairy lore, a red cap was used by certain brownie types.
Red Riding Hood.
Cap o Rushes, a CInderella variant, English, can probably be found in one of the Joseph Jacobs collections.
Jane
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JaNell
Registered User
(9/29/02 6:44:23 am)
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Mmmm, Cat In The Hat Hat
The Cat In The Hat - certainly based on trickster archetypes.
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Don
Registered User
(9/29/02 6:57:50 am)
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Hats
Grimms':
"The Knapsack, the Hat, and the Horn"
"The Goose Girl" (Conrad's hat)
"Cinderella" (branch knocking off father's hat)
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Jess
Unregistered User
(9/29/02 7:52:06 am)
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Inspiration
Thank you, Lotti! You have inspired me to try to get a story published.
My first one (and probably still my best) about a hat.
I'll let you know if anything ever happens with it.
Jess
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Jess
Unregistered User
(9/29/02 7:53:18 am)
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Barthalemu Huggins and the 500 hats
Another Dr. Seuss story. And probably my favorite for unknown reasons. Maybe I just like hats.
Jess
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Lotti
Unregistered User
(9/29/02 12:06:07 pm)
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Thank you!
Thanks a lot, everybody!
Some of the stories you mentioned I knew about, but there are several that are copletely unknown to me - or I had just heard the title so far. Dr. Seuss and his stories, for example. I have a lot to check out now - and to look forward to reading, of course! So, thanks all around!
Of course, I feel very sheepish to have forgotten Little red riding hood... Maybe I can redeem myself with a little bit about her cap that not all of you will be familiar with. We usually see LRRH in a red cape or such, but the hat actually is taken from a traditional costume in the Schwalm region, somewhere in the North-East of Hessen in Germany and quite unlike these illustrations. The people there are still wearing their traditional costumes for special occasions today, as it is quite a rural and removed area. The costume of the ladies looks quite funny, as they wear as many skirts on top of each other as possible, as a sign of wealth. Think of the 50ies Petticoats - just more so! The traditional headdress is a little cap, like a knot, I'd say handsized, that is worn right on top of the head. There are different colours according to marital status, with the unmarried Ladies and Girls wearing - red. And that is where LRRH comes from - the red hat being nothing to distinguish her from other girls, as we often believe, but the traditional and typical cap for her age and marital status.
Best wishes, Lotti
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Jess
Unregistered User
(9/29/02 4:07:15 pm)
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The importance of color
Lotti,
I find it fascinating that red is the color for unmarried or young girls where you are from in Germany (as in LLRH). Red is also the color worn in India by the bride. Interestingly, in the 1800's white was deemed the "appropriate color" for maidens in the United States, but it did not become universal for weddings until later. A maiden wearing red would have been scandelous. I wonder if these regional color preferences are reflected in any other stories. I remember Donkeyskin had colored dresses, blue like the sky, silver like the moon, and brilliant as the sun, but are there others?
Jess
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Lotti
Unregistered User
(9/29/02 11:05:46 pm)
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Colours
Jess,
I hope I didn't put that wrong - only the headdress was red, not the complete clothing. I believe that a bride wearing red would have been scandalous as well at the time mentioned (and even today), though I heard/read that often black dresses were worn for weddings and that white only became a "must" in the 20th century over here. Would have been more practical, I guess. - About the colours as in Donkeyskin, I come up with a blanc right now but will definitely give it more thought!
Will be back later (hopefully)
Lotti
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Judith
Berman
Registered User
(9/30/02 6:47:07 am)
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fog hat
There is a Tlingit story where the boastful Raven is taught a lesson by Petrel. Petrel puts on his hat and Raven becomes utterly lost at sea in the resulting fog... Raven is forced to plead to Petrel for help and acknowledge that there are older powers than he.
As the Tlingit terms are somewhat ambiguous, I am not sure whether Petrel's fog hat is meant to be twined out of spruce root or carved out of wood (like a war helmet but essentially the same shape as a basketry hat, something like a volcano cone). In either case it would likely have been painted with designs in red and black.
Judith
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Lotti
Unregistered User
(9/30/02 12:59:58 pm)
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Where do I find this?1
Hello Judith,
the story you mentioned sounds COOL! Honest, I like the idea and would like to find a copy of the story. Do you have any book title or idea where I might find it? Probably even online? And - I feel so ignorant to ask, but better than staying ignorant - could you tell me whereabouts the Tlingit live(d)? I am terribly European-centered, I am afraid. Sorry, I am always ashamed of how little I know outside of Europe.
Regards and thanks in advance,
Lotti
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janeyolen
Unregistered User
(9/30/02 1:13:21 pm)
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Just remembered
Just remembered that years ago I wrote a story called "Wind Cap" about a boy who helps a magic creature and is given a ind Cap which can control the winds. It's in either my collection HUNDREDTH DOVE or MOON RIBBN, can't remember which.
Jane
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Lotti
Unregistered User
(9/30/02 2:24:18 pm)
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Conrad getting a little "revenge"?!
Dear Jane,
that sounds delightful as well! I just thought that Conrad from Goose Girl would certainly have liked it - not the wind blowing away his hat but his hat telling the wind what to do ;-)
Lotti
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Judith
Berman
Registered User
(9/30/02 6:13:56 pm)
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fog hat
Hi, Lotti,
The story of Petrel and Raven and the fog hat can be found as a relatively brief episode in a longer story about Raven's adventures and misadventures, on p. 10 of J.R. Swanton, TLINGIT MYTHS AND TALES (1909). Petrel also pelts Raven with a fine (and doubtless cold and wind-blown) rain. The better-known encounter of Petrel and Raven is when Raven steals the fresh water from Petrel, who hoards it in a box. Raven tricks Petrel by making the latter think he has soiled himself in his sleep; his host thus distracted, Raven quickly drinks up all the water, then goes spreading it around the world (by urinating -- good old Raven). There is a version of this story on p. 83 of Swanton. The volume is hard to find even in this country outside of university libraries, unfortunately -- a Bureau of American Ethnology publication. I've never searched online but who knows?
If you can lay your hands anywhere on an exhibit catalog called RAVEN'S JOURNEY (maybe a little easier to find -- 1986, I think), inside is a color plate of a very old Tlingit wooden hat that depicts Petrel. There is a semi-legendary oral history in which a young nobleman on his way to get married (a real person from ca. 1760 named Taxshaa) puts on this very hat and creates fog -- to impress the bride's family, I gather.
The traditional Tlingit homeland is southeast Alaska (the "panhandle") between Yakutat Bay and Dixon Entrance.
Judith
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Lotti
Unregistered User
(10/1/02 12:36:17 pm)
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Thank you!
Judith,
thank you very much for the research-hints and the explanation! It will be a bit of a challenge... Let's see what I can come up with...
Thank you!
Lotti
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Jess
Unregistered User
(10/1/02 8:40:26 pm)
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No confusion
Lotti,
You were quite clear in your post. I just have a way of taking things one step further. I have always been fascinated with symbolism in fashion, whether it is color or something else. You just got me thinking that is all.
I am still thinking of non-invisible hat stories. For some reason my mind keeps coming back to the character Tevye in the Pulitzer prize winning musical "Fiddler on the Roof", who spends a lot of time discussing the philosophy of hat wearing in the Jewish faith.
There is quite a bit of folklore or American legends whose hats are part of their personna: Davy Crocket and Daniel Boone for their raccoon tail hats; Mark Twain (and his characters) for their straw hats. I know there are some American folktales about bonnets if I could only remember them. Then there are the funny things like our Pilgrims are always shown in pictures wearing hats that were not popular until 100 years later (and the Puritan pilgrims were NOT on the forefront of fashion).
In the same vein, I know that there is special symbolism in some Native American cultures for the various headresses worn, eagle, turkey and hawk feathers having special meanings. The Lakota Sioux were known for their amazing feathered cerimonal headresses. Various Central American Tribes also had special feathered headresses with special significance. I want to say the Aztec (?) priest headress was made with quetzal feathers in a fanned pattern and sometimes mirrors. I know there are stories associated with them, I just haven't had the time to research these for you. If you have a little patience, I will try to get this.
Jess
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Jess
Unregistered User
(10/1/02 8:45:41 pm)
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Oops - spelling
Trust me to misspell "headdress" but get quetzal right.
Sorry.
Jess
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Jess
Unregistered User
(10/1/02 9:05:51 pm)
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Oh yeah
Folklore means that sometimes we get it wrong - I don't think I was clear above, but the folklore is that Daniel Boone wore a raccoon skin hat, but that probably is not the case. I should wait and do this when I am a little more awake next time.
Jess
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Nalo
Registered User
(10/8/02 1:10:03 pm)
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Re: Oh yeah
Kelly Link's creepy, gorgeous short story "The Specialist's Hat." It's in her collection, "Stranger Things Happen."
-nalo
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