Sombrero

Name and etymology

Although the proper name for the hat is jarano, derived from "jara", the name of a shrub from which it was originally made, the hat is simply known as "sombrero" in the United States and other English speaking countries. The term sombrero () is Spanish for hat, any type of hat regardless of style, design or size. But Americans, having first encountered the word in Mexico or what is now the American Southwest, mistook the word to mean the actual proper name of the hat. Thus, for Americans, "sombrero" refers specifically to the Mexican jarano hat. The jarano hat is also known as sombrero de charro or "charro hat", it derived from the charros the inhabitants and workers of haciendas who performed their duties on horseback, working as vaqueros or cowherds or "cowboys".

History and evolution

The origin, history, and evolution of the "charro" hat have been the subject of debate in recent years. The topic has been complex and difficult to research, as there is very little evidence to demonstrate how vaqueros and other rural people dressed before the 18th century, particularly during the early stages of cattle ranching in the 16th century. It is known that in pre-Hispanic Mexico, indigenous people wore wide-brimmed hats, as evidenced by paintings and artifacts from that era. It is also known that Spanish and criollo people, wealthy individuals not necessarily associated with rural occupations, wore luxurious hats, similar to those worn in Europe; hats that a herdsman or peasant would hardly be able to afford. Although he did not provide his supporting evidence, the American historian Philip Wayne Powell asserted that one of the prototypes of the Mexican charro can be found in the 16th-century horsemen, mostly vaqueros and foremen of mulatto and mestizo origin who made up the unofficial or irregular cavalry that fought in the Chichimeca War, and that these men wore "a wide-brimmed leather hat, reinforced with a steel band".

The only evidence that might indicate what type of hat the first vaqueros or country people wore during the 16th century can be found on graffiti on the walls of the convents in Tepeapulco, an important cattle-raising center at that time in what is now the state of Hidalgo. These graffiti depict some horsemen, who could be vaqueros or similar figures—not necessarily caballeros—wearing a wide-brimmed hat with what appears to be a medium-sized, flat crown. This is perhaps the oldest evidence of what horsemen in the countryside wore as headgear to protect themselves from the elements during the late 16th century.

These wide-brimmed hats were apparently very common among this population for decades, as a similar hat appears again in an image from the early 18th century, in the "Chapa de Mota Codex" of 1703. One of the rustic drawings shows a mestizo or indigenous man, dressed in the attire of the charros of that time, lancing a bull during the festivities in Jilotepec to commemorate the centenary of the victory and end of the Chichimeca War. The hat depicted has wide, upturned brims and a low, flat crown. Whether this hat is of the same type as the one depicted in the Tepeapulco graffiti, or an evolution of it, or something entirely different, is difficult to determine. The origin of these hats is also uncertain. They could be local inventions based on indigenous designs or on some narrow-brimmed hats worn by the European elite, but adapted to the needs and circumstances of charros and other rural people; or they could have been an evolution of the French-origin "chambergo" hat, also known in English as slouch hat, introduced to Spain by Marshal Charles de Schomberg during the Reapers' War of 1640. In fact, the term "chambergo" became a generic name in Spain for any type of wide-brimmed hat. Based on this limited information, it could be argued that these hats may have served as the basis for the hats that would emerge in the 18th and 19th centuries.

18th Century

By the 18th century, we have more evidence regarding the clothing of horsemen in the country. Eighteenth-century iconography shows a wide variety of hats of different styles. All were small, with wide but short brims. As can be seen, they varied in the rigidity of the brim, some appearing to be flexible and drooping, while others were more stiff. The shape of the crown also varied; all were low, but some were flat and others rounded. They came in various colors, but light colors, such as white and gray, predominated. As for their decorations, the only notable feature was a small ribbon or band around the crown. Regarding the materials, it is difficult to know precisely, given the lack of information, but it can be inferred that some were made of palm fiber and others of finer materials such as felt. Due to this lack of more detailed information, the names of each of these 18th-century hat styles are unknown.

File:De Sambaygo y Mulata, sale Canilajo - Pintura de Castas (México, 1760).jpg|The zambo charro wears a small wide brim sombrero (ca. 1760's) File:Oficial de Milicianos de Tierra Adentro (México, siglo XVIII).jpg|A tierra-adentro militiamen dressed in Charro outfit with a small sombrero with flexible brim File:Varias compañias . . . idem, de mangas azules, encarnes y moradas, conmedias lunas y algunas confuciles.jpg |Militiamen dressed in Charro attire with a wide-brimmed hat with the brims upturned (ca. 1770) File:Lobo con China, Gibaro.jpg |Same type of small sombrero with what appears to be a round crown with a red hatband that drapes behind (ca. 1770s)

19th Century

It wasn't until the 19th century that we have a greater amount of evidence, both textual and pictorial, about Mexican hats. This was the century when interest in national customs emerged, especially those of the Mexican rancheros or charros and their attire, as evidenced by the numerous articles, both national and international, on the subject. It was also in this century that the name "jarano" was first recorded, the proper name for the Mexican hat; strictly speaking, it was used to refer to any wide-brimmed hat, regardless of style or construction, and was synonymous with the Spanish word "chambergo" mentioned earlier.

In the first decades of 19th-century Mexico, particularly after independence, the preference among charros and the wealthy for small hats continued. The major change was that the brims were now, typically, 6 inches (15 cm) wide and flat, with a very low crown, and the hat bands became more prominent and thicker, a style that would persist in subsequent decades. The most prominent "jarano" hats of this period were those with moderately broad, flat brims, made of wool (felt) or lined, with silver clasps to secure the chin strap. The finest and most prized were those made in the city of Puebla, called "Poblanos" or "jarano Poblano", meaning "Pueblan" or "Pueblan-style Jarano", with a moderately broad flat brim, usually worn slouched, and typically of a light, gray, or "aplomado" ("lead-colored" hue) color, because these colors reflect light and heat. In an 1844 article detailing the customs of Mexican Rancheros in the magazine El Museo Mexicano, Don Domingo Revilla writes that: "The most elegant, sturdy, and suitable hat for charros is the one made in Puebla; it is lead-colored with a wide, flat brim."

File:Insurgentes vestidos de Charro con cuera y manga - Theubet de Beauchamp (1810s).jpg|Mexican Charro patriots during the War of Independence wearing a Jarano hat with short, flexible (slouching) brim, low crown and a thick "toquilla" or hatband (1816) File:Noble Mexicano (1828).jpg|Mexican nobleman with luxury Charro outfit, wearing a low crown Jarano, with a moderately broad, slouching brim and thick hatband (1824) File:«Charro Mexicano» - Claudio Linati (1825).jpg|Same type of jarano hat with a very, thick black hatband (1825) File:Rancheros (1844).jpg|«Rancheros» wearing a low crown, slightly broad, slouched brimmed jarano (1844)

One of the first descriptions of the charro costume by a foreigner, shortly after independence, was written by the British explorer and writer Edward B. Penney. In 1824, he provided a detailed description of the charro attire in Mexico City, noting that the hat was "low-crowned", with a wide brim, similar, he said, to the hats worn by Quakers:

Between the 1820s and 1830s, another style of charro hat emerged, larger in size, with a medium-height, flat crown, a wider, moderately flexible brim, and a very thin ribbon-like band, ending in tassels that draped over the brim. This style of hat fell out of use around the 1850s.

File:Charro Mexicano (1828).jpg|The charro wears a black, broad-brimmed jarano with a golden hatband with tassels that lay upon the brim (1828). File:Trajes mexicanos rancheros - Johan Moritz Rugendas (1830’s).jpg|Same style, but brown, with golden hatband (1830) File:Portrait of a Ranchero with Egerton’s horse (Mexico,1833).jpg|Here, the hatband extends over the brim and the tassels hang from it (1833). File:Salteador de diligencias.jpg |Same type of Jarano with a golden hatband with tassels (1832)

Around the mid-1840s, a new style of Jarano hat became fashionable; this style had a rigid, rather than flexible, brim, a medium-sized, flat crown, and a medium-width band resembling a sausage or snake coiled around it.

File:Charro Mexicano (1852).jpg File:Charro y Charra (1853).jpg File:Vaqueros.jpg File:«José María Godoy, herrador de caballos, á caballo» - Édouard Pingret (1852).jpg

Standardization

In the 1850s, another change occurred; the design of the poblano-jarano hats began to be standardized. Until then, these hats had varied considerably in the rigidity of their brims, their colors, and the height and shape of the crown. The brims became rigid, no longer flexible, and varied only in width, some being of medium width and others very wide. The crowns were low and either rounded or flat, although the rounded ones were more common, and sometimes with a dent. The preferred colors were light or grayish tones (aplomado), abandoning dark or very bright colors. The hatbands were large, thick, either sausage-shaped or braided, sometimes described as resembling a snake coiled around the crown. This standardization of the charro hat led to the disappearance of the previous designs by the 1860s and, to some extent, influenced the gradual evolution that occurred in subsequent decades, culminating in the major changes that would take place at the end of the 19th century, thus giving rise to the stereotypical charro hat of the last 120 years with the high conical crown.

The French surgeon, Leon Cordet, one of the leading physicians in the expeditionary force during the French intervention of Mexico (1861–1867) and head of medical services in the Veracruz hospitals, wrote about the charro hat of that era, its characteristics and benefits, in 1867:

File:El Mayordomo de Hacienda (Puebla, México 1865).jpg|Large Jarano hat with a wide brim, a low rounded crown and a large, braided hatband (1865) File:Don Alonso Peón de Regil, Ministro de México en Italia (1865).jpg|Jarano with a medium-sized brim, a low rounded crown and a "snake" shaped hatband (1865) File:Escena campestre - Manuel Serrano (ca.1860).png|Two styles of Jaranos typical of this era, one with a low, round crown and the other with a low, flat one (ca. 1860) File:«Types de chefs partisans de Juarez» (Tipos de líderes partidistas de Benito Juárez), 1863.jpg|Republican or Liberal military leaders during the French Intervention, dressed in Charro outfits with chaps and large Jarano hats with low, round crowns (1863)

Gradual evolution after standardization

The jarano hat, with its wide, stiff brim and low, round crown, which became popular in the 1850s, became the "standard" charro hat in subsequent decades. This style of hat underwent a gradual evolution between the 1870s and 1880s. The most notable change was in the crown, which transitioned from being low and round to a more prominent, tall, and pointed shape. This change, as mentioned, was not rapid but gradual, and it began to be noticeable in the late 1870s and early 1880s. By 1890, it had culminated in what would become known as the "piloncillo" (sugarloaf) crown. By 1893, the tall-crowned or "piloncillo" hat was in use among charros in northern Mexico. Further changes occurred in the first decade of the 20th century, when the brim began to be rolled or folded upwards, a practice that continues to this day. This evolution led to the older hat designs being forgotten, and the tall-crowned hat became a stereotypical image of the Mexican, to such an extent that many people today are unaware of the earlier hat styles and their evolution, believing that the tall-crowned hat has existed since time immemorial.

In his book, Souvenirs du Mexique: Things about Mexico (1908), the French colonel Éloi Lussan discusses this evolution of the Mexican hat, recalling that hats were very different forty years earlier during the French Intervention:

The gradual evolution of the Mexican jarano poblano hat (1860 to early 20th century) File:«El Hacendado» por Louis Falconnet (1865).jpg|Towards the early 1860s, the jarano-poblano is small, wide brimmed with a low round crown. File:Hombre vestido de charro y una silla vaquera mexicana (México, 1865).jpg|Another variant with rigid brim and a low round crown (1865) File:«Charros del Interior» - Fotografía Cruces y Campa (México, 1867).jpg|Large, broad-brimmed jarano, with the large, braided hatband around the low, round crown (ca. 1868) File:Charro (1879).png|By 1879, the crown becomes more prominent as it's no longer low, but it's still round. File:El famoso charro Ponciano Díaz (1889).jpg|By 1889, the crown was even more prominent, but it still lacks the conical, pointed shape. File:Charro (Chihuahua, México, 1890).jpg|Towards 1890, the crown becomes conical and pointed in shape. File:Charro junto a silla vaquera mexicana (ca. 1900).jpg|By 1900, the tall, conical and very pointed crown has become common and standard. File:Magdaleno Ramos, Mexican vaquero (Calgary, 1912).jpg|The final stage, which would be the base for the current models (ca. 1912).

Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain this evolution of the charro hat, and ultimately the adoption of the tall crown or "piloncillo" style. The charro historian, José Ramón Ballesteros, argued that the change in the crown was made to increase air circulation, and the brim was enlarged for greater protection from the sun. Don Carlos Rincón Gallardo, an avid horseman, while not giving specific reasons, mentioned that his uncle, Don Pedro Romero de Terreros y Gómez de Parada, was the first to wear the tall-crowned hat, describing him as "not a great charro", but as an "extravagant" individual. A study published in the American Journal of American Folklore in 1896 suggested that the tall-conical crowned sombrero was a Spanish modification of the straw hats worn by the Tlaxcaltec, Tarascan, and Otomi peoples. The most unusual hypothesis proposed today is that of Humberto Carmona Cobo, director and curator of the Museum of Charrería in Mexico City, who argues, without evidence, that the tall, high crown emerged to signify the social status of hacendados (hacienda or ranch owners), as, according to him, it indicated that they belonged to "high society", the higher the crown they wealthier they were.

It is difficult to determine the exact reason for this evolution, but it is most likely that, like many other changes in the charro outfit, it was due to fashion and personal preference, rather than any specific practical purpose. A short article published in 1900 in the newspaper El Mundo Ilustrado about the national costume and its evolution states that fashion has indeed influenced the charro outfit, particularly the hat, which, from a low crown style, evolved by 1900 to the high, "sugarloaf" shape:

These extreme changes, which continued throughout the first two decades of the 20th century, were not always to the liking of all charros. Around that time, very tall, pointed-crown hats with large, stiffened brims, as well as very long chin straps ending in tassels, came into fashion, but none of these were considered stylish. The long chin straps were even considered "anti-charro" because they interfered with winding the reata to the saddle-horn and could get tangled with the reata; and during the gallop or run, the tassels would slap against the face, causing discomfort.

Today, any old, pre-high crown hat, with a low, round, or flat crown is mistakenly referred to as a "chinaco" hat, due to a historical misconception about what a "chinaco" was. People mistakenly believe that "chinacos" were a type of horseman different from the charros, and that they were their predecessors of or gave rise to them. This is due to the fact that the charro outfit, like the hat, has evolved and changed greatly in the last 250 years, something that is unknown to many; since the old styles of the outfit don't resemble the one used today, they assume is something distinct. But "Chinaco" was actually just a derogatory term for republicans or liberals who fought against the French and the Mexican conservatives or monarchists who supported them during the French Intervention; in that era, the costume, including the hat, looked very different. Because of this misconception, the ancient charro costume is called "chinaco costume", and all its components are referred to as "chinaco style".

Cultural influence

The term sombrero is Spanish for hat, any type of hat regardless of style or size. But Americans, having first encountered the word in Mexico or what is now the American Southwest, mistook the word to mean the actual proper name of the hat. Thus, for Americans and other English speaking people influenced by American culture, "sombrero" refers specifically to the Mexican jarano or poblano hat.

Many early Anglo-Texan cowboys and other Anglo-Americans moving west or those returning from Mexico after the Mexican-American War, adopted the Mexican jarano hat, which served as their first "cowboy hat". One of those Americans was John B. Stetson, who encountered the Mexican sombrero jarano and, most noticeably, the higher quality, fur felt jarano poblano imported from Puebla, which served as basis for his new idea. In his Philadelphia shop he began making hand crafted, fur-felt jarano-poblanos at a much reasonable price. He named his first pattern as "Boss of the Plains", the first American cowboy hat. The Boss of the Plains became a success, and made Stetson synonymous with sombrero and jarano.

When fashion and taste changed the low-crowned jaranos to the "sugarloaf", conical jaranos in the 1890s, they too became fashionable and influential in the United States. According to a 1906 article in a Mexican newspaper, the broad-brimmed, high-crown jaranos were all the rage in Texas among both, the working class and upper classes, and people were flocking to buy them, regardless of their price. This new style of jaranos would serve as the basis for the high-crown, "Ten-Gallon" hat, also manufactured by Stetson. In the Western United States, the sombrero had a high conical or cylindrical crown with a saucer-shaped brim, highly embroidered and made of plush felt.

During the second French intervention in Mexico, the French expeditionary forces, the Belgian Voluntary Troops, the Austrian Voluntary Corps and the Chasseurs d'Afrique adopted not only the jarano hat but also the Charro outfit. Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, also adopted the Charro outfit and hat and would regularly wear it, even in formal events.

In the Philippines, due to the influence from Spain brought about by the Manila galleon trade, the term has been assimilated into the Tagalog language in the form of sumbrero and now refers to any hat – from Mexican sombreros (as used in the English language) to baseball caps.

The galaxy Messier 104 is known as the Sombrero Galaxy due to its appearance. Similarly, Tampa Stadium was also known as "The Big Sombrero". In mathematics, the Jinc function is sometimes called the sombrero function and in physics, the Sombrero potential is a prescription for the potential energy that leads to the Higgs mechanism.

Design

Sombreros, like cowboy hats, were designed in response to the demands of the physical environment. High crowns provide insulation, and wide brims provide shade. Hot and sunny climates inspire such tall-crowned, wide-brimmed designs, and hats with one or both of these features have evolved again and again in history and across cultures. For example, the Greek petasos of two millennia ago, and the traditional conical hat widespread in different regions of Asiainto modern timesincorporate such heat-mitigating features. Designs specifically for riders on horseback with these details can be seen at least as far back as the Mongolian horsemen of the 13th century.

References

References

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