Bessie Easley’s bonnet stand
Teaching sample bonnet on my great grandmother’s bonnet stand. I shared about this piece on instagram and thought I’d write a bit more about it in a blog post. I had never seen this bonnet stand, which belonged to my great grandmother Bessie Easley, until it arrived in a package along with three of her hats, from a distant relative. I know nothing of its origin, but I do know her husband was a handyman and woodworker, and that she and her children ran the farm they lived on so she likely wore a field bonnet while working outdoors. Field bonnets were homemade headwear with deep brims and long ruffles at the nape of the neck (bavolets) to protect the wearers from sun while working outdoors. They would be damp with sweat at the end of the workday and a bonnet stand like this one would help them dry out overnight. You can see in the image above that even fancy bonnets have design features that make such a tall stand useful, such as a deep crown like the one in the p...
