Origin of hat pom-poms

Factual Questions
1

Hi,

I’ve been trying to find out the origin of having pom-poms on hats. Any suggestions? :slight_smile:

Thanks in advance!

2

Wow! Tough question, especially for a first post. (Welcome to SDMB! :)) Even Google couldn’t find me an answer to that one. Don’t give up hope, though. If there’s a 'best place" to look for obscure information, this is it. Someone else may be along soon with the answer.

3

I don’t know of any historical significance of pom-poms. I do knit and crochet though, and IMHO pom-poms can serve the following purposes:

  1. use up little bits of yarn to short to do anything useful with
  2. hiding some of the finishing. For example, the top of a hat may be hard to finish in pattern or neatly - stick a pom-pom on it and no one else will know
  3. they’re just cute
    And as my mind grinds away while I type, I remeber that some military uniforms of days past had tassles, feathers, etc on top. Maybe pom-poms were a way to mimick that in a kid’s hat. Just a WAG though.
    HTH
4

If you’re looking for an answer with a little more historical fact try the knitting board at about.com. Those chicks know everything.

5

Thanks for the replies!

Davebear, I resorted to you guys when Google failed me :wink: I think it’s the first time that’s ever happened!

msgotrocks, pom-poms were definitely used on military uniforms – there was a beret in particular that had a red pom-pom on top, although I can’t remember who wore it or when. Thanks for all of the suggestions, I appreciate it!

6

jennbobenn: maybe it was a Scots unit of some kind?

7

Radar Ralf, that would make sense!

I have found that they’ve been used on French military uniform hats as well (in the late 1700s). Certain Civil War hats were meant to be topped off with pom-poms but it was never done.

8

The English word pom-pom seems to have made its first appearance in 1875, from the French pompon in the 18th century (the more correct word to describe the hat decoration), which in turn came from the Old French pombe, meaning “knot of ribbons”. I’ve seen a record of a flower called Pompon in the 1600s.

However, “knot of ribbons” is the description of the cockade, the cloth or silk rosette used to adorn military hats also. There are also links etymologically with tassles, a similar military adornment.

As a WAG, I’d say the hat rosette originated as a way of defining which regiment you belonged to – a way of quickly seeing which side was which on the battlefield. Later, during the 1600s - 1700s, it became a woollen ball of threads atop the tam-o’shanter, probably taking the name from the earlier flowers (and a chrysanthemum variety took the name from the woollen ball, then used in French miliary hatwear, in return).

I remember learning how to make pom-poms as a child, with two circular pieces of cardboard, the centre cut out, and wol wound around them until there was no more room to push the thread in at the middle. Thank you for bringing back a happy memory, jennbobenn, and welcome to the SDMB. :slight_smile: