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We here at the Congregational Library are a well-dressed group of people, as were the librarians who came before us (remember Miss Emma White?), and if our image collection is anything to go by, Congregationalists have, traditionally, been a rather dapper group. We here at the library were reminded of this fact last week when a routine inventorying of our collection lead us to a white leather glove which supposedly once belonged to Rev. James Diman (1707-1788) (although we doubt the veracity of this claim). Naturally, this discovery sparked some discussion amongst the staff — and then someone said the magic words: "It could go with our hats!"

...Hats?

[]Yes, hats. And what hats they are! Unfortunately, we know next to nothing about the origin of these hats (Why do we have them? Did they once belong to someone important? Were they just left in the building and given to us as the natural resting place for such things?), but we do know that they are from Collins & Fairbanks Co., purveyors of young men's hats, gloves, and canes, located at 383 Washington Street here in Boston. We also know that, being top hats, they're super cool. We hope you think so too!

-Sari