Opera hat described as: Some sources have taken this to describe an early folding top hat, although it is not explicitly stated whether Dollman's design was specifically for male or female headgear. Dollman's patent expired in 1825. Operating from Poissy, Paris, France, around 1840, Antoine Gibus's design for a spring-loaded collapsible top-hat proved so popular that hats made to it became known as "gibus". They were also often called "opera hats" due to the common practice of storing them in their flattened state under one's seat at the opera, though the term can also refer to any tall formal men's hat. The
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 The staging of the opera "Tannhäuser" was withdrawn by its