The traditional stovepipe hat Abraham Lincoln favored was 7 to 8 inches tall. Lincoln wore his instantly recognizable hat in both casual and formal situations.
The night that President Lincoln was shot, he was wearing a 7 1/8 inch silk top hat with a black silk mourning band in memory of his son Willie. The hat was purchased from J. Y. Davis, a Washington hat maker. After Lincoln was shot, the hat was found sitting on the floor next to his chair. The hat was put on display in 1893 by the Lincoln Memorial Association, on loan from the Smithsonian Institute where it is a treasured object.
