Thomas Dixon Top Hat
DimensionsOverall: 18.5 x 29 x 33 cm
Credit LineGift of Mrs. James P. Dunn, London, Ontario, 1967
Object number1967.007.002
Label TextThomas Dixon (d. 1870s), one of London's first hat makers, made this top hat. As a hatter, Dixon was engaged in a dangerous line of work. Hatters used tincture of mercury to remove hairs on the felt side of a beaver pelt in the course of making a hat. Unprotected handling of this substance caused it to build up in the hat maker's nervous system, eventually causing insanity. Dixon certainly manifested erratic behaviour. As mayor of London in 1849, he frequently flew into rages, often declaring Council adjourned moments after bringing it to order. Once, he broke every window in the building housing the council chamber after Council resolved to proceed without him. Even if he wasn't mad, many of his contemporaries would have happily committed him.
The hatbox advertises Phillip McCann's business in London, Canada West. An Irish Catholic born in 1826, McCann's date of arrival in Upper Canada is unknown. He married in Toronto around 1853 and by 1855 was settled in London. He is known to have been operating his hat, cap, and furrier business from at least 1857 in a building on Dundas Street near the Market. This was prime real estate because the area drew many potential customers in from the surrounding areas on market days. McCann was still in business in 1876-77 and died in 1880.
NameHat, Top
