Los Angeles herald., 1907-04-25

THAT the making Of toys is t.
" the people of certain parts o.
W Germany the plating OF braidi
for hats is to the people dwell.
ing in certain parts of italy and as ir
Germany whole families or all the peo.
pie in a district may all their lives be
engaged in the making Of some par
ticular kind of toy peculiar to that dis
trict, so in Italy whole families and II
may be succeeding generations are
engaged always in plating the same
kind Of braid.
The hat braids produced in italy,
which are largely for women's hats,
are named after the cities and dis
tricts whence they come. Thus there
is a Milan braid, a Tuscan braid, a
Carpi braid, and so on.
Milan braids may vary In hneness and
quality, but they are all alike in their
characteristic weave. The art of maxi
ing n Milan braid is taught by a mother
to her children, who in turn hand 1t
down to their children; In this family
they make always that one kind of
braid.
The bralds of finer quality are made
at home by the older and more expert
enced workers of the family, those of
odd hours or, It may be on their way to
and from school. Where these braids
are made children may be seen walking
along the streets or roads plating
straw braid as they go, as children
might be seen in the streets here knit
ting through a spool the woven cords
which they use, when they have made
enough of It, perhaps, for reins to play
horse with or which they may make
To- No Lee ah fTNG nT Ia
into lamp mat. But while such knit
ting as is done here is done chiefly for
amusement, the hat braid that the chill
dren in Italy plat in this way goes to
swell the total Of the family's produc-
ton of braid, which in due time, with
that of many other families in the re-
gion, will be gathered UP and taken to
one or another of the various italian
cities, which are at once centers Of the
collection of such braids and markets
whence they are distributed through
out the world.
Italy is the principal source of supply
for the narrow straw braids and for
wood braids, Carpi being the center of
the wood braid production. The wood
braids are made of extremely thin, mar
row ribbons of wood, woven or plated
as straw braids are, and made in vari-
GUS pdIJeTIS. 1uSy dIS diiOhS lAS
wider braids.
Switzerland and Belgium are the
chief producers of various fancy hat
braids for womens hats, braids of silk
and of other materials, the braids pro-
duced in these countries being mostly
made by machinery There are now
made also fancy hat braids in this
Fancy hat braids are made of a
variety of materials and in a great
variety of widths and weaves. There
are hat braids made of hemp fibre and
hat braids in which silk is used in
with other materials
There is a woven hat braid made of
pyroxylin, a gun cotton material, look
ing as here used not unlike horse hair,
and among the braids of recent years is
one that is made of horse hair and that
Is called Neapolitan, though it is not
made in Naples.
The hair for the making of horse hair
braids, which are produced in variety
Of weaves and colors, is gathered In
Austria and Bavaria. 1t is bleached
and dyed and made up into braid in
Switzerland and Belgium. Horse hair
is fine and costly braid and lighter
than straw.
Women's hats are sometimes made
all in one piece, but commonly in two
parts, the crown and the brim sep
gether; this because the head size, as
the head is called, may be smaller than
the inside of the crown, or because the
base Of the crown may be smaller than