Dick's hatband

From the late 18th century, through the 19th century, there were a number of popular expressions like 'as queer as Dick's hatband', 'as tight as Dick's hatband', 'as fine as Dick's hatband' etc. In fact, Dick's hatband could be anything that one wanted it to be. It first appeared as 'queer as Dick's hatband' in the 1796 edition of Francis Grose’s Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, and soon made its way across the Atlantic to North America, but the expression is rarely heard or used these days.