The UK's very first hard hat was the bowler hat, designed in the late 1800s for gamekeepers patrolling their employers' estates on horseback, to protect them from being hit on the head by low branches, or from being hit over the head by poachers! The first hard hat for industrial use was produced in 1919 by the San Francisco-based Bullard company. It was inspired by the "doughboy" helmet, used by soldiers in the First World War. Known as the "hard-boiled hat", it was made using steamed canvas, glue and black paint. Bullard soon incorporated a suspension device into its hat.