Top Form

White silk, or probably beaver, hat, c 1848, from iphotocentral 
Below, how did the top hat sink so low?

 

Lincoln in his stovepipe at Antietam, 1862

Mose, famous Bowery B'hoy and fireman, was a New York urban hero character popular for decades.
Mose's and Bill the Butcher's hats should probably have had more in common, but the subtleties may have been more than the costume designer was able to discern.

"Bill the Butcher", Gangs of New York
His hat probably would have been glossy black with a flat brim, similar to Mose

Civil engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and below, second from right, at the attempted launch of the steamship Great Eastern, November 1857, via His hat seems a little worse for the wear

Ambrotype of two would-be dandies, c.1855. via FIDM

A conformateur, a hat-fitting device. See much more at the Musee du Chapeau in Bern

The Brighton Swimming and Sea Bathing Club, 1863, via

"Modifications of the Beaver Hat"

Henry IV of France, 1591-- Top hat progenitor?

Above and below, two Incroyables— young French aristos who mixed reactionary politics with outré fashion
after the Revolution. They're both cutting very daring figures for 1798 by wearing the "Titus" haircut—
we know it as a Caesar—and abbreviated top hats. This is when the top hat really got going.

The man above is also carrying a noteworthy accoutrement— the umbrella.

 

The Mad Hatter by Sir John Tenniel, 1865/1871, and Uncle Sam by Montgomery Flagg, 1916/17: both wear white or dove beaver toppers in the flared, modified "Wellington" shapes. Uncle Sam would have appeared pretty retro in 1916

Ladies in riding habits, c 1900

Astaire, making a last hurrah for top hats in the eponymous movie, 1935

Top hat, beaver hat, high hat, silk hat, chimney pot hat or stovepipe hat: all names for the tall, flat-crowned, broad-brimmed hat, primarily recognized in the United States as a receptacle from which to extract rabbits and for being Abraham Lincoln’s headgear of choice. A bit of history:

Something that appears similar to a top hat crops up sometime in the very late 16th century. During the 17th century vaguely top hat-like appurtenances called capotains could be found atop Puritans (think "Pilgrim Hat" ) and English Civil War antagonists. I don't really count these.

The style really picks up after the French Revolution when those who kept their heads dared to throw off the powdered wigs and adopt outlandish head gear. (See those crazy Incroyables and Merveilleuses.)

Top hats made from felted beaver fur dominated the 19th century (the industry practically wiped out the beaver). I've always loved the exaggeratedly tall Lincolnian version but the subtleties of this type of hat are myriad. It took on dramatic cylindrical, flared or pegged crowns (rising to over 8 inches in the 1850s); brims could be wide and flat disks, or rolled and swooping. There were even collapsible "Gibus" variants made so everyone could attend the opera without coming to blows.

The top hat steamed its way into the 20th century (by now made of glossy silk plush) and made it through the 1930s retaining most of its dignity. By Kennedy’s 1961 inauguration it was an awkward throwback. And alas, as the 21st century dawned, this once crisp and debonair hat was relegated to Halloween costumes, a few cloying rock guitarists, and legions of Steam Punk aficionados and Comic Con attendees.