More of Tommy Cooper's trademark hats up for auction

Two more fezzes worn by Tommy Cooper are going under the hammer – with experts expecting them to fetch up to £3,000 each.

Signed by the comedy icon, the signature red hats from the 1960s were taken to a valuation event run by TV antiques expert Charles Hanson.

He said: 'What a find, and I made it just like that! The prop is now regarded as an icon of 20th century comedy. To find not one but two fezzes was magical for me. One is inscribed "Just like that 1965".

‘The owner was thrilled to learn they could make between £2,000 and £3,000 each under the hammer. In 2010, a Tommy Cooper fez achieved £4,750 at auction.

‘It never ceases to amaze me what people have tucked away at home. The hats date back to Tommy’s entertainment heyday. They were gifted to the seller’s family around 30 years ago. Sadly, Tommy is no longer with us but his magic lives on and his fezzes will be coveted, possibly by fellow magicians.

In 2021, a fez was auctioned off on The Greatest Auction, with London’s Museum Of Comedy outbid for the item, which went for £5,000. Another was sold by East Bristol Auctions the same year for £4,000.

The anonymous seller is based in Norfolk and took the hats to be valued at Hanson auctioneer’s saleroom in the village of Roughton.

She said: ‘The fezzes have been treasured for decades by my husband. In the 1990s, a customer at our old family restaurant in the seaside town of Cromer in Norfolk gave them to us. My husband and all his family were Tommy Cooper mad. That’s why the lovely customer gifted them to us. 

‘We have sold the restaurant after more than 40 years and decided it was time to part with the fezzes.’

Cooper – who died aged 63 on April 15, 1984 after suffering a heart attack live on TV – started wearing the distinctive headgear while developing his act as part of a Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI) entertainment party in the 1940s.

Hanson added: ‘Legend has it he was performing for soldiers in Cairo, Egypt, when he reached out and borrowed a fez from a passing waiter. It got such laughs it became his trademark. It added a visual element to his comical expressions and lumbering 6ft 4in frame and he never performed without one. 

‘Tommy was taken from us all too soon but the fact that his fezzes command significant prices 40 years after his death underlines his impact and the affection still felt for him today. He developed a unique act which continues to inspire magicians and performers.

‘We expect strong interest in the fezzes because they come with good provenance, which is so important in the world of entertainment memorabilia.’

The fezzes will go under the hammer at The Rostrum auctioneers in Roughton, Groveland, Norfolk, on September 7.

Published: 29 Aug 2024