Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-12-25
HOW FELT HATS ARE MADE.
The Hair of Rabbits and Other Small
Animals Is Used.
From the Electrical Record.

From the Electrical Record.
Hats were first manufa ctured in Eng
land about 1910 and superseded caps OF
soft headgear in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth. Wool was the material first
employed in forming felt hats, but in
time. as European trade with America
developed. the fur Of the beaver, being
finer and softer. came into use, hence
the term beaver was long synonymous
with hat.
For about three centuries fine beaver
hats dyed black and prepared with much
Skill formed the head covering Of the
higher classes in Great Britain. This
headgear distinguished them from the
middle and humber classes. which con-
tinued for some time to wear the less
expensive caps and bonnets.
Political and religious differences have
often been marked by the form of hats.
The Puritan OF the reign of Charles l.
adopted the steeple hat. high and narrow,
with a broad brim and devoid of orna-
ment. The cavalier during the Same era
wore a lower and broader crown, with a
hat, low in the crown. with a broad brim
and plain, dates from the origin of the
sect at the middle of the seventeenth
century.
The history Of hat manufacture in this
country dates back to very early colonial
days. In 1862 the assembly of Virginia
enacted Il law Offering ten pounds of to-
baccO for every good wool or fur hat made
in the colony. Delaware in 1873 offered a
prize Of 40 shillngs for tie neatest and
best hat manufactured In the lower
counties. Carolina by 1867 had developed
fiourishing hat industry. with large
export trade to the Spanish islands. Soon
after the close of the revolution the man
ufacture OF hats had become Of great
Importance in Pennsylvania. and from
that time the industry has continued to
flourish.
Felt hats are made i'm a wide range
Of qualities. The finer and more expen-
sive qualities are formed entirely OF fur;
the cOmmoner qualities use mixture of
fur and SaXony wool For the lowest
kinds wool alone is employed. The proc
eSses and apparatus necessary for making
hats of fur differ also from those required
in the case of woolen bodies; and in large
manufactures. especially III America.
machinery is generally employed for OPP
erations which formerly were entirely
manual
Hatter's fur consists principally of the
hair of rabbits technically called coneys)
and hares, with some proportion of nu-
tria, musquash and beavers hair. though
the latter has been for many years eX-
tremely scarce, and generally any par
ings or cuttings from furriers are also
used. Fifty years ago the halter beat
his fur with a bow into a triangular piece
of felt. which. when laid together by two
straight edges. assumed the shape of d
cone. The felt was next shrunk between
cloths which were kept hot and wet by
frequent dipping into a kettle of boiling
size. care being taken to preserve tile
triangular shape OF the felt.
Having been shrunk to about One-third
it's original size or to proper dimensions
for a hat. the concal bag was drawn
over block and tied tightly at the point
where the crown spreads out into a brim
The brim portion was next pulled and
stretched into shape with special in
strument. While still on the block the
hat was dyed and again washed. stiffened
and dried. IL long nap was desired
the surface of the felt was carded: while
to obtain a smooth finish it was rubbed
with pumice stone. 1t was then ready
to be ''trimmed"-that is. to have the
band, binding. lining and sweat band put
on. Beginning with the cutting of the
fur these processes are now performed by
electrically operated automatic machinery.