Brown Derby was a chain of restaurants in Los Angeles, California. The first and best known was shaped like a derby hat, an iconic image that became synonymous with the Golden Age of Hollywood. It was opened by Wilson Mizner in 1926. The chain was started by Robert H. Cobb and Herbert K. Somborn in the 1920s. The original Brown Derby restaurants had closed or had been converted to other uses by the 1980s, though a Disney-backed Brown Derby national franchising program revived the brand in the 21st century. It is often incorrectly thought that the Brown Derby was a single restaurant, and the Wilshire Boulevard and Hollywood branches are frequently confused.
The second Brown Derby at 3377 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, c. 1968
Entrance to the restaurant in 1956
The Wilshire Boulevard Brown Derby in 1952
Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant at 1628 North Vine
The bowler hat, also known as a Coke hat, billycock, bob hat, bombĂn (Spanish) or derby, is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849. It has traditionally been worn with semi-formal and informal attire. The bowler, a protective and durable hat style, was popular with the British, Irish, and American working classes during the second half of the 19th century, and later with the middle and upper classes in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the east coast of the United States.
Bowler hat, mid-20th century (PFF collection).
Members of the Orange Order wearing bowler hats while celebrating The Twelfth, Belfast 2011.
A typical bowler hat of female British police officers.
A typical bowler of female PCSOs in the UK.