A Very Expensive Hat

June 18, 1815 is the two hundred anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo.

This is not a story that just falls off the American lips--but details of the battle are emblazoned on the lips of school children in the United Kingdom that is for sure..  The short version----Waterloo, located in present day Belgium,  was the site of a battle between the French Army under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte and the Anglo Allied Army under the command of the Duke of Wellington.  Wellington won.  Napoleon earlier in his career was a tactical genius who is responsible for bringing an end to the Holy Roman Empire.

Few pieces of clothing are as iconic as Napoleon's bicorn  that he wore in that distinctive sideways style.  NO ONE wore the bicorn that way--everyone else wore theirs with the points front to back.  But egocentric Bonaparte wanted to be able to be recognized on the battlefield.  He was 5'6"--which actually was not short for the period.

One of Napoleon's hats, one of only 19 known, was sold recently at auction at Bonham's in London for the equivalent of $1,680,000.  It sold to a South Korean food company.  Go figure.

The Little Corporal would be proud.