Article: Fez facts...just like that; answers to correspondents.

QUESTION

Does the headwear known as a fez (like the one worn by comedian Tommy Cooper, pictured) have a practical purpose?

THE red fez with the black tassel has been handed down through the ages. It was named after the city of Fez, in Morocco, which had numerous schools, libraries and a famous university.

After 1095AD, when pilgrimages to Mecca started to be interrupted by the Crusades, Muslims living west of the Nile made trips to Fez as the Holy City.

At that time, a scarlet tarboosh (a cylindrical, tasselled cap) was part of the uniform of one of the great schools.

Pilgrims, who often wore similar headgear, brought back ...

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