1970.28 (Hat)

Stiff natural color felt hat the band is hand-decorated with multi-colored wool yarn machine stitched to bands of white, magenta and black cotton or wool fabric (white near bottom of band and black at top). Piece of white band with yarn design extending from top to bottom of band one one side with pink, green, and white fluffy cotton ornament on brim below it. Three tags on hat iside "Artesaias del Peru, handmade in Peru", "P20-1088" and "6 P-6, $24.95". Hat is conspicuously machine-stitched throughout. Edge of brim is curled and has a blue and a green yarn strip around it with a zig-zag red & green strip between them. Women wear bowler hats like these all over Peru. The trend started in the 1920s when a shipment was sent to Bolivia from Europe to be worn by the people that were working on the railroads but because they were too small they were given to the indigenous people across South America.