The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-10-10

Haypers Magazine, for October, hasAs interest
ing article on the manufacture Of straw bonLets
and hats Straw bonpcts and hs.s were origin
ally made In Italy The italian, or rs they arc
commonly called, the "Leghorn" hats, are made
Of slender sFaws from a species Of be trdsd
wheat which is grown expressly for the hat
manufacturer The making Of these hats gives
employ ment 10 large numbers Of tho Italian
peasantry. The Italian hat was introduced into
England a little more than hundred years ago.
This hat consisted Of an enormous circle Of straw,
with central skun.cap of the same material.
The Inconvenience of such a hat was IN a
measure obviated by fastening down the sides,
| and thus forming the sO-called "Gipsy-hat."
| "NariOus unsuccessful attempts were made 10
u-OCify the ugliness of this form Of hat, bet no
radical change took place until about the year
1890 when the hinder par Of the brm proving
troublesome, some women OF fashion Ia it of
spleen cut 10 off. Thus second advance towards
| the modern bOnnets was made. After this
| NUM-, ruus new shapes of bonnets or hats began
| to appear. From all these changes the lcgiu-
| mate bonnet came out triumphant, aud nOtwith-
| sttnoiug its protean character, the variations in
| sizc AID shape, has retained tho same essential
| chFTaCu ristiCs ever since"
The first straw bonnet manufactured in this
| country was in l70S, by Miss Batsey MetCalf, OF
Provdt nee, RhOue Island, now Mrs. Baker of
| Dedham, Mas. She saw AN imported Dunstahlc
| bonnet In shop m Providence, and like her
SISTERS Of the pre- day (tOT where is the woman
thati not attracted by pretty bonnet y earnestly
longing for enc like IL, she attempted an imita-
ton. Taking some Oat stubDle from a field
where her ia hers aOOrGrs had been rCaping, she
split the straws with her thumb nails and made
her first attempt at plating. After several fail
ures she succ eded in initiating the braid of the
admired affair in the shop, and made herself a
bonnet" She was then but twelve years of age.
Oh Mrs. Betsey Baker under what load OF
ChliU fiOuq Ing vOuLlful ingenuity nlupaI
our wives and SISTERS
"a facsimile of Mrs. Bakers first bonnet Is
preseTY, ia the rooms Of the Rhode Island
Society for the Encouragement of Domestic In
dusuy.
We can readily fancy the excitement that bonnet
made among the friends of Betsey Metcalfs
family the caEerness with which mothers and
daught rs handled the straWs, in striving 70
imi ate her plating.
The art was rapidly devcloped-Miss Metcalf
was generous and learned her iriouds-and they,
in Their turn, instructed their friends, and soon
straw hraidiug became the "CrOChet- work of the
day - SO much so thai some piOus souls began TO
see in 10 a great evil as u pandered to the
Vanity OF the women. In 1925 a DR. Stanley wrote
an Essay for the Manufacture Of Straw BOnnets, !"
in which he laid al kinds of evil results AT the
door Of straw braidS. But, Notwithstanding his
Efforts o the contrary, the manufacture of bratds
anu bpunets rapidly increased, until now large
establishments exist for their manuficture--
mostly confined, however, to Southeastern Mas
sachuselts, aside from two in Connecticut, and
two on three IN New Yolk city.
A dCzcn towns in Southeastern Massachusetts,
rely upon The hOnnet factories for their principal
mtal Of su port. Twelve thousand peTsouS are
employ, ny them, and they send away annually
nearl eght millions OF DOuuets aud hats. The
Union Straw Works, which were established by
The hessrs. q. G. Carpenter, in 1853, at Fox
borough, MassaChuSetts, are the largest OF the
kind in this country or Europe The value Of
it, goods aunua ly manufactured is ten million
dollars. The plating and sewing is mostly me
by families in their own homes, while the pre-
psTatiou Uf he straw aud the finishing up of the
bonnets and hats is done at the factories.