Tricorn Hat Details

[Captain Midnight]

Mates, I realize some of you might think this is a rather "dumb question", but I have never held an authentic tricorn hat in my hands or had the opportunity to look at one closely. What exactly are those pairs of vertical laces (or loops) on either side? Are they some type of means of securing a cockade? If so, how do they work? And finally, what about cockades worn on hats in the GAoP? Was it done? Or was that something that was practiced later on, toward the Revolution? Thanks for your help, mates!

[blackjohn]

Lets hope I don't give a dumb answer!!!

Ok, I don't have any refs in front of me, so I'm going from memory and "re-enactor knowledge," which may or may not be accurate. And I'll add that I've never held a period hat either.

I've seen hats cocked in a variety of ways. I've seen them sewn up with a few stiches. I've seen them cocked with the laces. I've seen them cocked and held in place with a button, and combination button/laces. I've seen them with hook and eye. And I've seen them just folded up without any support.

Cockcades, I would expect from the name, probably originate about the time hats become cocked. I've seen pics of cocked hats (though not three-corneded) going back to the mid-to-late 1600s. I believe the grenadier pic that Foxe mentioned the other day actually is of a soldier with a cocked hat with cockcade.

Check out her site for some good pics. Here are just a few examples:

http://www.kipar.org/military-history/mili...orms/1696_1.jpg

http://www.kipar.org/military-history/mili...orms/1710_1.jpg

Also, I have more than one account of impromptu cockcades being "issued" to soldiers prior to battle. It comes in handy when both sides have troops wearing scarlet turned back with yellow or some other common colors.

[Captain Midnight]

Thanks Blackjohn, for your help. So how do the cockade laces work, and what are they made of? By the by, when I referred to an authentic hat, I wasn't necessarily meaning a true antique hat from the period, merely a correct, modern replica.

[blackjohn]

The laces I've seen are usually linen or wool tape. They pass through to the inside of the hat where they are tied off.

[Captain Midnight]

Many thanks, my friend, that is exactly what I need to know. I guess the only question I would have left would be, how is the cockade attached to the two laces?

P.S. Thanks for being so patient with my bombardment of questions. I am just trying to learn things so that I may present the most accurate impression that I possibly can. Thanks again!

[blackjohn]

Look up! There's the pick I was talking about.

The cockcade just passes through the laces. That way you can pull it out real fast when you need to switch sides!