Nancy King, age 12, of Fargo, N.D., for her question:
WHEN DID PEOPLE START WEARING HATS?
People wear hats for three main reasons: protection, communication and decoration. We don't know when the first person put on a hat, but we do know that fur hoods for head protection have probably been used for at least 100,000 years.
The first hats were used for protection, but it wasn't long until hats indicated a person's social status. In ancient Egypt, the nobility wore crowns as early as 3100 B.C., and the ancient Greeks and Romans wore hats to designate status and rank.
By around 1300 A.D., people started to wear hats increasingly for decoration. People in one region often elected to adopt the hat styles of another region.
In the Middle East, the turban has long been used for protection against the elements.
Zadoc Benedict, a craftsman, started the first hat factory in the United States in 1780 in Danbury, Conn. The first soft felt hats for women were made in 1851 in New York City by John Genin.
Hat styles varied more widely than ever before during the 1900s. In the 1920s, women wore a drooping, bell shaped hat called a cloche. In the 1930s, they switched to the harlequin hat which had a wide, upturned brim.
A large variety of hats were worn in the 1940s and 1950s. During the 1960s, according to the fashion experts, hats lessened in popularity with both American men and women. But hats have slowly come back into vogue nationwide since the mid 1970s. They are continuing to gain in popularity.
Today, hats are made of a wide variety of natural and man made materials. The natural materials include cotton, felt, fur, leather, silk, straw and wool. Synthetic materials used for hats include plastics, imitation fur and leather and such man made fabrics as nylon and polyester.
The material used in making hats varies among countries and regions and often depends on such factors as customs and available substances.
Seasons also play a part in the hat schedule. Most rain hats, as an example, are made of waterproof plastics now. In summer, hats made of cool, lightweight straw are popular.
How are hats made? It depends on the material. A felt hat, for example, is made of wool fibers or soft fur. Pieces of wool or fur are formed around a cone in a thin layer and then placed in hot water. The water shrinks the layer into a piece of felt. The felt is stretched into the rough shape of the hat and then placed on a head block.
A blocking machine shapes the crown and brim, and the hat is washed in cold water to set its shape. The hat is then sandpapered to give it a smooth finish and the brim is trimmed to size.
Straw hats are also shaped by blocking after the pieces of straw are woven together.