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  • drlamont
    Cadet
    • Feb 2009
    • 3

    #1

    Hats

    What exactly did a Victorian mean when they described a "peaked cap?" Where are some good sites with pictures of the various styles of head gear worn by the people of that time?
  • Sam Flynn
    Casebook Supporter
    • Feb 2008
    • 13333

    #2
    The "peak" of a cap is the bit that juts out over the eyes. Many types of cap have a peak - the most familiar today would be a baseball cap, I guess; also police caps, military officers' caps and many others not associated with any profession. The classic "flat (cloth) cap" beloved of grandfathers is another example.
    Last edited by Sam Flynn; 02-19-2009, 04:27 AM.
    Kind regards, Sam Flynn

    "Suche Nullen" (Nietzsche, Götzendämmerung, 1888)

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    • diana
      Detective
      • Feb 2008
      • 154

      #3
      Then it is what is called a bill sometimes?

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      • Supe
        Sergeant
        • Feb 2008
        • 955

        #4
        Diana,

        Yes indeed, another example of two nations separated by a common language. What Brits call a peak we call a bill. And let's not even go into "knocking someone up."

        Don.
        "To expose [the Senator] is rather like performing acts of charity among the deserving poor; it needs to be done and it makes one feel good, but it does nothing to end the problem."

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        • drlamont
          Cadet
          • Feb 2009
          • 3

          #5
          Thanks for clearing that up. I had images of some sort of dunce cap floating around in my mind.

          Comment

          • Sam Flynn
            Casebook Supporter
            • Feb 2008
            • 13333

            #6
            Originally posted by diana View Post
            Then it is what is called a bill sometimes?
            I suspect that "peak" in this sense derived from the same root as the Spanish "pico", meaning "beak". Of course, "bill" also means "beak".
            Kind regards, Sam Flynn

            "Suche Nullen" (Nietzsche, Götzendämmerung, 1888)

            Comment

            • miss marple
              Sergeant
              • Feb 2008
              • 788

              #7
              A lot of dockers and sailors wore peaked caps. They were not as flat on top as the cheesecutter, [ the flat cap] There is a great photo of Keir Hardie founder of the Labour Party wearing a peaked cap in 1889[ the year of the dock strike] solidarity with the workers!
              Unfotunately I am rubbish at downloading photos, my files are too big and when I shrink them to fit casebook they become tiny images. How do you shrink them and keep them big at the same time?
              Miss Marple

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