Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1874-08-26
How Silk and Felt Hats are Made.

lStocrltlc OF the two, AMI commands the
attention first. 1t used to be known as
g beaver" hat. from the material that was
! formerly used in its manufacture. There
Is nothing beaver about it now, and its
materials are of the most commonplace
description. From an examination of the
extensive hat factories of Brown & Wilcox
and 5. G.. Taylor, the following points con-
corning the making of hats were gather
ed
The material is cotton cloth, shellac and
silk. The cotton cloth is all made abroad,
and comes in different thicknesses for the
different parts of the hat. 1t is woven
quite open and loose. and the heavier kinds
seem almost like flnnls. Having cut the
cloth into suitable sizes, it is soaked in "A
solution of shellac till saturated, and the
several thicknesses are pressed together.-
/ forming a hard, stiff sheet resembling
cardboard. The shellac is reduced with
ammonia and dissolved in warm water.
| BY skillful rubbing the cloth is nude to
take up this gummy matter, and when the
sheets are cold they are, as we have siid.
Il species of dark rel board. The idea of
using shellac is, that on heating the cotton
the shelac melts and the cloth becomes
elastic again. While warm, it may be
bent into any desired shape; and, when
cold. it stiffens and retains the shape given
to it.
From this cloth-board the hat is formed
by a simple cutting out AMI putting to-
gether. The rim joins the crown, AMI a
hot iron applied to the surface causes the
>hellac to melt. and the edges are joined at
once. To give greater strength. a band is
placed next the crown. AMI in a genlle
] ha. ~
| pie process the hat is formed of any shtp.
that may be desired. A coat of varn.sh
and a few hours exposure to Il gentle hed
to drive out the moisture, and the hat is
ready to receive the silk, and TO take its
last shaping an finishing touches.
! The silk is IL mixture of silk and cotton
| from Germany and France. The princi-
pal maker is Martin ut Tarare and Nets.
Since the war. NJ. Martins factories have
been moved from Metz into the territory
of France. though the trade mark on the
cloth is still marked ." Tarare and Metz
! This cloth has been made in this country,
| but our makers have never been able To
| rival the fine black silk of the French and
| German makers. 1t costs from seven To
eighteen francs, gold. per yard in France.
and every hat thlt Is worn mast pay the
duty of fifty per cent. No wonder The
price is high. This silk is cut out into
suitable shapes to fit the hat rim and the
crown. The crown piece is sewn to-
gether in the form of Ii rounI bag. an
when the stiff cotton hat is heated with an
iron. the silk is pressed on cotton sile
down. and soon adheres firmly. Then
after polishing and shaping. it is ready for
the trimmers and liners. These are girls
and women. that. with nimble fingers, put
on the binding. the band ana the leather
| lining. The silk lining for the inside is
secured by heating and pressing. and the
] only stitches are in the binding, the banas
and the leather. As there IS nothing 3lt
cloth about the hat. the sewing is not diff
ficult. and the work is quickly done. The
whole process is simply Il matter of tenn
perature. Heat the hat, and the softened
shellac allows the cloth to take any desired
shape. Though not difficult, the process
requires great skill and extreme deiic;tcy
and neatness in handling. All the mater
ials except the enameled leather for the
inside are imported under heavy duties,
and the silk hat is decidedly Il luxury.
! In England, not to wear Il silk hat is To
confess ones self lost to the world, an out
cast in society, and lays one open to very
cold shoulder Wear a soft hit if you
dare, in Regent street, Most people don't
dare and crown themselves with the un-
happy thing. while their hearts secretly
mourn for their dear old felt hat-the com
fortable-the lovely. Let us be thankful
that in the model republic we can wear a
soft hat (bless 1.-THE conntry-and the
hat. too) and no grand dignitdres will snub
us for it. The silk hat is. no doubt. the
proper thing, but we never could bring
/ ourselves to be proper all the time. The
soft felt hit is the national hit of the
country, and until we sink into a degener
ate monarchy it Will he worn by the great
company of sensible people
THE SOFT HAT.
The soft hat is made of fur, the short
hair of the coney and the Russian hare.
The muskrat has contributed in a small
way, but the supply is limited, and the
amount used is too small to be of much
consequence. The coney is raised in Eng
land for his fur, and the Russian animal il
probably wild The hair clipped off in
| fiocks comes in small bales, AMI, as might
be supposed, is dirty and matted together.
The first process is to run it into a picker,
that tears and blows it apart, It's Il cone
shaped barrel. covered with sharp points,
and it revolvcs at 4 high speed. while II
fan-blower drives the fur over it and on
through tube into Il closet, where it falls
gently to the floor. Gathering it up care
fully, so as to leave the heavy dirt on the
floor, Il boy carries it to another machine.
where the same process is repeated in an
other form. This machine consists of a
number of toothed rollers. revolving at
high speed in Il long chamber. An endless
band of cloth conveys the fur from one
roller to another and each tears and sep
ar,tes it and tusses it into the air, that it
NAV float clear and clean, while the heavy
part falls under the rollers and comes back
on another belt If one cleaning is not
enough it is passed through again. Small
windows along the side enable the work
men to see the process going on, and fine
wire netting over the top prevents the
hair from blowing away. The hair comes
out at the end a soft, fluny grey mass,
with the hairs mingled and matted In every
conceivable direction.
The next step is to make this loose hair
into IL solid mass that will hold together
like a piece of cloth This is the most
curious process of all, and shows how COM
mon air NAV be used in mechanics. The
machine that forms the felt consists of two
parts, the apparatus to drive the hair
upon the cone and the machinery that turns
the cone and shapes the future hat. After
weighing the hair SO that the hats will be
of equal weight, the fur is spread on end
less band that draws it slowly into the
whirling fan that blows it in torrent out
! of Il acone-shaped tube. At the mouth stands
a copper cone about three feet high and
one foot wide at the base. The top comes
to rounded point, and the whole is pierced
| with fine holes. II rests upon revolving
table opposite the mouth of the blower.
| Under this table is another fan blower that
sucks powerful stream of air through
the holes of the cone When all is ready,
the stream of floating hair flies out and
lodges on the turning cone. The bright
copper seems to grow dull and fade. 1t
turns grey, and we see that the hair is
driven upon it and held firmly down by
tho ;xaSid6a Prasaratlx y