page_title: Hatmaking
hierarchical_section_title: Hatmaking
caption_attribution_description: English: From Charles Knight's Pictorial Gallery of the Arts, England, 1858. Fur industry, hat-making, Canadian voyageurs. The manufacturing of beaver-hair top hats from Canada-produced pelts.
context_page_description: Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and head-wear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter.
  Millinery is sold to women, men and children, though some definitions limit the term to women's hats. Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of garments for men, women, and children and sold these garments in their millinery shop. More recently, the term milliner is more often used to describe a person who designs, makes, sells or trims hats primarily for a female clientele. The origin of the term is probably the Middle English milener, meaning an inhabitant of the city of Milan or one who deals in items from Milan, once known for setting the fashion standards in Europe.
context_section_description: Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and head-wear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter.
  Millinery is sold to women, men and children, though some definitions limit the term to women's hats.  Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of garments for men, women, and children and sold these garments in their millinery shop.  More recently, the term milliner is more often used to describe a person who designs, makes, sells or trims hats primarily for a female clientele.  The origin of the term is probably the Middle English milener, meaning an inhabitant of the city of Milan or one who deals in items from Milan, once known for setting the fashion standards in Europe.
caption: Canada's early fur trade was largely built on the fashion for beaver hats in Europe, particularly top hats. The steps in manufacturing hats are illustrated in this image from 1858.
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