I have been scouring through all my photos and other documents to determine what would be appropriate material for this website, and in quick succession came across several images featuring hats in all their glory. Enjoy! (Clicking on any image will bring up a larger version.)
Seated left and middle are Cythera Prisk and Nettie Prisk; on the right is Mary Tremain Prisk Brown, my husband’s great grandmother. This probably dates to around 1900.
The Dutch cap here is worn by my great-grandmother, Effie Allen Rice Hale. This photo is on her farm in the 1930s. She wore this type of head covering for most of her life.
These men are surveyors in central West Virginia, likely in the Kanawha Falls area. On the far left with the bag on his shoulder is my great-grandfather, Frederick Lee Farley. This photo is probably from around the turn of last century.
These elegant hats are being sported by the Parker sisters – Blanche, Pauline and Zenna (who is my husband’s great-grandmother). This photo is probably from the 1910s.
Here we have jaunty boaters and a parasol in addition to the women’s fancy hats (there is probably a more accurate term for these types of hats). This photo is from the 1890s and features my great-grandfather, Fred Farley, sitting with hat in hand (so nice to use that phrase literally for once). His sister Frankie is also in the photo; it is believed that these are all school mates.
A top hat is the most formal option for men, seen here on an unidentified male, who is accompanied by “Lady Tremaine” otherwise known as Margaret Prisk, my husband’s great-great aunt. Her hat, reminiscent of an admiral’s bicorne, is quite impressive.