19th Century pastime -- putting a large ring of felt on your head
Liz Upton says: "Silly lost art form of the day. In the days before Scrabble and affordable jigsaw puzzles were available to entertain the masses after a long day at work, it appears that Chapeaugraphy (the Exercise of the Hat, according to the page) was all the rage. Using nothing but a ring of felt, entertainers would disguise themselves as Napoleon, nuns, witches, the Pope and other hat-wearing worthies.
"The site is full of vintage photos of people wearing a ring of felt and pulling funny faces. I particularly liked 'The woman pictured here practiced the art at home, around the turn of the century, as a form of self-expression.'
"I found this by following links from a Wikipedia page about the bombs in Spain: ski mask -> balaclava -> hats, which cheered me up no end."
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Mark Frauenfelder
My latest book, Made by Hand, now in paperback. Follow me on Twitter.
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