Opera hat which means hat, and "claque", which means "tap" or "click". The "chapeau claque" is thus a hat that folds with a click, and unfolds likewise. In English the hat model is usually referred to as a "collapsible top-hat", "gibus" or more often "opera hat"- The construction may originally have been inspired by an historical hat model called "chapeau bras" ("arm hat"), made as bicorne or tricorne to be carried folded under the arm On May 5, 1812, a London hatter called Thomas Francis Dollman patented a design for "an elastic round hat" supported by ribs and springs. His patent was
Claque the jokes. "Pleureurs" (criers), generally women, feigned tears, by holding their handkerchiefs to their eyes. "Chatouilleurs" (ticklers) kept the audience in a good humor, while "bisseurs" (encore-ers) simply clapped and cried "Bis! Bis!" to request encores. The practice spread to Italy (famously at La Scala, Milan), Vienna, London (Covent Garden) and New York (the Metropolitan Opera). Claques were also used as a form of extortion, as singers were commonly contacted by the "chef de claque" before their debut and forced to pay a fee, in order not to get booed. The staging of the opera "Tannhäuser" was withdrawn by its