Shopping Around
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Click on any image above for a larger image
This hat was found during excavations at the site. It is slightly stained from its ordeal, and maybe more then a little worse off. But it still could do its job if worn today. It does not tell of a struggle to buy goods that are distinctly Chinese. More likely it was purchased as a way to help keep a Chinese miner's head dry.
It has been repaired at least once, as a careful inspection can reveal. The green arrow on the above right image points to a spot where the miner has tried to sew a rip with a bit of thick thread. However, eventually the damage became too great and the hat found its way into the garbage heap under the building. There it would remain until the field school students unearthed it, andcleaned it up. Now it sits in the display case, far removed from the rain.
The original owner probably went out and bought a new hat. Maybe that person went down to the store nearby and bought one from them. Maybe the miner purchased a new one from a catalogue, and had it shipped up to the gold fields via steamer and stagecoach. We will never know exactly what happened. All that we know is that for a little while at least, the miner's head was getting wet.