CRAZY BIG HATS
The phenomenal success of Franz Lehár’s 1907 operetta The Merry Widow spawned a host of tie-in products, from sheet music and gramophone records to cigars and cocktails. But nothing had the impact of the Merry Widow hat. The popularity of actress Lily Elsie and her distinctive, Lucile-created look — a large hat atop piledup hair above a slimmer clothing silhouette — launched a major fashion trend. As rival milliners struggled to meet the demand, the hats grew ever-larger, becoming targets of cartoons and satiric postcards. When Merry Widow hats were offered as a giveaway at a Broadway performance in June 1908, it caused a stampede of pushing and shoving that the New York Times dubbed “the Battle of the Hats.” The craze lasted until 1911, when hats began to diminish in size; but by then it had made Lucile a household name. — Hugh Brewster