The archives of the New Jersey Historical Society for the year 1731 show that there was one hatter in that colony, and from a history of Boston we learn that sixteen hat-makers of that town were affected by the edict of these despotic English law-makers.
In this manner were the enterprises of the new continent checked and the attempt made to crush out that spirit of progress so manifest in the brightest of the English colonies. It was the continuation of such injustice and oppression that eventually inspired a rebellious spirit to take the place of patience and submission, ending in a revolt, the termination of which secured us liberty and justice and the announcement of our complete independence on the 4th of July, 1776.
The style of hat of this period (1731) had the sides of the brim turned up, with a front of an easy curl, which, nearly resembling a cap-visor, made it in shape somewhat between a hat and cap; this seems to have been the first approach toward the "cocked" or three-cornered hat afterwards so extensively used, and to Americans the most familiar of past styles, from its being a fashion of the period of the Revolution, by which it became the prominent part of an historical costume. The arbitrary law before alluded to was afterwards modified, but an uncomfortable restriction continued to be enforced upon all manufactures, for in the year 1750 the English Parliament, among other unjust acts, enacted a law forbidding exportation of hats from one colony to another and allowing no hatter to have more than two apprentices at one time, "because the colonists, if let alone, would soon supply the whole world with hats."
The French fashion of this time had the brazen characteristic of its brim rising erect from the forehead, a style seemingly in keeping with the then irritable condition and reckless agitation of the French people.
Planché, in his "Cyclopædia of Costumes" (vol. 1, page 261), quotes a humorous description, evidently referring to this particular style, as follows: "Some wear their hats with the corners that should cover the forehead high in the air, these are called Gawkies; others do not half cover their heads, which, indeed, is owing to the shallowness of their crowns, but between beaver and eyebrows exposes a blank forehead, which looks like a sandy road in a surveyor's plan."
From the year 1750 until after the Revolution there was but little change in the general character of style in men's hats: the custom of erecting the brims by tying or looping them up prevailed. Soon the elevation of the brim of 1750 was abandoned and a change made by looping it at the points of a triangle, producing the three-cornered or "cocked" hat. This was a becoming style we must admit, and one seemingly well suited to the independent, fearless and patriotic characteristics of our forefathers' traits, the possession of which at that time gave us all the comforts that are ours now. The "cocked" hat enjoyed a long popularity, continuing in fashion until near the close of the century, when the "steeple top" and "chimney pot" styles—slang terms for the high beavers—came into vogue, a style which Ashton, an English writer, designates as "the hideous head-covering that has martyrized at least three generations."
Departure from settled and accustomed styles created the same furore and astonishment, and subjected the venturesome individual whose inclinations led an advance in fashion to the same exposure to ridicule as affects the "swell" of the present day, and the reporters of "society doings" then were as close observers, as keen in wit, and as unmerciful in criticism as any of their kin to-day. Planché, quoting from the London Chronicle for 1762, refers to fashion of hats at that time as follows: "Hats," says the writer, "are now worn on the average six and three-fifths inches broad in the brim and cocked. Some have their hats open like a church spout or like the scales they weigh their coffee in; some wear them rather sharp like the nose of the greyhound, and we can designate by the taste of the hat the mood of the wearer's mind. There is a military cock and a mercantile cock, and while the beaux of St. James wear their hats under their arms, the beaux of Moorfields-Mall wear theirs diagonally over the left or right eye; sailors wear their hats uniformly tucked down to the crown, and look as if they carried a triangular apple pasty upon their heads."