Snooks’ ‘Mini Museum’

25/2/2026

Visitors to Snooks are often tempted to reach up to some of the unusual hats pinned to the ceiling or lining the tops of the cabinets (the ones labelled ‘please do not touch’ 😆). These precious items are part of The Guvnor’s ‘MINI MUSEUM‘, a collection of weird and wonderful headwear from around the globe.

Starting it all was the straw boater he wore as a schoolboy in Swaziland (now Eswatini), in Southern Africa. Beside that you’ll see a 1910 silk racing top hat and an Italian dress artillery hat, complete with long horse tail, then the 1901 bowler worn by one William Yeates, publican of the Dog at Hannington, Wiltshire and The Guvnor’s great-grandfather (now there’s a story…).

Above the till is a Royal Navy sailor’s cap from ‘HMS Bridport‘ (two RN ships have borne the name of our little town). As Snooks ‘only’ moved here in 1964 (having previously been just up the road), the photo behind the cap is just as intriguing – it’s the premises in 1936, when it belonged to Knight & Sons, a tailors, and there’s another photo close by from 1857, when it was a barrel-makers. There’s many more fascinating images around the shop – just ask about them next time you’re here.

Across the room and above our ‘wall of caps’ is a line of more uniform headwear, ranging from an item worn in the 1950s by a Thai traffic police officer and another from the now-defunct Dorset Regiment, to two ‘Cossack‘ hats that are actually from Georgia and China!

Along the back wall of the shop, pinned to the ceiling, are items acquired from around the world – some donated by ‘friends of Snooks’, some sent back by The Guvnor’s extremely well-travelled brother. Here you’ll spot hats from places as far flung as Madeira, Turkey, Tunisia, Egypt, Nigeria, Ghana, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, China (including the one that Snookette Eleanor is wearing in the first, main pic) and many more.

Pride of place must go, though, to our Dorset Water Helmet. Perched atop the cabinet of top-of-the-range Panamas, the unusually-shaped helmet (complete with internal tap) was designed for troops’ jungle use, to collect, store and dispense rainwater for drinking. The story goes that this liquid unfortunately ‘festered’ leading to mass tummy troubles. However, if you read the notice carefully the date of invention might hint at just how much of a ‘story’ this is…

And finally, in the office now but often on tour round the shop is The Guvnor’s own 60+ year-old Australian Akubra. This iconic hat has been run over by a train, lost in a dam (three times) and even shot… he says the feathers caused it to be mistaken for a bird, but not to worry as he wasn’t wearing it at the time!

Our collection is ever-growing, so on your next visit make sure you look up, you might just see something unexpected!