Picture Tolland: A High Society Hat

TOLLAND, CT — The latest edition of the Picture Tolland series takes us to a preamble to the prom season.

It's a hat in the archives of the Tolland Historical Society produced by R Dunlap Hatters, which had facilities in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago.

According to a narrative in Collector's Weekly, Dunlap hats were all the rage in Victorian Era high society.

The narrative tells us that Robert Dunlap received his first job at the age of 12 in 1857 as a general errand boy for Charles Knox of Knox Hats in New York. He rose to the ranks of the hat salesmen, and several years later was still selling Knox hats at a salary of $12 per week. Dunlap asked for a $3 raise per week and, when Knox turned him down, he left to form his own company. By the late 1890s Dunlap's company was known for the quality of its high-end formal hats like top hats and bowlers.

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Picture Tolland is a periodic series featuring images of the town, past and present.