The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-10-11
PRINTING MING HAT TIPS.
THE WORK is DONE FROM STEEL.
PLATES OR BRASS DIES.


An Interesting Business and How
1t Is Conducted.
Hattcrs' printing, which is the print
ing Of names, trademarks and other de-
signs upon hat tips and sweat feathers
in hats, and upon the labels used on
hat boxes, is a business by itself. The
hat tip, or crown lining Of hat, is
sometimes made Of paper, oftenest OF
satin. In a silk hat and in some stiff
hats the tip covers the entire interior
Of the crown above the sweat leather;
in straw Lats the tip is very often
composed of q broad strip Of satin
upon lace crown lining. Many stiff
hats and most soft hats are now fin
ished without tips, in which case the
trademark or name is printed Oh the
sweat leather.
Tip printing is done from brass dies
and in the finest work from steel
plates. These dies and plates are made
in very great variety. In large es-
tablishment devoted to hatters' print
ing there might be found 10000 dies
and 10000 steel plates. Proof impress
sions of this. great number Of dies and
plates fill many huge, ledger like vol
umes, upon whose pages they are Sc
cured as in scrapbooks.
There are throughout the couptry
thousands Of retailing hatters. each
having separate die Of his own, with
which the tips of the hats he sells are
printed; some hat jobbcrs might have
many dies, including dies OF trade
marks and designs for special lines of
goods. All these dies and plates. how
ever varied and widely distributed
their ownership may be, are kept in the
establishment Of the printer ready for
use on occasion. The owne, pays for
the engraving Of the first die, the cost
varying according to its elaborateness;
If die or plate becomes worn and 4
new die is needed the printer supplies
it.
In the large hattcrs' printing estab-
lishments everything pertaining to the
business is done, including the design
ing and engraving Of the dies and
plates, as we'll as the printing from
them. Some designs. the trademarks
of old established houses, become fa-
miliar from long continued use. AS dies
and plates wear out they are simply
same.
On the other hand. every year, for
one reason and another, many designs
90 out oc use, and finally the dies and
plates are destroyed; but every year
there are produced for individual deal
ers and for general, trade purposes
thousands of new designs, SO that the
number of dies and plates on hand ut
the printers is always great These
designs. aside from those made for in
diyidual hatters, include q very great
variety CT subjects. Thus there might
be seer printed on hat tips ships and
locomotives and horses and anvils
and many other things; and any name
or object of public interest at the mo-
ment is likely to be reproduced inside
Of hats.
Almost every hat worn bears within
it printing in some form. II the hat
has no tip it appears on the sweat leath-
or. and it may also be in such q hat
upon what is called stcker, this be-
ing a piece of paper, cloth or leather,
in outline Of the exact shape and size
of the die upon which are printed the
dealers trademark and name, the
sticker being pasted in the center Of
the crown Of the hat.
The retail hat dealer, wherever he
may be, if he desires distinctive
trademark or name design to appear in
the hats he sells, sends to some big
hatters' printing establishment for q
design; lie sends, perhaps, q suggestion
Of his own, or it may be that he relies
upon the designer of the printing es-
tablishmcnt. One or more designs are
made and submitted to him for ap-
proval According rs may be required.
such designs might cmbody in some ar
tistic form simply the name and ad-
dress; often such dies or plates are
made in designs appropriate to the re-
gion, state or locality. Such dies and
plates are made in almost endless va
riety. The plate would remain 1T the
printers, and when the retailer ordered
hats Of the jobber with whom he dealt
the jobbcr would have the tips and
sweat feathers with which the hats
thus ordered were finished printed
from the customers own dies.
Tips are printed in gold leaf. in silver
leaf and in aluminium leaf and in ink
in various colors; sometimes they are
printed in combinations Of colors. Most
commonly, however, they are printed
in single metal or color. All sweat
feathers are printed in one or another
Of the metals.
Box labels for hat boxes are made
both plain and embossed in very
great variety Of styles, and these are
printed in variety as to color. A hat
dealer might have his own design COM
plete for box label rs we'll as for hat
tin: or he may select one from among
many box labels that are made with q
blank space to receive 4 die and have
his own die inserted in the label.
Many hat tips printed from dies en-
graved here are exported to Canada for