The style of hat of this period (1731) had the sides of the brim turned up, with a front of an easy curl, which, nearly resembling a cap-visor, made it in shape somewhat between a hat and cap; this seems to have been the first approach toward the "cocked" or three-cornered hat afterwards so extensively used, and to Americans the most familiar of past styles, from its being a fashion of the period of the Revolution, by which it became the prominent part of an historical costume. The arbitrary law before alluded to was afterwards modified, but an uncomfortable restriction continued to be enforced upon all manufactures, for in the year 1750 the English Parliament, among other unjust acts, enacted a law forbidding exportation of hats from one colony to another and allowing no hatter to have more than two apprentices at one time, "because the colonists, if let alone, would soon supply the whole world with hats." [Illustration: 1731] The French fashion of this time had the brazen characteristic of its brim rising erect from the forehead, a style seemingly in keeping with the then irritable condition and reckless agitation of the French people. Planché, in his "Cyclopædia of Costumes" (vol. 1, page 261), quotes a humorous description, evidently referring to this particular style, as follows: "Some wear their hats with the corners that should cover the forehead high in the air, these are called Gawkies; others do not half cover their heads, which, indeed, is owing to the shallowness of their crowns, but between beaver and eyebrows exposes a blank forehead, which looks like a sandy road in a surveyor's plan." [Illustration: 1750] From the year 1750 until after the Revolution there was but little change in the general character of style in men's hats: the custom of erecting the brims by tying or looping them up prevailed. Soon the elevation of the brim of 1750 was abandoned and a change made by looping it at the points of a triangle, producing the three-cornered or "cocked" hat. This was a becoming style we must admit, and one seemingly well suited to the independent, fearless and patriotic characteristics of our forefathers' traits, the possession of which at that time gave us all the comforts that are ours now. The "cocked" hat enjoyed a long popularity, continuing in fashion until near the close of the century, when the "steeple top" and "chimney pot" styles--slang terms for the high beavers--came into vogue, a style which Ashton, an English writer, designates as "the hideous head-covering that has martyrized at least three generations." [Illustration: 1760]