Cabbage-tree hat
type of hat
A cabbage tree hat (also known as a cabbage palm hat) is a hat made from weaving the leaves of the Livistona australis, also known as the cabbage-tree palm. It is known as the first distinctively Australian headwear in use.
Early adoption
Seeking protection from the sun, early European settlers started to weave hats using the fronds from the native palm, instead of straw. The hat soon became popular throughout the colonies, first among the colony's bushmen but later with city folk. In 1868, a cabbage tree hat made by maker Thomas Reynolds, was presented to Prince Alfred, the second eldest son of Queen Victoria during the first Royal visit to Australia.
The hats were predominantly made in one of Australia's first cottage industries, by families, particularly women and children, and later by large manufacturers.They were also made by convicts and the invalid to sell.
The hat was most popular with coachmen, stockmen, bullockys, squatters and farmers. The cabbage tree hat gradually fell out of fashion with the Australian public, replaced by the felt hat.
Construction
The process of making a cabbage tree hat involved boiling, then drying, and finally bleaching and shaking open the leaves of the cabbage tree palm. The leaf would then be split into strands using a hand held tool, and then plaited into longer strands called 'sinnet'.
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This entry incorporates text from “Cabbage-tree hat” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.