Main Street Magazine Spring '23

So, how did the first beanie come about?
The first official knitted wool cap was
manufactured in Monmouth, Wales
in the 15th century. It was called
the ‘Monmouth Cap’, and is pictured
below...
Where does the name ‘beanie’ come from?
Theories suggest it comes from...
The bean seed-sized button on the
crown of some beanies used to collect
the pieces of fabric together.
From the slang term ‘bean’, referring
to a head.
A description and short history...
The beanie has a myriad of
alternate names, variants and
offshoots. Below is a list of
many of them - see if you can
match the names of the other
seven that are pictured on this
page!
Use the following as your word
bank and write the names into
the boxes under each globe
head...
Knit Cap
Watch Cap
Skullcap
Tossie Cap
Bobble Hat
Toboggan
Sherpa
Phrygian Cap
Snookie Cap
Dink
Whoopee Cap
Toque, Tuque, or Touque
Bruque
Woolly Hat
Sugan
Yooper Chook
Tophue, Topplue, Toppluva
Bonnet
Stocking Cap
Santa Hat
Sock Hat
Jeep Cap
Propeller Cap
Poof ball Hat
Ski Hat
Winter Hat
If you’re a continuous beanie-wearer
like myself, it can be easy to forget
the original reason they came to be,
and rather focus on their fashionable
merit... There is a singular essential
function of the beanie that solves
a rather universal problem - to
keep peoples’ heads warm in cold
weather. Because of this, they are
well-circulated around the world and
have been for hundreds of years.
Many cold regions around the
world that need to keep their head
and ears warm while at work and
play have invented a variant of the
beanie. Historically speaking, knit
caps have most often been made of
wool, but other materials including
cotton, felt, fleece, leather, silk, and
viscose have been used in their
more recent production.
The beanie originally became
common working apparel for blue
collar workers such as tradesman
as a variant to the skullcap. With the
invention of short-brimmed beanies,
the baseball cap was born by adding
a visor to block the sun, and you
know how that went.
The wool knit cap was also a
common form of headgear for
fishermen and other seamen, as well
as hunters and other folks working
outdoors all day from the 18th
century onward. It’s still commonly
used for this application in northern
regions of Asia, Europe, North
America and so on. It has also been
worn in several wars, including by
Navy crews in WWII who refer to it as
a ‘watch cap’.
Red toques came to serve as
a symbol of French-Canadian
nationalism for a time, circa the
Patriotes Rebellion of 1837. They
remain such, due to their ubitquity
in Canada.
A couple of fun facts for you...
Santa Claus is often portrayed
wearing a sewn or knitted cap, which
follows the the typical Scandinavianstyle
knitted cap with a pom-pom.
The Scandinavian tomte of Nordic
folklore is also commonly portrayed
with a red knitted cap.