Davy Crockett Couture: The History of the Raccoon Tail Hat
You might think of it as a vile old trend that sneaks back into our culture every so often, when an indie/hipster type of girl attempts to take it for a spin at the NYC clubs, or as the only identifiable feature or fact known about the American history hero, Davy Crockett. One thing is undeniable, the raccoon tail hat is a uniquely American symbol.
The raccoon tail hat has been around long before the Europeans colonized North America. In the 1700s, Indigenous Americans of the eastern region followed the spiritual beliefs of the Abenaki people, who believed a spirit named Azeban lived through raccoons. Azeban was sneaky and mischievous, which he used to trick others out of their food and goods. Natives would wear these hats when hunting in hopes that Azeban would bring luck and prey. By the late 1700s, European settlers caught onto the native attire, and this included the raccoon tail hat.
Throughout the 1800s, the hat became a symbol of America, and what it meant to be American. At first, it signified a humble, virtuous man to most of the Western population. Court records of the time considered defendants’ raccoon tail hats to be an allusion to one’s steadfast values. Towards the end of the century, as cities expanded and railroads were built across the nation, the hat began to have a less honorable look to the general public. To be called a “[Ra]coon-skin cap fellow” was to be considered a redneck, and therefore was used to classify anyone who didn’t live in a city.
The start of the 1900s was the first time these hats were completely out of style, and many people expected the trend to stay dead forever, and become a historical relic. This was never the raccoon tail hat’s trajectory though because US fur markets were beginning to take grasp on the world. Of all the uniquely American fur exports we have offered over the years, raccoons are by far the largest group. The hat was seen in the public sphere once every decade or so up until 1950, typically used by politicians or Hollywood celebrities to make political statements.
In 1950, Walt Disney made a television series with ABC about folk hero Davy Crockett to fund the construction of Disneyland. The show aired in 1954 and became a massive hit, and Davy Crockett became an iconic figure, and the raccoon tail hat became one of the Time’s “must have toys of the decade.” By the 1960s, its trend cycle died down, and went back to its old presence as a symbolic or satiric gimmick used in television. Today the hat is still a bit irrelevant, but recent shows by Vaquera NYC and older shows by Maison Margiela have utilized the hat in styling and design.
