Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1911-01-26
HOW FELT HATS ARE MADE.
The Hair Of Rabbits and other Small
Animals In Used.

From the ELECTRICAL Record.
Hats were first manufactured in
England about 1910 and superseded
caps or soft headgear in the reign of.
Queen Elizabeth. Wool was the ma
terial first employed in forming felt;
hats, but in time. as European trade
with America developed. the fur of the
beaver. being finer Inc 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
continued for some time to wear the
less expensive caps n bonnets.
Political and religious differences
have often been marked by the form of
hats. The Puritan OF the reign Of
Charles /. adopted the steeple hat. high
n narrow. with a broad brim and
devoid OF ornament. The cavalier dur
ing the same era wore a lower and
broader CROWN. with a feather stuck
on n side. The Quaker hat, low in
plain. dates from the origin OF the
sect at the middle Of the 18th century.
The history OF hat manufacture in
this country dates back to he very
early. colonial days. In 1862 the as
sembly of Virginia enacted a Law Of
fering 10 pounds OF tobacco for every
good wool or fur hat made in the
colony. Delaware in 1853 offered a
prize of 40 shillings for the neatest
and best hat manufactured in the lower
'veloped a flourishing hat industry, with
a large export trade to the Spanish
islands. Soon after the close Of the
revolution h manufacture of hats had
become of great Importance in Penn
sylvania, n from that time the in
61ictrv hoa continued IN H0y,riSh
Felt hats are made in a wide range
of qualities. The finest n more ex-
.pensive qualities are formed entirely Of
fur; the commoner qualities use q mix
ture of fur and Saxony wool. For the,
lowest kinds wool alone is employed.
The processes and apparatus necessary
for making hats of fur differ also from
those required in the case OF wooden
bodies. and in large manufactures.
especially in America, machinery is
generally employed for operations
which formerly were entirely MANUAL.
Hatter's fur consists principally OF
the hair Of rabbits Technically called
coneys) and hares, with some proper
ton of nutrfe, musquash and beavers
hair. though the latter has been for
many years extremely scarce, and gen.
orally any parings or cuttings from
'furriers are also used. Fifty years ago
the halter beat his fur with q bow into
a triangular piece of felt, which, when
laid together by two straight edges,
assumed the shape of a cone. The felt
was next shrunk between cloths. which
were kept hot and wet by frequent
dipping into kettle of boiling size, are
being taken to preserve the triangular
shape of the felt.
Having been shrunk to about one
third it's original size or to prope di-
mansions for a hat, the conical bag
was drawn over a block and tied
tightly at the point where the crown
spreads out into a brim. The brim por-
tion was next pulled n stretched into
shape with q, special instrument. While
still on the block. h hat was dyed and
again washed. stiffened INC dried. II
a long nap was desired the surface Of
the felt was carded. while to obtain a
smooth finish it was rubbed with pum-
ice stone. 1t was then ready to be
.trimmed"-that ia. to nave the band.
binding. lining n sweat band put on.
Beginning with the cutting of the fur,
these processes are now performed by
electrically operated automatic ma
chinerV.