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
Chapeau, Quebec Chapeau, Quebec Chapeau is a village in the Canadian province of Quebec, located along the Culbute Channel of the Ottawa River in the municipality of L'Isle-aux-Allumettes in Pontiac Regional County Municipality. There is speculation as to the real origin of the name "Chapeau" (French for "hat"). It has been hypothesized that geography of the village vaguely resembles the shape of a hat with three flat edges. Or the name may come from a rock in the Ottawa River in the form of a French military headgear. According to other sources, Chapeau recalls a bizarre hairdo of a Native American chief.