The Man in the Bowler Hat - Sepia Saturday

Having looked at a variety of hats before (hold-on-to-your-hats) and top hats (here) I decided it was time for the bowler.

Self Portrait with Bowler Hat - Paul Cézanne - 1883-87
(Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Dantes Plads 7, Copenhagen, Denmark.)

 I wonder whether Cézanne saw himself like this:

A bowler is a sturdy hat with a rounded crown. The brim of the hat extends out a few inches and is similarly rounded. The origins of the hat date back to approximately 1850. The bowler hat got its name from the makers of the hat – Thomas Bowler and William Bowler. 

The hard felt hat with a rounded crown originally created in 1849 for the  politician Edward Coke.The bowler  was popular with the working class  in the Victorian times it came to form the official work uniform of bankers. Later in the United Kingdom, it has been worn as work dress by the officers of the Queen's Guards.

 Foremen in various industries also took to wearing bowlers before the advent of hard hats. Once  considered a British Icon, the bowler was also part of the American Urban culture of the 19th Century.. One of the gangs that roamed the streets of New York City, around this time, were called the Plug Uglies. The Uglies were never without their bowler which they wore as their signature piece and to protect their heads during scuffles with rival gangs. 

Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy were famous in their bowler hats and Oddjob's razor-edged bowler was a lethal weapon in Goldfinger. 

I've never worn a bowler; the nearest I can claim is to have been a leg break bowler in my cricketing days. I've also resisted taking up 'old man's marbles' - well so far anyway.

Bowlers at the East Brisbane Bowling Club - 1906

I have however had a go at the tenpin variety.

Lone Bowler (not me) - UK Superbowl, Hartlepool

Lately I seem to have spent a lot of time in the garden digging holes which brings me Bernard Cribbins.

Now I guess, like Barbar, it's time to tip my hat ans pass you on to others at sepia-saturday-142