This is a man's evening tophat. The tophat is made from a shaved beaver pelt and adorned with a felt band. It was made by Preston & Co. in London and was first purchased in 1907. It was a common practice to trap beaver's for their pelts and ship the pelts overseas to London to make men's hats. This hat pictured above was formly owned by a local Muscatine author by the name of Ellis Parker Butler. For any use other than instructional resources, please check with the organization that owns this item regarding copyright restrictions.
2018.010.061 [Hat, Top]
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Ownership of this resource is held by the Muscatine Art Center and has been provided here for educational purposes only, specifically for use in the Iowa Museum Association's "Teaching Iowa History" project. It may not be downloaded, reproduced or distributed in any format without written permission from the Rights Holder. For information on U.S. and International copyright laws, consult an attorney.