The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-05-30
HEAD-GEAR.
A DESCRIPTION OF THE WAY
MEMS HATS ARE MADE.
The Method Of Making the Felt
from Fur-Shaping the "Bodyn-
Various Other Processes-g :,
Making Silk Hats.

With view to learn how mems hats
are made,a New York Telegram reporter
visited q number of hat manufactoIies
and gives below the result of his inquiries
Commencing with the derby, which is
the hat of the multitude End which i
made of fine felt, otherwise known as
fur, the question not unnaturally arises =
What is felt2 How is 1t made and what
is it made from2 r,s.
Felt then is fabric without warp OF
woof, made by hair interlocking together
and forming solid sheet, more imperv-
ious to air and water than any woven
fabric. How is this done2 BY simply
shaking the hairs together. It looks easy
when written about, but the shaking re.
quires skill and special machinery. -
Any person who takes the trouble to
pull hair out of his head will find, if
he has a delicate sense of touch, by pass
ing it through his fingers first one way
and then the other, that when pulling it
in one direction there is q slight resist
ance, while if pulled in the other direc-
ton it glides smoothly. This is because
in nearly all hairs, particularly short,
fine, soft, hairs, there are minute barbs.
A hair sometimes gets into the fabric Of
garment and travels all round it occa,
sionally. This is because it can only go
one way. By brushing or putting on or
off the garment the hair is pushed along
and works its way, always in one direc-
tion, because the barbs prevent it get
ting back. This is the reason why mat
ted hair is so difficult to straighten out.
The barbs become interlocked. <
Felting hair or fur is producing q
fabric by causing the hairs to interlock
closely. Derby hats of the best kind,
called fur hats, are made of the fur OF
certain animals, notably the Russian
hare, the nutria, which is found in the
Andes in South America, the beaver and
the cony. The fur of these animals is
particularly well adapted for felting."
There are three colors and qualities of
fur on each of these animals. When q
manufacturer is going to make fur hats,
either high or derby, he makes mixture
composed of fixed proportions OF six or
,even different kinds of fur. The hrst
operation is to put the mixture through
! blowing machine in ordef to clear it
rom long hairs which do not felt readi-
". Some manufacturers buy the skins
and cut off the fur themselves; but 9
great many have the hairs supplied
Them.
After the fur has passed through the
blowing machine and is ready to be
fused the quantity for each hat to be
manufactured is weighed out. To make
;he hat, whether high or q derby, the
:ur first passes through the forming
machine, in which is revolving table.
The fur is fed to this table, which passes
into the blower, where it is blown upon
revolving, cone, forming what is tech
aically known as ''body."
The body or cone is lifted OF and
dipped into caldron of boiling vitrlol
md water. This ''cone," which is to be
The hat when completed, is about four
lines the size of finished hat and OF
the fimsiest texture, something like
yray wadding torn apart. The bath of
7itriol and water gives it its first sizing.
1t then goes to very skilful workman,
called the hardener, who first carefully
ills. every hole by throwing in spare fur
md then puts it through machine
which causes the fur to shrink closely to-
sether. Then it goes to the sizing ma
chine, in which are number OF rollers,
which partially clear it of loose down
and where it IS reduced in size by com.
preston
From the sizing room it goes to the
,tiffening room, where it passes through
bath, in which shellac is the principal
Ingredient. The specific Ingredients Of
which the bath is composed and the pro-
portion of each are various, nearly every
workman having!a formula of his own.
It emerges from the bath a dirty gray
color and is sent to the colorer, who puts
It, with other hats, into large vat con-
raining the dye, where it remains two
days. 49,
The colorer sends it to the blocking
room, where it assumes the. first approx
nation to the shape Of hat. 1t is then
In shape like one of the beaver hats worn
IN London during the reign of George
Nv. r'~.
From the blocking machine it goes to
the finishing room, where it is softened
by steamed and reblocked again into the
shape it is designed to appear in for sale.
1t is then finished by hot iron and care
fully sand papered.
The hats, after passing through the
finishing room, are sorted out in dozen
lots, and the foreman of the finishing
room examines them very carefully, lay
ing aside any imperfect hats, which are
kept for .sknock DOWNS" as they are
called, and finished for cheaper kind Of
uat.
The curl of the brim intended for the
style of hat required has then to be given.
Sometimes they are curled by hand, but
generally the curling is done by
machinery.
After they are curled they receive the
"set," being either rolled up on the side
or dipped front and back as ordered.
The hats next 60 to the binders, the
binding being generally done by girls. 1t
is in most cases done by hand, although
q machine has beeh invented for the pur-
pose. The binders put the binding
round the outer edges of the hats.
From the binders they so to the trim
mers, who put in by hand the silk lin,
ing called the ''tip," next the band, and
finally, the sweat band or leather. In
some cases the sweat band is made and
put in by machinery, but in the finest
hats it is whipped in" by hand. The
finished hats are carefully examined by
the foreman and sent to,the packer, who
brushes them carefully and packs them
generally three in box and three dozen
boxes in a case ready for the market In
anv mart of the country.