The Real Reason Abraham Lincoln Wore A Top Hat

May 2024 ยท 1 minute read

There are no accounts of when Abraham Lincoln started wearing top hats, but during his presidential inauguration in 1860, he wore one, per Smithsonian Magazine. Lincoln was known to wear top hats that had a height of 7 to 8 inches, making the already-tall man, who stood at 6 feet, 4 inches, even taller. Even on the night of his assassination at the Ford Theatre in 1865, Lincoln wore a top hat that he acquired from hatmaker J.Y. Davis. A black silk band was on the base of the hat to symbolize his mourning for his son Willie, who had died in 1862.

Harold Holzer, an Abraham Lincoln biographer, said that Lincoln had several reasons for wearing a top hat. "They protected him against inclement weather, served as storage bins for important papers he stuck inside their lining, and further accentuated his great height advantage over other men," he said, per Smithsonian.

The War Department preserved the top hat Lincoln wore when he was assassinated, and it was first seen by the public in 1893 with permission from his wife Mary. It is considered one of the most prized objects of the Smithsonian Institution to this day, per the National Museum of American History.

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