Where Did the Witch Hat Come From? The History of the Pointy Hat

If you think about a witch, you probably see the same thing everyone else sees: a black dress, a broomstick, a crooked nose, maybe a cat and, of course, that ridiculously tall pointy hat. It is such a familiar image that we rarely stop to wonder where it came from. But here’s the funny part: there is no evidence that the women accused at Salem wore anything resembling the stereotypical witch hat. They wore ordinary clothing and head coverings of colonial New England. The famous Halloween witch costume came much later.

So where did the witch hat come from? The honest answer is that there isn’t one proven origin. Instead, the image appears to have developed over centuries from a mixture of fashion, religious prejudice, social attitudes, artwork and popular culture. Historians have suggested several possible influences, including the medieval Judenhut, 17th-century fashion and the tall hats associated with Quaker women. None of these theories, however, gives us a single definitive birth certificate for the witch hat.

The Judenhut is one piece of the puzzle. In medieval Europe, Jewish people in some regions were required to wear distinctive clothing, and in certain places that included a conical hat. Jewish communities were also subjected to vicious religious stereotypes and persecution. Some historians have suggested that the pointed shape may eventually have become tangled up with European imagery of outsiders, heretics and people considered dangerous. That is an interesting possible connection, but it would be a mistake to say the witch hat simply came from the Judenhut.

Then there were the Quakers. During the 17th century, tall conical hats were fashionable, while Quaker women were challenging social expectations by preaching publicly. Their clothing became part of the imagery used to portray them as unconventional outsiders. The connection between Quaker hats and the later witch image is possible, but again, it is a theory rather than a settled fact.

And honestly, if I were a witch, there is no way in hell I am wearing a witch’s hat unless I am a good swimmer. Even that is not a guarantee. Have you seen those things? You’re supposed to fly around on a broom while wearing what amounts to a traffic cone on your head.

The Wizard of Oz gave us the question, “Are you a good witch or a bad witch?” Me? I’m asking a more important question: Can you swim? Paint the damn thing orange and, congratulations, you’ve got the world’s first traffic cone. That should really confuse Dorothy when she takes the Yellow Brick Road.

Then there’s the popular story about medieval alewives, women who brewed and sold beer. The story claims they wore tall hats so customers could find them in crowded markets and were later accused of witchcraft by male competitors. It’s a terrific story because it has everything: women, beer, funny hats and witchcraft. Unfortunately, there is no solid historical evidence connecting alewives directly to the invention of the witch hat. It’s a great story, but apparently history forgot to provide the receipts.

By the 18th century, pointed hats were appearing in printed images of witches, and artists kept repeating the look. A 1720 publication, The History of Witches and Wizards, included a witch wearing a pointed hat while flying on a broomstick. Once the image was repeated often enough, the hat became useful visual shorthand for a witch. Victorian illustrations and fairy tales pushed the image even further, turning the witch into an instantly recognizable character.

Then Hollywood helped make the look practically impossible to escape. When The Wizard of Oz arrived in 1939, the Wicked Witch of the West reinforced the pointed black hat as part of the familiar witch costume. The movie didn’t invent it. By then, the hat had already been around for centuries. Hollywood simply helped make sure we would never forget it.

So, where did the witch hat come from? There isn’t one simple answer. It evolved through a collection of historical influences, artistic choices and cultural traditions until the ridiculous pointy hat became one of the most recognizable costumes in popular culture.

And somewhere along the way, apparently, witches decided that flying around on a broom wasn’t difficult enough without wearing a giant cone on their heads.