Pirates of Penzance cop hats
Printed From: Community Theater Green Room
Category: Producing Theater
Forum Name: Props, Scenery, Costumes and Makeup
Forum Discription: For how-to's and where-can-I-find
URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1765
Printed Date: 4/30/24 at 7:13pm
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Topic: Pirates of Penzance cop hats
Posted By: lucyvanpelt
Subject: Pirates of Penzance cop hats
Date Posted: 3/20/06 at 2:47pm
| I am looking for a way to get ahold of the cop hats for Pirates Of Penzance. (I believe they are called English bobby hats) Anyway, this is for a community theatre production and we need to go about this as cheap as possible. Anyone have suggestions? Thanks! |
Replies:
Posted By: Gaafa
Date Posted: 3/20/06 at 7:39pm
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Do you have a local G&S Group or Savoys Society near you? We normally get the ?Peelers? Bobby Helmets from them, as they hold onto any G&S type costumes, as ?PoP? would be part of their repertoire. I don?t know if any of your novelty shops or suppliers carry them there, but worth a try! Unfortunately a lot of them these shops do supply are the cheap thin plastic type & tend to not last that long! I?m also sure you would be able to fund a Costume Company that hires them. Also you would need the uniforms, truncheons & whistles anyway! As an aside it was from the truncheons that the word ?Copper? became a nickname for the Police. When the first Metropolitan Police was first formed in London, by Sir Robert Peel, their Truncheons were made of lignum vitaes a heavy & durable American hard wood & sheathed in copper. They used these as an alarm to summons other Police officers, near by on the Beat. By banging them on walls, lamp posts & the pavement, because the copper made a louder noise than that of the hard wooden battens. Much latter of course the copper sheaving was replaced by the early distinct Bobby?s whistles, of which the same type is still issued to them today! ------------- Joe Western Gondawandaland turn right @ Perth. Hear the light & see the sound. Toi Toi Toi Chookas {{"chook [chicken] it is"} May you always play to a full house} |
Posted By: Joan54
Date Posted: 3/21/06 at 10:07am
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Well in Canada where I grew up we believed that the term "cop" came from "Constable On Patrol". An abbreviation used on the paperwork was, of course, C.O.P. Of course here in New York you call them "officers" not "constables". Sorry I don't have any great ideas on costumes for this play...... ------------- "behind a thin wall of logic panic is waiting to stampede" |
Posted By: Gaafa
Date Posted: 3/22/06 at 1:00am
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Sorry Lucy this is off topic! That is quite plausible Joan, however I thought your police were only refereed to as ?Monty?s? which would make an interesting acronym of Mounty On Patrol!  We had only Troupers here who were an extension of the Penal Colony Guards. So they could have be known as ?Tops?? Back on topic - sort of? My mate Rod O West, who is sadly not with us any more, only in spirit! Was a beat Bobby in London & also became one of the script writers on the British TV series the ?Bill?. Mentioned once that the beat Bobby?s were know as ?Wooden Tops? with in the Force. {Which was also the title of the first episode of the Bill] Because when they adopted the Dome shaped helmets, rather than the Stove pipe toppers of the Bow Street Runners [who were not really a police force as such]. The helmets were reinforced with wood, for protection. So hence the nickname! {Also Joan Canada is doing well in the Melbourne Commonwealth games, with a medal tally of 49 } ------------- Joe Western Gondawandaland turn right @ Perth. Hear the light & see the sound. Toi Toi Toi Chookas {{"chook [chicken] it is"} May you always play to a full house} |
Posted By: Joan54
Date Posted: 3/22/06 at 7:57am
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Well who would have expected this little side bar. The Mounties are the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or, for short, Mounties. And they really did all ride horses well into the 1960's. They still ride horses in the parks and the city streets. They are federal police officers so have currently turned into a Canadian equivilant of the American FBI. They still wear their big "Smoky the Bear" hats (like American State Troopers) and jodpurs if you can believe it....known to be a police force without a sense of humor...maybe all the jodpur jokes got to them. ------------- "behind a thin wall of logic panic is waiting to stampede" |
Posted By: pauliebonn
Date Posted: 4/20/06 at 1:23am
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Perhaps if you look for local marching bands. I know that some have a "military" style, and the hats from their uniforms could be used. Just a thought.
P |
Posted By: Gaafa
Date Posted: 4/20/06 at 7:14am
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Just a thought! Seeing that the G&S ?PoP? is in the public domain. Why not put your own interpretation & adapt it to suit your location. Use US police hats/helmets from say the 20?s &/or even set in that era! Might solve the problem! Even use the Mounties ?Lemon Squeezers?, as mentioned by Joan - if you have a mind too! ------------- Joe Western Gondawandaland turn right @ Perth. Hear the light & see the sound. Toi Toi Toi Chookas {{"chook [chicken] it is"} May you always play to a full house} |
Posted By: Playwright
Date Posted: 4/20/06 at 9:38am
| This is sort of part of this topic but does anybody know why the police in England are referred to as the 'old bill' in some of the tv shows. |
Posted By: Gaafa
Date Posted: 4/20/06 at 11:53am
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From what I remember, having being born on Tyneside in the North
East of England. Then growing up travelling to most of the major City
Theatres through out Britain. As a young bloke I only ever heard the
name ?Bill? being referred to the Flying Squad Detectives, not
the Bobby on the beat. So I checked the TV series ?The Bill? script writers Handbook notes. That my old mate Rod O West sent to me a few years ago! Who unfortunately is no longer with us any more, only in spirit. He was a script writer on the ?Bill? in the early days of the series. As well as a retired copper, having pounded the beat as a Bobby in London. Apparently there are heaps of suggestions on how they got the name. But the handbook suggests it was because all the vehicles used by the CID Flying squad, when they were first formed, all had the letters ?BYL? on their registration licence plates. Hence they verbally became known as the ?Bill?. Which possibly is the most plausible, as other suggestions refered to the Metropolitan Police Force as a whole. There is also a suggestion it was because of the song ?won?t you come home Bill Bailey?. Linking with the ?Old Bailey Courts?, which I think is a myth! Mainly because the Bow Street Runners, the Watch & the Bailies were only court constables. Later they became known as Peelers with a Bill put to parliament by Sir Robert Peel. Then Bobby?s with a further ?Bill?, establishing the Police force, was passed. I don?t know if this helps or not, but there are loads of explanations available! ------------- Joe Western Gondawandaland turn right @ Perth. Hear the light & see the sound. Toi Toi Toi Chookas {{"chook [chicken] it is"} May you always play to a full house} |
Posted By: Playwright
Date Posted: 4/20/06 at 1:04pm
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Hi, Thanks Joe. Being a writer, I get curious about a lot of stuff. Cheers. |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 4/25/06 at 4:01pm
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I know your budget is tight, but have you checked out theatrehouse.com under hats & headwear/international. They have a bobby hat for $9.95. Perhaps your actors could donate a few bucks if they are concerned about the show having the "right" look.
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Posted By: Gaafa
Date Posted: 4/30/06 at 1:10am
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This is slightly off topic & possibly a bit late now! With ?POP? you could always turn it into a ?Panto?! Here is a family fun adaptation with the typical Panto treatment, which can be performed fee free for any CT productions, along with the music to download & the script. You can use local place names of your area - possibly even with the title? ?Harlots of Henley? http://www.amadrama.co.uk/harlots/ ------------- Joe Western Gondawandaland turn right @ Perth. Hear the light & see the sound. Toi Toi Toi Chookas {{"chook [chicken] it is"} May you always play to a full house} |
Posted By: lucyvanpelt
Date Posted: 5/09/06 at 4:57pm
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Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for your advice. I haven't been online much lately. You know how directing a play can keep you busy!
Anyway, I ended up finding some plastic bobby hats that were less than $2 each. Hopefully they will work okay if the kids don't destroy them, first! Again, thanks for your help!! |