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'pudding' safety hat

'pudding' safety hat

  • Place of origin:

    UK (made)

  • Date:

    1775-1800 (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    Unknown (production)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Glazed cotton, padded and stiffened, with velvet and silk ribbon

  • Museum number:

    B.81-1995

  • Gallery location:

    Museum of Childhood, Babies Gallery, case 14

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This ‘pudding’ is a safety hat for a young child learning to walk, designed to fasten horizontally around the head above the ears. The ‘pudding’ consists of a horseshoe-shaped roll of glazed pink cotton with four lightly padded triangular flaps attached at regular intervals, two of them fastening together over the head. Many small children in the 17th and 18th centuries wore this type of hat, which helped to protect them from head injuries if they fell. The nickname of ‘pudding’ comes from the padded roll’s similarity of shape and size to the type of sausage called ‘pudding’, a popular food still eaten today.

Physical description

Child's 'pudding' (a safety hat for a young child learning to walk, and designed to fasten horizontally around the head above the ears). The 'pudding' consists of a sausage-like horseshoe-shaped roll of glazed pink cotton, which has a padded white linen inner stiffened with wire and card, and a black petersham ribbon tying string at each end. Four lightly padded triangular flaps of self fabric, stiffened with card, are attached to the roll at regular intervals (partly covering the crown of the head), two of them fastening together over the head with tying strings of broad black silk ribbon. The edges of the triangular flaps and the top seam-line of the roll are all edged with narrow black velvet ribbon.

Place of Origin

UK (made)

Date

1775-1800 (made)

Artist/maker

Unknown (production)

Materials and Techniques

Glazed cotton, padded and stiffened, with velvet and silk ribbon

Dimensions

Length: 67 cm padded roll, Circumference: 12.2 cm vertical, of roll

Object history note

Bought at Christie's (South Kensington) Sale of Fine Costume on 27/06/1995 (Lot 33)

Descriptive line

Child's 'pudding' or safety hat of padded cotton made in the UK between 1775 and 1800

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

Weber-Kellerman, Ingeborg. Die Kindheit Frankfurt am Main: Istel, 1979. pp 16, 36
Rose, Clare. Children's Clothes London: Batsford, 1989
Ewing, Elizabeth. History of Children's Costume London: Batsford, 1977

Materials

Glazed cotton; Velvet ribbon

Categories

Children & Childhood; Children's clothes

Collection code

MoC

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Qr_O38483
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