Worshipful Master's Top Hat

Worshipful Master's Top Hat

Worn throughout the late 1700s and into the early 1900s, the top hat came to symbolize taste and gentility. In the Masonic lodge, the Master wears a top hat to signify the authority of his office and to command respect. The height of a top hat’s crown, the curl of the brim, and the material used to form the hat have all changed repeatedly over the years to reflect prevailing fashion, though the meaning of the symbol has remained the same.

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98.011

Collins & Fairbanks, Boston, Massachusetts

ca. 1900