Some Fun with Antiquated Hat Terms - Part Four - 1900 - 1944

I have uncovered some obscure and unusual words while looking back at the history of hats and headdress. Having recently finished reading THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN (by Simon Winchester, HarperCollins 1998) about the making of the Oxford English Dictionary, I thought it might be fun to explore the definitions and etymology of some of these ancient terms, most of which have all but disappeared from modern use. [Youll find parts one through three at ezinearticles.com and the HAT BLOG: Everything Hats.]

In the first parts of this project, I indicated that to qualify for inclusion in the list, the word must show up with a squiggly red line at Microsoft Words spell check tool. Now however, as these terms enter 20th Century usage, they are, of course, less obscure. For these last few entries, I have changed the requirements for making the list. Certainly, more readers will know the terms below than was the case in parts one through three. Here are the last few terms not seen everyday, but also not so lost to antiquity that spell check was stumped. I hope youve enjoyed this series.

Gainsborough Hat

2. A large broad-brimmed hat of the type worn by women in Gainsborough's portraits. In full, Gainsborough hat. 1878 Cassell's Fam. Mag. Aug. 569/2 The..wearers of the Gainsborough, Rembrandt, and beef-eater hats. 1884 [see CART-WHEEL n. 5]. 1904 Westm. Gaz. 12 Aug. 5/1 Extemporised Gainsboroughs. 1928 Amer. Speech IV. 92 One remembers the Gainsborough hat.

Merry widow Hat

2. a. In full Merry Widow hat. A kind of ornate wide-brimmed woman's hat, usually made of straw and trimmed with plumes. 1908 Daily Chron. 9 July 1/4 The women in the galleries took off their Merry Widow hats, and waved them frantically. 1909 Daily Chron. 21 Jan. 7/3 A huge Merry Widow of the approved Occidental pattern from China. 1956 C. H. B. KITCHIN Secret River i. 61 Mrs. Ashworth in a Merry Widow hat, in which she thought she had looked ravishing. 1986 G. O'HARA Encycl. Fashion 171 Merry Widow hats were fashionable for several years.

Overseas cap

II. Special uses.

3. overseas cap orig. U.S. Mil., a peakless fabric cap worn by U.S. servicemen when serving overseas; (in extended use) any army cap resembling this. overseas Chinese, a Chinese emigrant; (also) any person of Chinese ethnic origin living outside China. overseas experience, (a) experience of life and culture in an overseas country; (b) N.Z. (orig. humorous) [perh. influenced by colonial experience s.v. COLONIAL a. C.], an overseas working holiday, usually to Britain or Europe, undertaken by young New Zealanders and freq. considered as a virtually obligatory part of an informal education; abbreviated OE. [1918 Stars & Stripes 8 Feb. 4/5 The officers' Oversea cap will be the same model as that worn by the men, but the material will be that of the officers' uniform.] 1918 Marines Mag. July 33/1 A special cap, officially known as the *overseas cap, is now being worn by the soldiers and marines of the American Expeditionary Force. 1992 Philadelphia Inquirer Mag. 11 Oct. 35/1 When he got to the Pacific in 1942 most naval officers were wearing overseas caps or officer's caps.

Shingle

e. A style of cutting women's hair short, as in the bob, but with the back hair shingled (cf. SHINGLE v.1 2a). Also, hair cut in this way. 1924 Hairdressing Feb. (caption), Based on the shingle. 1927 F. E. BAILY Golden Vanity xvii. 265 Doris powdered her face, combed her dark shingle, lit a cigarette, and picked up her beef cubes. 1945 N. MITFORD Pursuit of Love xx. 172 She had a short canary-coloured shingle (windswept) and wore trousers. 1975 G. HOWELL In Vogue 13/1 The small pitted cloche brought in the bob, which became the shingle or the bingle of the twenties.

Cadogan

[Said to be from the name of the 1st Earl Cadogan (died 1726). See Littr, and N. & Q. 7th Ser. IV. 467, 492.]

A mode of knotting the hair behind the head. c1780 B'NESS D'OBERKIRCH Mem. (1852) II. ix, The duchess of Bourbon had introduced at the court of Montbliard..[the fashion] of cadogans, hitherto worn only by gentlemen.

Juliet cap

[Female personal name (F. Juliette, It. Giulietta), dim. of Julia.]

Juliet cap (see quot. 1957). 1909 Westm. Gaz. 9 Feb. 8/3 Their Juliet caps were composed of violets. 1930 Daily Tel. 7 Apr. 7/6 The Juliet cap idea is to be found in the little theatre hats worn abroad. 1957 M. B. PICKEN Fashion Dict. 49/2 Juliet cap, small, round cap of wide, open mesh, usually decorated with pearls or other jewels, similar to that worn on the stage by Shakespeare's Juliet. Worn chiefly for evening. 1973 Times 15 Nov. 6/3 The bridesmaid..wore a pinafore dress and a jewelled Juliet cap.

Babushka

[Russ., grandmother, f. baba (peasant) woman.]

A head covering folded diagonally and tied under the chin; a head-scarf. 1938 Chatelaine Feb. 33/2 The babushka is a peasant-sort of hood you wear over your pretty curls. 1948 F. BROWN Murder can be Fun (1951) vii. 106 She wore a greenish mottled babushka and..stringy hair..pushed out in front of it. 1959 Encounter Oct. 32/2 A voile scarf tied babushka-style.

Fred Belinsky
www.VillageHatShop.com

Fred Belinsky is the founder and president of The Village Hat Shop. The 4-store California chain is 27 years old. http://www.VillageHatShop.com, launched in early 1997, was the first online hat seller. Belinsky also runs http://www.Berets.com. Private label brands include Jaxon Hats, JaxonHats.com, and sur la tete, his line of women's hats. More of Belinsky's articles can be seen at the HAT BLOG: Everthing Hats. VillageHatShop.com also publishes THE COWBOY HAT, an ezine featuring short fiction, essays, and poetry about the American West and the Mexican-American Border.

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The Incredible Airsoft Automatic Electric Gun Part I

In the ever-growing sport of Airsoft, no one product has impacted its worldwide popularity more than the incredible automatic electric gun. This particular Airsoft gun, commonly referred to as the AEG, has single handedly lifted the sport to meteoric heights.

Airsoft had its humble beginnings in Asia due to the strict gun laws that severely prohibited the private ownership of firearms in that region of the world. It was in the nation of Japan where it is illegal to own real firearms, that the first Airsoft gun replicas were developed in the early 1980s. A small Japanese manufacturer of radio controlled car models turned its sights to making replica guns in hopes of finding a market for gun enthusiasts, and the sport of Airsoft was born.

The early Airsoft guns were non-lethal, spring powered replicas that fired 6mm plastic BBs. These early toy guns were made of plastic and simple in design. The spring firing mechanism had to be manually re-loaded or re-cocked after each shot causing a meager if un-spectacular slow rate of fire. Without any real design enhancements in the early years of its development, interest in the sport grew at a tepid pace.

The sport slowly gained interest in the surrounding region during the latter part of the 80s, but attempts to expand the sport to the West were largely unsuccessful. It would be in the early 1990s that lighting would strike, and the sport would encounter its greatest moment of innovation and subsequent breakthrough.

Tokyo Marui, the original Japanese manufacturer that created the early Airsoft spring guns, designed the first fully automatic electric firing system for these replica guns. No longer needing to be manually re-loaded, the innovated on-board electric motor gave the Airsoft gun shooter the ability to fire at will. This automatic rapid-fire feature not only increased the excitement of the game, but also gave the sport its greatest appeal. Automatic electric Airsoft gun owners could now enjoy an exhilarating rate of fire (ROF) ranging anywhere between 600-900 rounds per minute (RPM).

With this exciting new product, Airsoft now offered a universal appeal. The sport caught fire and began to boom. Airsoft spread to different parts of Europe and then to Canada. By the mid-90s it had officially arrived in the United States.

The most popular of all the Airsoft guns, the most current models have the same realistic look and feel of their real-world counterparts. These guns range from the Desert Eagle pistol model to the mini or miniature style AEGs, all the way up to the stunning Armalite M15A2 full size assault replica rifles. The AEG is by far the most common gun used in team competitions around the world. These preferred weapons of veteran Airsoft warriors and enthusiasts have something to offer every interested player and collector.

PJ Ace is a writer and administrator for FlyntAirsoftPaintball.com, a site that specializes in airsoft and paintball.

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Explore the World of the Mountain Biker

When most people think of mountain biking, they think of climbing up to the top of a mountain and then riding down it again. However, there are plenty of opportunities for the fat-tire enthusiast, and the disciplines are growing every year as riders find new ways to challenge themselves.

Below is just a brief list of some of the biking disciplines associated with mountain biking. For each discipline, you'll be able to find bikes especially made for the different challenges they present, and the different skills needed.

1. BMX

BMX stands for bicycle motocross. The cycles used are specially designed to operate on a dirt track: a groomed racecourse made up of various jumps, banked and flat corners, and therefore have small wheel diameters - 20-inches, and fat tires. The sport began in California in the late 1960s, as young boys began emulating their motocross heroes, and is now popular around the world.

2. Cross country

Just as its name implies, fat-tire enthusiasts bike across country - specifically hilly country to test the rider's endurance.

3. Cyclo cross

A cyclo cross bike is a road bike with powerful brakes, extra mud clearance, and tires that aren't exactly fat but do have knobs on. These bikes are used for Cyclo cross racing, a sport which began in Europe, as off-season training for road racers. The courses are a mile long, and are partly paved and partly mud-soaked to give the rider all kinds of challenges. Also on the course are a certain number of barricades, forcing the rider to dismount and carry his bike over them. Everyone races flat out.

4. Dirt jumping

The idea with dirt jumping is not so much the jumping but what tricks the rider can do while he is air borne. The idea is not to get around the course as fast as possible but to have the most air time and do the most stunts in the air.

5. Downhill

As the name implies, downhill biking means getting down the hill as fast as possible, much like downhill skiing. It's a time trial event - bikers don't ride together but rather start down the course at intervals. This is because the way down is not smooth - there are plenty of obstacles to negotiate along the way.

6. Freeride

Freeriding is a sport that has just recently come into vogue. The courses feature man-made obstacles such as teeter totters and skinny bridges, and can take place in-doors as well as out on specially prepared mountain courses.

7. Single speed

Those who like the uncluttered life will use a bike with only one gear and fewer components. The idea is simplicity. The racers however still go all out - both up and down courses. This sport is popular around the world.

8. Urban

Most cities were not designed for the bicyclist - and people on two wheels are resented by those on four. And then there are the pedestrians... However, people who don't live near mountains or hills haven't let that stop t hem from creating challenging, man-made courses - with all the obstacles available in urban areas.

Alastair Hamilton contributes adding long articles on mountain biking for http://www.bikecyclingreviews.com . You can find more information and resources on mountain bike reviews at his website.

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