Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 88, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 April 1920 — Expensive Headgear. [ARTICLE]

Expensive Headgear.

For centuries in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries the hat has been the object of man’s vanity. The custom found its origin In the days when the Hapsburg power was supreme. One of the most cherished privileges which the old grandees enjoyed was that of wearing their hats in the presence of royalty. The absolute power of the monarch left them little else to do but enter into rivalry with one another in the splendor of their head coverings. The gay conceits spread rapidly throughout the Spanish dominions, and even today characteristic sugar-loaf hats may be found in Mexico for sale at the astounding price of from SSOO to SI,OOO for a single hat.