The People’s Pathfinder (St. Louis, MO) Spring 1853. Edited by William H. Keevill.
This is a rare advertising piece for the dry goods palace of Hubbell & Hunt at Corinthian Hall in St. Louis, Missouri. As can be seen from the large woodcut on the front page, this publication is about hats. The articles are about hats. The advertisements are for different types of hats. One article starts out, “Did you ever see a Bald Indian?” and concludes by promoting their ventilated hats. At the end they note they employed Mr. G. A. Baner to cut the engravings because he was the finest in the area. The “Great National Hat” on the front page with the man standing on it may not be an exaggeration. On page 2, Mr. Keevill notes, “The Eighth Wonder is the Great National Hat on Corinthian Hall, twelve feet high, and built at a cost of some hundreds of dollars.” Now that is a hat.
