The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-07-13
SILK HATS OLD AND NEW.
A Dealer in Genteel Headwear Chats
About His Customers
Fronl lhe Chicaqo MaN.

Getting to wear a silk occasionally, if not
reguIarlv. 1t is the cheapest hat man
can wear, anyway Howe Why because a
silk only costs from S. up, but little more
than a first class derby or soft felt, and it
will out last three of either You can ruff
M a silk tile into almost any degree of I'M
recognizable disreputability, and for 25
CENTS or 80 cents at most, it can, if it was
GOOD hat originally, be restored to almost
It's original elegance. A good silk hat will
last a full season if 1t is not mashed or wet
NV some accident, and at the end of that
time will retain a fair degree of respecta-
bility in appearance. A silk hat never
fades. YOU know, but constant exposure TO
rain and dust will in time dim its luster.
Tint, however, is easily repaired by wash
ing and ironing. If the frame is broken,
Of course the hat must be blocked Iron
ing and blocking are different matters.
Now | can have that hat of yours ironed
while YOU wait, but to have it blocked
would take two hours.
Watch that hat being ironed. See, the
iron is already hot. He takes brush, re-
lieves the nap of the hat from accumulated
dust. and arranges the silk fibers smoothly
and in order. Now he takes that small
iron and rubs the brim around. See how
the dull, lusterless surface and the abraded
NAL shine returns. Now that big smooth
ing iron comes into play. He holds the hat
in his hand and rubs the iron lightly but
firmly around the hat in the direction the
nap lies. The luster is renewed battered
places are pressed into shape and kept there.
and now, with artful usage and an avoid
auce Of rain, the tile is as good as new, save
that it is a little off in shape 1t was
probably bought in st. Louis There is not
e, cil hot clo
sell better The hatters don't import many
silks, and are still selling our styles left over
from the hats ordered for the convention
two years ago, The consequence is, when
aver man buys silk hat in St Louis or
Waukesha or any other way-station he
runs the risk of paying for a hat of the vim
tage of '76. The styles changing from year
to year, consist i'll a looser or tighter roll of
brim, more or less concavity to the sides or
the crown, variation in the hight of the
crown and the dip of the brim, and in the
width and material of the trimmings. A
very small reduction in the circumference
of a hat crown in the middle will make an
astonishing difference in the apparent shape
of the hat when worn 1t is this slight
change in shape which makes the wearer
of a silk tile well-dressed man, dude, or
a shoddy limitation of a careful and cor
rect dresser. Styles i'll hats are beginning
10 repeat, anu puO ul1ll WIZ las dll Olu
shape of some years ago lSright in style
Do many people have hats blocked and
ironeda Well, l should say they do. Every
condition of mau-and women, too-cOmes
iii here to get his or her hat blocked to the
correct shape, and ironed if it has been wet.
Womenf Oh, yes. EqueStriennes, you
know. Those fairy creatures that you see
bouncing up and down on a DETAILED trot-
ter along the lake shore drive. They get
i L
silk riding hats spoiled SO that they must be
renovated. Dudes get their hats rubbed
the wrong way in crowds or get 'em wet or
sat upon. They come straight to us, of
course. A new tile costs from s. to IS, and
lots Of em can't afford more than one or
two year. Lawyers, politicians. brokers,
and doctors nearly all wear the shining
silk tile, and all but the doctors come to us
to get them ironed. The medical men get
wear a hat till it gets shabby-looking ana
then give it away or throw it away and
buy a new one.
I'VE strike some queer subject occasion
ally. A man was in here yesterday whom
anybody could spot at squares distance as
coming from the hoop-pole district He
had on boots, but they were guiltless of
backing An old Prince Albert coat was
buttOned tightly around his gaunt FORM
and his sleeves ended in bare wrists, not in
cuffs. He wore a paper collar, a black
string tie, and a silk hat that would have
been worth its weight in gold about March
II, when all true lrishmen rake up one, by
hook or crook, if possible. 1t was an old,
tapering bell-crown, with little 'dinkey'
curled brim The hat had been somebody's
pride fifteen years ago. He wanted the hat
lroned, but didn't care to pay for having
the shape changed by blocking. He was a
politician as | learned, and was making the
race for the supervIsorship in the Prairie
cove district. 1t was his first visit to Chi
cago, and he had numerous commissions to
execute for his family and constituents, and
also intended to see the sights and curiosi-
ties. He wanted to know where the thea
ter was located, that that there ballet com
pany was playin' at, aud took down the d-
recton l gave him in a memorandum
book.
Another queer character that came in
here the other day was an Irishman just
over. He had hat of the shape never
seen of of the 'ould sod save upon the
stage. 1t was one of those cone-shaped
crowns, modification of the old puritan
icai sugar-loaf. The style, | believe, is pc
clnar TO country gentlemen in some carts
OF Ireland. A hat something similar in
shape was worn in this country by the
young swells about the time of the revolu-
uonary war. The hat was slightly dam
aged by wet and little broken, We fixed
u up and the Irishman went away happy.
Gentlemen who have been out with the
ooys' frequently show up the next morning
little the worse for the wear and want a
smoothing iron and block used on their
Tiles. Sometimes they look as though the
eretchlng apparatus might also be
applied much to their comfort.
mats that have been out for time
are frequently considerably democrat
lzed. Sometimes they are only rubbed the
wrong way, but oftener they look like con-
certlnas, from being sat upon. One fellow,
d prominent young lawyer, came in here
'ue other morning with his eyes hardly
H Tten and smell of cocktails on his breath.
ms nat was slightly broken and his collar
vas little wilted The hat needed iron
ing and | called the man who does the
"ork to take charge of it. He did so, aud
a. az soon he touched it a look of surprise,
. ing4 one OF disgust, came over his face. He
aelu the Lat out at arms length, held his
h and said: Here, | don't want the
eath officers after me- The young man
Sook ms hat, surprised and angry Before
nc could speak, however he turned up his
Use and broke for fresh air, dropping the
uuu as he went. picked up the Dunlap and
dIui.ledlately recognized the smell that bad
xlEeh OFT the other two. IL was the odor
g. Aunoerger cheese, accented and magni-
" turned down the sweat-band, and
Sy u dropped. Some of the gang had
uAed Charlie the night before, when he
70 t,,rr ahf q