The Public Paperfolding History Project

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The Hat / Shirt
 
This page attempts to record what is known about the history of the design I call the Hat / Shirt. Please contact me if you know any of this information is incorrect or if you have any other information that should be added. Thank you.

This design is made by folding The Cross in half, either upwards or downwards.

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In China (and in publications by Chinese authors)

1914

Diagrams for this design, presented both as a 'Top Hat' and a 'Mandarin Jacket', appear in 'Zhe zhi tu shuo' (Illustrated Paperfolding), compiled by Gui Shaolie, which was published by the Commercial Press in Shanghai in Ming guo 3 (1914).

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In Japan (and in publications by Japanese authors)

1878

The Shirt is pictured in 'Yochien Ombutsu No Zu', a publication of kindergarten material issued by the Tokyo Women's Normal School in 1878.

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1905

A picture of the Shirt design appears in 'Shukouka Kyohon : Liron Jishuu Souga Setsumei' by Kikujiro Kiuchi, Rokushiro Uehara and Hideyoshi Okayama, which was published by Shigebei Takase in Chiba in 1905. * have not been able to translate the Japanese title.

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A sequence that converts Yakko-san into the Hat appears in 'Shukoka Kyoju Saian' by Gentaro Tanahashi and Hideyoshi Okayama, which was published by Hobunkan in Tokyo in 1905. The Cross seems to appear just as an intermediate form.

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In Western Europe and the Americas

1869

A design called 'Den Cylinder' (the top hat), which is not illustrated, but which from the context is most probably the Hat / Shirt, appears in a list of designs in 'Der Kindergarten' by Hermann Goldammer, which was published by Habel in Berlin in 1869.

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'Paradise of Childhood' by Edward Wiebe, which was published by Milton, Bradley and Company in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1869, and is effectively a translation of Goldammer's 'Der Kindergarten', similarly includes 'the hat' in its list of Forms of Life.

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1873

A design which resembles a hat, made by folding the Cross in half upwards, appears in 'Die Praxis Des Kindergartens' by Auguste Koehler, which was published by Herman Bohlau in Weimar in 1873.

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1876

The shirt, which is made by folding the Cross in half downwards, appears in 'Des Kindes Erste Beschaftigungsbuch' by E Barth and W Niederley, which was first published in Bielefeld and Leipzig, and the foreword of which is dated October 1876.

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1880

There is mention of a Hat made by folding the Cross in half, in 'The Kindergarten Principle' by Mary J Lyschinska, which was published in London in 1880 by Wm Isbister Ltd. No illustration is provided but it seems clear this must be the Shirt turned upside down.

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1891

This design also appear in 'Pleasant Work for Busy Fingers' by Maggie Browne, which was published by Cassell and Company in London in 1891. This book is an English version of 'Des Kindes Erste Beschaftigungsbuch' enhanced by the addition of a few extra designs.

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