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Was The Dunce Hat Actually Used? : The History of Ordinary Things

I was recently asked if the Dunce Hat was real. Here is the answer:

Originally the Dunce hat was a symbol of high intelligence. It was worn by the respected scholars who followed John Duns Scotus (c. 1265-1308). Scotus was a Scottish Franciscan priest and friar, an expert philosopher, and a theologian. He devised an explanation for the existence of a metaphysical God in contrast to the idea of a “Man in the Sky.” His teachings were known as “Scotism.” His devoted students were known as “Dunsmen.”

Scotus believed the pointed shape of the hat would, in some metaphysical way, function as a reverse funnel for knowledge. Wisdom would flow into the pointed tip and spread into the brain below. At the time it was understood that focusing on a point above and behind the crown of the head would enhance the ability to concentrate and be fully aware. Some referred to it as the 8th chakra associated with universal wisdom. Scotus developed a ‘duns cap’ to be worn by children. The intent was to help them concentrate by focusing on the point of the cap.

For two centuries the Dunsmen were intellectual leaders. They had control of the universities until the Reformation (mid 1500s) when Scotism teachings fell out of favor with church scholars. The theories were then deemed idiotic and not current with church teachings. With Scotism discredited, the once-fashionable “Duns” cap became a symbol of stupidity.

In 1624, a “dunce-table” was mentioned in the John Ford play, The Sun’s Darling. It was in reference to a place where disruptive children, or dullards, were seated apart from others. More than 200 years later, Charles Dickens’ 1840 novel, The Old Curiosity Shop, referenced the Dunce cap.

During the Victorian era the Dunce cap was used as a method of discipline in Europe and America. It was as much a punishment as a warning to other children thinking of acting out. The classic late 1800s school image is of a sullen child in a cone hat sitting on a stool in a corner of the classroom. The hat was labeled with the word “dunce” or a large letter “D.”

The conical hat served to shame disruptive children. This included the troublemakers, class clowns, slow learners, and children with learning disabilities. Other targeted children were immigrants with language limitations and farm kids who only attended school periodically because of farm work. Children were made to sit or stand on the stool wearing the dunce cap. By the 1950s classroom etiquette changed in the United States. Use of the dunce cap was phased out and banned in most Western schools. In some parts of England this habit persisted into the 2000s.

Scotus was redeemed when in 1993, Pope John Paul II beatified Scotus (assigned religious honor) for his contributions to religious theory. But this did not change the universally negative connotation attributed to the Dunce cap.

A little-known fact-it was only after the 1915 debut of the infamous film, The Birth of a Nation, that the Ku Klux Klan uniform included a pointed hat. According to my research, the film’s Director, D.W. Griffith, borrowed the costumes from another film to cut his production costs. The white pointed hat was adopted by the KKK thereafter.

And that is the story of the Dunce hat.

Doris Montag

Doris Montag

Doris is a collector, a storyteller and a free-lance curator whose passion is unlocking the stories in collections from family or private individuals. She develops and installs exhibits in small museums, libraries, and public spaces. And she writes about her experiences in her column, The History of Ordinary Things. > Read Full Biography > More Articles Written By This Writer