The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-09-29
OLD AND NEW HATS.
INTERESTING POINTS ABOUT
MEMS HEADGEAR.
Silk and Felt Mostly Used in Max.
ing Hats-Feltine Process
The Origin Of the
Stovepipe.


country. Of course, you don't know what
skinner isl There is one right across
the way, and you can find any number
on the Bowery and on Hester and Baxter
streets. Go ther, if you want to find out
something about old hats"
AS long as it will hold together, hat,
be it ever so battered and shapeless, re-
tains certain value in the eyes of the
dealer in old clothes and the ragpickers.
Crushed, frayed, and dim, they are car
ried off to BE- rejuvenated in frowsy back
shops. 1t is wonderful to mark the
Transformation which the cunning touch
of the manipulators can effect, or how
their glue and brown paper, backing and
dyed rabbits fur can stiffen and smarten
the mangiest old tile into the semblance
of its early prime.
One of the best known establishments
in which old hats undergo rejuvenat-
ing pre- cess is to be found on the Bowery.
It is an old, narrow and frowsy shop,
filled to overfowing with old, misshapen
things once appendages to the seat of
human reason. In the years of its ex-
istence the old shop and its proprie-
tor must have seen numerous changes in
masculine headgear. The owner of the
establishment, for some mysterious
reason, is deeper than many of his
brothers on Hester street and Park row
in the secrets of the elixir which turns
old garments into new. He is no con-
jurer, and never tries the proverbially
difficult experiment of placing new heads
on old shoulders. But how many, many
times has he succeeded in putting old
hats on young heads, especially in remote
country districts. His womankind serve
him we'll, making it labor of love to re-
place the lost nap, aud handling the bare
edges as gingerly as if the felt or paste
board below were dynamite ready to ex-
plode underrough usuage. Refreshed hats
at this establishment are not dear either.
They are quoted at from 81 to $3.50.
Thirty.fve cents represents the charge
of the old clothes dealer, the rest is for
labor, establishment, and fair profit. At
81 the pretty and brilliant thing seems
cheap. 1t bears fine weather we'll, and
may figure creditably on Broadway for
three Consecutive Saturday afternoons.
But at tie downpour of rain, glue and
gum and paint, silk and brown paper re-
solve themselves into their original con-
stituents, and the whole fabric collapses
like dissolving view.
''The prevailing tendency of the age"
said the ropr:etor of the shop, ''is to
avoid distinction of dress except in the
value of the material, and then only be-
tween the two great divisions of society,
the rich and the poor. Hence all orna-
ments seems to be a superHuity, except
upon occasions of public display or mill
tary service. Men will not now listen to
any one who advises them to put feath-
ers and gold lace on their hats and caps.
Men of the present day are determined
to be plain about the head as we'll as
about the body. All ornaments of head
dress they have left to the fairer half of
the creation
What material is mostly used in
bats?"
"Silk and felt. In mems hats only
one radi al change has taken place with
in the last thirty years, and that is with
reference to the material of the nap.
Formerly in the more expensive hats that
was always of beaver fur or beaver fur
mixed into the down of the hair and the
fur of the musk rat. The excessive de-
mand for this pcltry and the great profits
of the trappers have nearly caused the
extinction of the beaver. Beaver fur
became very dear, and substitutes had to
be devised. Hat maps were made from
the fur of the rabbit, from other inferior
furs, and especially from cat skins. At
the best a beaver hat was tire:ome arti-
Gle of apparel. 1t was very clean and
wanted the most dainty handling and
the most scientific brushing. 1t either
got rough and woolly and dim, quite
losing its pristine gloss, or it became
greasy and single days neglect gave it
even in youth all the marks of decrepit
old age. The silk hat has supplanted it
after fierce struggle, having to over
come the opposition of the whole fur.
dealing interest. Far off in the north of
this country the white trapper and the
Indian hunter caused the change of
fashion, and then turned to seek bread
in other ways. The beaver has actually
reappeared in the long settled districts
of Canada"
"What is understood by fe!ting?"
"Wool, so long as it contains the nat
ural yoke or animal grease, refuses to
felt; that is, its fibrcs will not mat
together into compact and close grained
mass, which constitutes felt. When the
yolk has been extracted by chemical
process the wool has tendency to inter-
lace its fibres and to adhere firmly to the
union thus formed. From very remote
period the Orientals have had this
secret"
"How did men come to wear the
stovepipe2"
"The hot -blooded youth who fought for
Americ an independence under Lafayette
and Rochambeau brought back the
round, stiff trimmed hat with them to
Paris as curious novelty. There used
to be mob round Franklin when that
benevolent print Represented the young
Republic at the moribund court Of Louis
XVI, so wonderful in the eye; of tn,
Parisinns was the modern cylinder. But
the new hat had about it prestige of
liberty and equality. 1t seemed a pro-
test against the lac!d triangle that kings
and marshals had worn so long, and
which had something of ceremonial
stiffness inherent in it. The Republicans
of France adopted the hat. A hideous,
tall. tapering, French chimney pot it IS.
we'll worthy of reprobation on the ground
of its intrinsic demerits.'
"What do you consider the best head