THEHATS

Carl Barks provided his main characters with an almost endless array of headdress which was suitable to the situations in which they were in and the personalities of the characters. Donald Duck especially wore numerous hats fitting for his temporary jobs or leisure time. Quite surprisingly (at least if you know a bit about fashion), the ladies in Barks' stories rarely wear hats whereas the male characters always do. In fact, Daisy is the only representative of her gender who always wears some form of headdress - usually a bow - while we do not see Magica or Grandma in hats at all.

This page looks at all forms of headdress that the characters wear (including bows). The names of the hats may differ from the terms you would normally use, because most of the hats have multiple names. For example, Scrooge's hat can be called a top hat, topper, silk hat, dress hat, opera hat, high hat, and stovepipe!

THE REAL ONES
Donald's hat. The hat that Donald usually wears is unique; it does not exist in real life. But it is undoubtedly a sailor's hat. Most navy soldiers around the world still use a similarly looking hat with a flat top and two ribbons hanging from the back of the neck.	The nephews' caps. They wear a typical children's cap (or casquette) with a peak and a button at the top. The crown of the cap is divided into equal-sized radial areas with different colours.	Daisy's bow. This piece of cloth - which only consists of one long strip of silk ribbon - is more of a millinery nature than anything else. Furthermore, it is not uncommon to see little girls wearing a bow fastened in their hair.	Gladstone's hat. This type of distinguished, soft felt hat with a creased crown and rolled-up brim has many names depending on small variations in the look, but most people would recognize it as a Fedora or a Homburg.
Scrooge's top hat. This silk-coated hat with a rolled-up brim and a high, flat crown oozes status and wealth, and the bearer is usually from the upper classes.	Glomgold's hat. It is called a Tam O'Shanter and is worn in Scotland - often as part of a whole costume which includes a kilt. It is a knitted wool hat with a pom-pom on top.	The Beagle Boys' hats. This is a so-called work hat, and with a badge or an emblem on the front it can easily be transformed into several official hats like that of a milkman, a station master, or a mail man.	Gyro's hat. It is the brainchild of Barks but can be best described as a children's hat with a strap that goes under the chin. However, it could also have been modelled from a sailor's hat (the latter version is shown here).

THE STORIES
This is just a very small compilation of some of the ducks' different types of hats - shown as a collage in no particular order. So just sit back and let the drawings sink in while you are reminiscing...
WDCS086	WDCS234	FC1047	WDCS117
WDCS253	U$16	WDCS194	WDCS096
U$55	WDCS064	MOC04	WDCS061
WDCS031	WDCS173	FC1161	U$26
WDCS064	FC0147	WDCS084	WDCS243
WDCS166	DD46	WDCS087	WDCS054
FC0029	U$46	WDCS053	U$40
WDCS233	FC0263	WDCS128	FC0408
U$64	WDCS162	WDCS131	FC1025
WDCS197	WDCS069	WDCS154	WDCS264

THE FRONT COVERS
When doing his many front covers Barks could draw any form of headdress he wanted, because he did not have to invent a whole story to go with the drawing. And he used that chance to the fullest. You can see a small selection of those front covers HERE.