Mdme Krimball was a prolific designer and her contribution to practical millinery cannot be understated. Her most famous creation, Krimball’s Therapeutic Live Cuckoo Hat, was not only the preferred women’s headwear in the 1880s for its unmatched stylishness, but served a very important purpose: from 1879 to 1887 many women in London and Paris were stricken with a germ that caused sudden and unpredictable bouts of somnolence, often whilst ambulating or mid-conversation. Krimball’s hat, through a patented gyromechanical gizmo could sense the wearer’s drooping head and would activate the ejection of a live, screaming cuckoo bird to rouse the napping madam. It is unknown how many lives were saved by this amazing invention.
Lycra Bustier Art 