Antique Coat Hooks

( Article orginally published February 1977 )

YESTERDAY'S HOOKS for coats and hats were anything but prosaic. As you will plainly see from the illustrations that accompany this short article, the hooks of our forefathers were contrivances of designers given to flights of fancy.

The styles? Most were "bastard" styles, if the reader will forgive the parlance, except that the one illustrated at top on the left was unquestionably rustic. Cast iron leaves adorn those curving stems and the limb that swings upward from the base, inviting the passerby to hang from its tip a coat or a hat.

The hat and coat hooks of our ancestors have become small conversation pieces today, but they originally graced Victorian homes, and they are being sought once again to lend an authentic note to the halls of many restored homes originally built late in the 19th or early in the 20th century.

Most of these hooks were made of cast iron and, like so much hardware of the period, many were given a bronze finish. The one in the center at left has two porcelain knobs, as many did. One, in fact, had a porcelain knob in the shape of the face of an old Tar.

The writer has in his collection a hat and coat hook from a sea captain's cabin. It is made of wood carved in the shape of a dolphin with a metal boss or knob on the end of the tail to hang a cap.

Most hat and coat hooks in Victorian homes, however, seem to have been made of metal, primarily cast iron with the shaped hooks attached to a plate that was screwed into the wall. Speaking of rustic designs, another in the form of limbs of an oak tree complete with acorn knobs is illustrated on the second page of this article. The rustic appeal was strong late last century, especially for garden furniture, such as chairs and settees.

Many of the old hooks are still around, some in use in older homes. Most, however, seem to have migrated to that increasing number of shops that are specializing in earlier-day hardware and architectural materials. And they are no longer inexpensive as they once were, but will set one back a tidy sum.

In the waning years of the 19th century hooks such as those illustrated here sold at a wholesale price ranging from $17.60 to $23 a gross! Try to find one for such a price now.

The Coat and hat hook shown below was being marketed in the 19th century. This hooks was made of cast iron, and given a bronze finish.