How the bowler hat got its name…

This edited article about the bowler hat originally appeared in Look and Learn issue number 906 published on 2 June 1979.

What self-respecting City gentleman would be seen without his pin stripe suit, his tightly rolled umbrella and, last but by no means least, his bowler hat?

William Coke’s riding hat

Strangely, however, this hat had its origin in the sport of hunting, where it was used rather like a crash helmet. The man who designed it was called William Coke. During the 1850s he gave the design to his hatters to be made up.

The chief hat-maker was called Mr Beaulieu, and by the 1860s a factory started making “Beaulieu” hats to cope with the enormous demand for them. Soon the hats had acquired an anglicised name: they were no longer “Beaulieu” hats, but “bowlers”.

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