Bet a hat

Who first said, "I'll bet a hat"?

- "Who" isn't known. According to Eric Partridge's A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, it is an 18th/early 19th century slang phrase. At that time a good quality beaver-felt hat was essential for a well-dressed man, but it was also extremely expensive if bought new. (Expensive enough that going to a coffee house and hanging up one's battered old hat, and afterwards walking out with someone else's new one, was a recognised form of crime, called "ringing castors".) A new hat was a conventional prize for a sporting contest such as a race, a boxing match or climbing the greasy pole (the equivalent for a women's contest was a fine linen shift). In cricket, a bowler who took three wickets with successive deliveries was traditionally awarded a hat (hence "hat-trick"). So to "bet a hat" - i.e. to say "I'll buy a new hat for anyone who can beat me/prove me wrong" - was to pledge quite a high stake. (VSD)