【Silk Hat】 A Rather Dandy Hat

Bits of knowledge on the silk hat that was left out from Hetalia volume 4~~


【Silk Hat】

・A hat with a cylindrical crown, in style among English gentleman in the 18th century.
　People back then all likely wore these with overflowing dandy dandyism.

・On 15th January 1797, John Hetherington, an English haberdasher, donned the hat that shocked the mayor and spectators enough for them to scream, “WHAT THE HELL IS THAAAT”.
　Children cried in fear, dogs wouldn’t stop barking, women fainted and collapsed, among other things.
　No hat can surprise anyone to that extent by itself…

・John was the first person in the world who wore the silk hat
…although such a belief was well known, it seems to have existed even further back somehow.

・In English it’s “Top hat”. In German, it’s “Zylinder”.
　In Chinese, it has the seemingly valuable name “大禮帽”.
・At first, the cylindrical part was longer, but over the course of 100 years, it has shortened considerably.

・Silk hats were often drawn as a symbol of capitalist America, and is a favourite hat for the infamous Uncle Sam.
(In overseas caricatures and country personifications, if they’re wearing a silk hat, it’s England or America)

~ A partial summary of hats that show up a lot as motifs of various countries ~

The hats of South America are also unique and cute!

Translation: spaghettifelice
Original


I worry whether making him do a Hong Kong action movie pose will make him look cool.
The locals say his name like Hēunggóng.
There seem to be different stories about the origin of his name, but the most likely story about the aromatic harbour (since the trade of agarwood was thriving and the harbour always smelled good) is lovely.

■Diary
I’m glad the work I started on seems to almost be over now.
I look forward to how it looks from now on!

A few replies continue from here. This includes content from the 4th volume.
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I tried to summarize a country that has little info in Japanese – Seychelles

Seychelles

In 851 CE, it appeared in transcriptions of documents written by Arab merchants.
There are legends that people lived in Seychelles before then,
but with few records of this, it seems that this hasn’t been completely solved yet.

Coconuts shaped like butts that can only be found in Seychelles
seem to have been bought and sold for a high price among Arabs.
I was curious, and searched “Coco de Mer” on the web, and there were a ridiculous amount of butts.
It seems that you can buy the nut as a souvenir, including on T-shirts or straps!

From the end of the 16th century until 1730
Seychelles was a popular hideout for young pirates, and treasure on the remote island seems to remain a legend.

After that, France landed there to make it a trading centre
and in 1756, the hideaway pirate island Seychelles came under the rule of France.
But for some reason, between 1794 and 1810, England
was the first to say, “she belongs to me”, and in 1814, under the Treaty of Paris,
Seychelles officially came under the rule of England.

Political prisoners were transported to Seychelles,
but the place they were exiled to had widespread heavenly scenery.
Because Seychelles was a paradise, people who were attracted to the charm of the island appeared one after another.

In 1971, they opened an international airport.
After 200 years of rule by other countries, Seychelles became independent in 1976, but…

【Seychellois Livelihood】

・Miss Seychelles is passionate about music.
　Even today they play music from various countries on the islands.
・In society, moms are the centre of the family.
・And they long for France in various ways, THEY LOVE FRANCE.
　They seem to have a somewhat trendy image.
・When it comes to religion, most Seychellois practice Christianity.
・All of their systems are a mix of British and French.

・Previously, cinnamon and copra were the main industries,
　but recently tourism became the main industry. They earn foreign currency from tuna fishing.
・There are also factories that tin tuna!
　Perhaps I might come across tins of Seychellois tuna somewhere…?
・People primarily from the UK, France, Italy, and Germany come over to sightsee.
・No charge until lower and upper secondary school.

【Cuisine】

Being fond of spices, it has become a distinct cuisine that inherits the trends of French and Indian cuisine.
It’s filled with fruits typical to southern countries such as mango or papaya.
A unique part of the world that likes to munch on octopus.
Seychellois cuisine has things like seafood curry, coconut milk with gelatin, and a coconut dessert in which you mix egg and cornstarch, and skillfully season with sugar.

【Breadfruit】

A fruit that’s potentially a blunt object that’s usually eaten in Seychelles.
It’s fibrous if you eat it while it’s green,
but if you eat it when it’s ripe, it seems to resemble a potato or sweet potato.

“Travel Journal Seychelles” by E Locken,
“Seychelles: A Country Study Guide” and such
Seychelles-related books, sure enough, are almost entirely in the English language.
In many ways this is still not enough, so when I find the time, I’ll dabble for resources.

Translation: spaghettifelice
Original

Thanks for reading the 4th volume!


Thanks for reading the 4th volume!
I’m really full of gratitude to all my readers that I got this much feedback.
I couldn’t be happier that you get to enjoy it along with the 4th volume bonus page!
I’m always really grateful.
　
　

■Diary
I somehow finished a piece of work. Phew.
Thankfully, I have a big pile of things to do and important work this year, so I will do my best bit by bit.
Also, I got a huge cushion after I was informed that I won it on Anikuji, but I was surprised at how really big it is!
I’m glad that Anikuji designed my own drawings so cutely.

Also, I added short story summaries in the 4th volume bonus page.
Thanks for requesting more mobile wallpaper sizes!
It’s a great help for me to get requests for specific sizes.
Quite a lot of people are using iPhones. Those things are pretty cool.。
　
　

>You probably already know this, but I just learned about it the other day:
When anime are broadcast overseas,
The Japanese opening songs and images are generally not used as they are,
it becomes standard in America to remake them,
and other countries also seem to customize them.
Meanwhile, Italy always seems to make original opening songs.
It looks like they have quite a lot of cool songs as well.

They change a lot of things in America.
The songs they had in “Kiki’s Delivery Service” give off a very different impression.
Also in the Japanese version, I was uncertain whether Jiji and Kiki finally got to talk to each other,
but in the American version, after the rescue, Jiji talked immediately, and it clearly became a happy ending.

I recommend Italy’s version of the “Magical Circle Guru Guru” opening!
I have so much love for this version, and where they put Gu~ru~Gu~ru♪ and Meke meke!
　

>There are three countries that are becoming increasingly important on the world stage.
Why don’t you make Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina into Hetalia characters?
I’m sure it will make Latin American fans like me happy.

Thank you about Brazil et al.!
I’ve always wanted Latin American countries to appear.
If you have interesting stories and such, please let me know.
Those three countries are distinct, so it should be easy to make them into characters.
　

>3 of your favourite fighter aircraft

Albatros D.3
Fokker D.23
and F4U!

And I like all Italian aircraft…
I think it would be nice if I put an aircraft story in the 5th volume.
　

Translation: spaghettifelice
Original