I had tried to find hat design patents before (after all, I did a lot of reaserch for my brooches) but at that time I was not able to find any.

But lo and behold I recently came across one patent (as often is the case, while searching for something else), and from there it was easy to pull the thread and find many more.

We cannot underestimate the importance of design patents. They are very useful as inspiration to make new designs and invaluable as a dating tool for collectors.

No more talk… These are some of the patents that caught my eye!

To begin with, some multi purpose hats…

An apron that doubles as bonnet, useful if you are a multi-tasking super-woman/housewife (read the text and laugh… or weep):

 A combined hat and bag design patent dating from 1918 and a combined cape and hood design patent dating from 1883…

 And finally (but not to be used on a windy day unless you want to fly like Mary Poppins), the umbrella hat (curiously it was filed January 1950 and granted July 1954, when it usually just takes a few months for a patent to be approved):

More to come soon!