Sharp County record., 1899-10-27
HATTERS' PRINTING.
Names, Trade. Marks and Designs
for Sweat Leathers
some Of the Work is So Finely Done
Steel Ensravings Are Used
All Hats Are Marked IN
Some Manner.

Hatters 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
tin, or crown lining of q hat, is some
times made of paper, oftenest of satin.
In n silk hat and in some stiff hats the
lin covers the entire interior of the
crown of the sweat leather; in straw
hats the tip is very often composed of
a broad strip of satin upon lace crown
lining. Many stiff hats and most soft
hats are now finished without tips, in
which case the trademark or name is
printed on the sweat leather.
Tip printing is done from brass dies,
and in the finest work from steel plates.
1 These dies and plates are made in very
great variety. In large establish
melt devoted to hatters' printing there
might be found 10000 dies and 10000
steel plates. Proof impressions of this
great number of dies and plates fill
many huge, ledger-like volumes, upon
whose pages they are secured as in
scrapbooks. There are through the
country thousands of retailing matters,
each having a separate die Of his own,
with which the tips of the hats he sells
are printed some hat jobbers 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 es'
tablishment of the printer, ready for
use on occasion. The owner pays for
the engraving of the first die, the cost
varying according to its elaborateness;
if die or plate becomes worn and a
new die is needed the printer supplies
it.
In large hatters printing establish
ments everything pertaining to the
business is done, including the design
ing and engraving of the dies and
plates, as well as the printing from
them, Some designs, the trademarks
of old-established houses, become IA
mliar from long-continued use. AS
dies and plates wear out they are sim
ply replaced, the design continuing the
same On the other hand, every year,
for one reason and another, many de-
signs go out of use, and finally the dies
and plates are destroyed; but every
year there are produced for individual
dealers and for general trade purposes
thousands of new designs, so that the
number of dies and plates on hand at
the printers is always great. These de-
signs, aside from those made for in
dividal hatters, include very great va
riety of subjects. Thus, there might
be seen 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
leather, and it may also be in such a
hat upon what is called sticker, this
being q 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 trade
mark or name design to appear in the
hats he sells, sends to some big hat
ters' printing establishment for de-
sign; he sends, perhaps, suggestion
Of his own, or it may be that he relies
upon the designer of the printing es-
Enlistment. One or more designs are
made and submitted to him for approx
al. According as may be required, such
dealers might embody in some artistic
form simply the name and address;
often such dies or plates are made in
designs appropriate to the region,
state or locality. Such dies and plates
are made in almost endless variety
The plate would remain at the print
er's, and when the retailer ordered hats
Of the jobber with whom he dealt the
jobber would have the tips and sweat
feathers with which the hats thus or
dcred were finished printed from the
customers own dies.
Tips are printed in gold leaf, in sill
yer leaf and In aluminium leaf, and in
ink in various colors; sometimes they
are printed in combinations of metals
with 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 nat 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 complete
for box label as well MS for hat tip; or
he may select one from among many
box labels that are made with n blank
space TO receive die, and have his own
die inserted In the label.
Many hat tips printed from dies en-
gravcd here are exported to Canada for
use In hats that are finished there and
there nrc also made here suitable dies