A La Mode – Part Twelve
Ellwood’s patent air chamber hat
There are many curious things about the Indian Raj, not least the Brits’ insistence on wearing clothing that was totally unsuitable for the climatic conditions to be found in the sub-continent. Still, wearing a hat was a sensible precaution against what was quaintly known as coup de soleil or as we Brits now know it as, sunburn. The problem was that they were often made of fabrics and so designed that they left the wearer perspiring profusely.
Hat makers, J Ellwood and Sons, who were based in London’s Bankside, thought they had come up with an ingenious solution, which they patented in 1851. Founded in 1811 they had already made significant inroads into the lucrative Indian market from at least the 1840s by supplying officers of the East India Company with felt hats. But their air chamber hat was something else.
It consisted of an inner shell which fitted snugly on to the wearer’s head. There was also an outer shell which was considerably larger than the inner, thus creating a chamber between the two. The genius of the design was a number of perforations on the brim of the hat and a small aperture at the top. The idea was that as the external temperature rose, air would enter the hat through the perforations, circulate through the upper chamber and escape through the top of the crown. In this way there would be a constant flow of air which would keep the wearer cooler.
The principle could be applied to all sorts of hats, at least the adverts claimed, enabling the men who wore one “to do their duty with greater comfort.” It seems to me there is one major flaw with the design. There is no allowance made for heat which rises directly from the wearer’s head into the inner chamber. Given the hot and humid conditions in the tropics, the wearer is bound to sweat. This design flaw must have impacted upon the performance of the hat.
Be that as it may, the British Army bought the air chamber hats by the thousands. Having secured their patent and cornered the market, Ellwood’s were determined to defend their turf. Adverts for their hats warned against inferior copies and recommended any prospective purchaser to check that their headgear had the manufacturer’s name and details in the inside. Matters came to a head when The Times reported on 19th December 1864 that “Elwood’s solicitors…let it be known that they would proceed in Chancery against all persons manufacturing hats, caps or helmets constructed on the principle of Ellwood’s patent air chamber hats and helmets.” So there!
But there is only so much a manufacturer can do to protect their position and Ellwood’s soon came under threat from another source. Hawkes & Co entered the Indian market with some gusto, their opening effected by the British military’s desire, post the 1857 rebellion, to have a titfer more suited for the climate. Hawkes & Co patented a cork helmet with an air vent at the top and this was issued to all regiments serving in the sub-continent from the 1860s.
Ellwood’s never really recovered from this blow but soldiered on until 1938. Their former factory on Bankside was destroyed by bombs during the Second World War.
Still, for a time in the 1850s, an Ellwood’s patent air chamber hat was a la mode for the gentlemen of the Raj.
