Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-28
HAT EVOLVES FROM
SMALL BEGINNING c
SILVERW00D SHOWS HOW IT'S
DONE
Exhibit Being Prepared at 22t South
Spring Street Will Reveal Mys-
terry Of the Making Of
Headgear

Though practically all men wear hats
few of them know how they are made,
and an exhibit which will be of inter-
est to the male population of Los An
geles and perhaps to some of the mem
bers of the fair sex is now being pre-
pared by the Crofut & Knapp manu-
featuring house and soon will be dis
played In the window of F. B. Silver
wood & Co., 22l South Spring street.
The first derby hat made was turned
out by the Crofut d Knapp Hat com
pany and they have been operating
since 1858.
There is legend handed down
among the old hatters of England
that the discovery of the process of
felting happened in this wise:
A certain monk who had fallen from
grace was ordered by his superiors in
the monastery to walk to a neighbor-
ing town six miles away with hand
full of hard peas in his shoes. The
good brother, desirous of fulfilling this
penance with as little suffering to him
self as possible, first placed the peas
in his shoes and over them spread a
good handful of soft wool.
Monk Makes Felt
The movement of his feet as he
walked and the moisture from them
caused the wool to mat or felt together.
and when removed from his shoes in
place of the wool there came out a
thin layer of felt. From the discovery
grew the industry to be known as St.
Clement, the patron saint of all hat
ters.
In the manufacturing of felt hats,
either soft or derby, the chief material
used is the fine, soft fur taken from q
variety of animals, such as the hare
and rabbit among the land animals
and the beaver, nutria, otter and seal
of the water animals. Only the fur
near the skin is used, the long, coarse
hair being plucked out before this
hair is cut from the skin. To under
stand why fur will knit or mat itself
into a smooth, strong, pliable material
known as felt one must know that if a
single fiber is examined under a mi
croscope 1t will be seen that it is built
like a feather with tiny barbS along
each side, all pointing one way. This
causes it to interlace and felt to-
gether when dipped in hot water and
rolled backward and forward.
The manufacturer in selecting his
stock for making hats is governed by
the grade and price of hat desired. 1t
is only in the very finest of hats, such
one kind of fur is used The ordinary
hat is made up very often of at least
half a dozen different grades of fur.
Makers Have Secrets
Each maker has his mixtures which
long experience has taught him are the
| best for obtaining certain results, and
| these mixtures are religiously guarded
as secrets of the factory. A certain
number of pounds of one kind of fur
| blended with a certain number OF
pounds of several other kinds will pro-
duce a certain number of hats of a
certain quality, for all fur does not felt
alike. Some work to the center and
give finish and luster and others work
to the surface and give strength.
After the fur is selected it goes to
the mixing machine. where it is thor
oughly blown and mixed. 1t is then
weighed and put in the blowing ma
chine, from where it Is blown in a
cloud of dust to large copper cone
thirty inches high and twenty inches
in diameter at the base.
In this cone are many small holes
and by a system of air suction the hair
is distributed in a soft coating over the
cone. This is the first stage of the hat
body. Over this is placed a wet cloth
and over the cloth another larger cone.
Inc TWO COllcS dlc uIppCu III NciISl
the top one removed and the mat of
soft wet felt is taken off and lightly
rolled.
How Derbys Are Made
The next stage is the rolling or siz-
ing of this felt cone in boiling water
till it is shrunk or felted in a cone
about twelve inches high and the same
in base diameter. but as tough and
strong as buckSkin.
If the derby hat is being made the
next process is the stiffening or hard
ening, which is done by dipping the
hat body in mixture of gum shellac
dissolved in alcohol. The felt is after
ward cleansed on the surface. leav-
ing the stiffening in the center.
This is now partially shaped by
stretching over wooden block, when
II Is colored and blocked again. AT this
stage it Is ready for the finisher, who,
after steaming it thoroughly draws it
over the style of block desired and
with hat iron and fine emery paper
works the surface down to the proper
luster.
From the finisher the hat is turned
over to the curling department, where
the brim is cut and curled to the de-
sired shape, and then to the trimming
room where women with deft fingers
sew OI lHS Ddllu Dlilulll6b cilld IilO
hat is complete.
A hat during a journey through a
we'll appointed factory passes through
twelve or fourteen different depart
ments. where each set of men is
trained to do the one thing required in
one stage of the making. A slight
error in the forming may not show it.
self until the hat is finished, and then
1t must be set aside as damaged.
Until within the last few years all
this work was done by hand labor, but
machinery Is now being introduced in
many departments.
4
REV. is. THOMSON
breaches ON BIBLE NAMES