An Experiment in Gyro-Hats
The story revolves around a scientist who invents a hat that can alter the wearer's personality and behavior. The protagonist, a shy and timid man, tries on the gyro-hat and becomes confident and assertive. As he continues to wear the hat, his personality changes drastically, causing chaos in his personal and professional life.
By Ellis Parker Butler · First published 1916 · Genre: Science Fiction, Humor, Short Story · 6,912 words
First lines
The idea of a gyro-hat did not come to me all at once, as some great ideas come to inventors; and in fact I may say that but for a most unpleasant circumstance I might never have thought of gyro-hats at all, although I had for many years been considering the possibility of utilizing the waste space in the top of silk hats in some way or other. As a practical hat dealer and lover of my kind, it had always seemed to me a great economical waste to have a large vacant space inside the upper portion of top hats, or high hats, or "stovepipe" hats, as they are variously called. When a shoe is on, it is full of foot, and when a glove is on, it is full of hand; but a top hat is not, and never can be, full of head, until such a day as heads assume a cylindrical shape, perfectly flat on top. And no sensible man ever expects that day to come.
What this Textopian page supports
An Experiment in Gyro-Hats is listed on Textopian as a novel by Ellis Parker Butler, dated 1916 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Novel
- Author: Ellis Parker Butler
- Date: 1916 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Science Fiction, Humor, Short Story, Satire
- Length: 6,912 words
- Structure: 1 section, 88 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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- Work identity for An Experiment in Gyro-Hats by Ellis Parker Butler
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- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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Genres
- Science Fiction — The plot revolves around an experimental technology, specifically gyro-hats, which is a hallmark of science fiction.
- Humor — The writing style and themes are comedic, focusing on the absurdity and humorous consequences of the experiment.
- Short Story — The narrative is concise and fits the structure of a short story.
- Satire — The story satirizes human behavior and societal norms through the lens of the gyro-hat experiment.
Tags
Humor · Satire · Science Fiction · Fantasy · Adventure · Innovation · Experimentation · Hat-making · Fashion · Absurdity · Whimsy · Quirky