If you had one of those humongous Edwardian Hats it would have been a huge problem to protect it from the rain and snow. Here is an invention to do just that. It has the added bonus that you could have used it to protect from dust. I would be cautious about using an impermeable to store a hat with natural feathers. I am a believe in letting it breathe. You might also need protection from moths!
This is patent number 1,044,977 dated November 19, 1912. To quote from the application:
It is well known that nearly all kinds of trimmed hats such as are worn by ladies are liable to be more or less injured by exposure to the weather, and that it is desirable to have ready at hand some suitable means for covering such hats upon the coming up of a sudden shower.
This invention claims to be an improvement over previous designs. You have to be careful if you want to use ideas from these patents as it is very likely they have been improved upon and used in subsequent designs which would have then be newly patented. I am presenting this information for entertainment and information and NOT as legal advice (I am not a lawyer for one thing).
I repeat this information from my previous postings
If you are interested in patent protection you should visit the US Patent Office site. I did not research the patent laws as they applied in 1910. The bottom line is that provided you comply with certain conditions such as continuous filing with prescribed fees, under current laws you are protected for 10 years (twenty years prior to 1989). I am NOT a lawyer and I am definitely not giving you any legal advice. It’s complicated and before you assume you are in the clear you need to research similar patents that might be in force that “improve”on an earlier patent that may not be in force, such as the one in this post. In addition these patent and indeed, copyright (a different thing) laws are different even among the developed nations. So take care!
It is an interesting question as to whether hats can be worn in the rain or snow in general. I plan a future post on this question. Stay tuned.
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