The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-03-01
RAW MATERIAL
 FOR HATS SHOWS
 LARGE INCREASE
Costs Ten Times As Much As It Did Five Years
 Ago

! There has been some comment ! on the steady increase in prices of l mems hats during the last few years ! Scarcely any criticism, however has i beeen heard, for the reason that the manufacture of mems hats in this country is recognized as an industry | of such staple and dependable char i acter that it enjoys an unusually gen erous degree of public confidence. 1 To get at the facts behind the in- i crease in the costs of mems hats, | l which the public is entitled to know, Col J. Howell Cummings, President 1 of the John B. Stetson Company of | Philadelphia, was interviewed on the
 eve of his sailing for Europe, where
 he is going to make a personal. inves-
 tigation of the shortage of hatters
 fur.
 Scarcity of fur skins, which provide
 the material with which fur felt hats
 are made, with the consequent rapid ] advance in the cost of such skins,
 was the outstanding cause stated for
 the increase in the price of hats. We are paying for skins just ten
 times the price was paid five years
 ago." said Colonel Cummings.
 This striking economic transition
 given as the nucleus of the great : problem of present-day hat-making reveals the materially increased cost of raw materials necessary to the 5 manufacture of hats.
 5 T see no reason for anticipating a s shortage in the supply of labor, or s of such materials necessary to hat making as shellac, silk and sweat = Ieathers,- but there is tremendous @ shortage in the supply of fur. At d the present time, few supplies are t coming from Australia, as they are 5. now having their summer. Winter = Australian skins will be on the mar T ket in June or July, but the fur cut
 cut from those skins will not be
 available for hat manufacture before
 the end of the year. I understand
 that in Russia there are many hare
 skins, but t is difficult to bring len
 out of that country on account of tn, r lack of transportation facilities. IL This also applies to conditions il
 the Balkan States, where we hav " formerly secured a great many har 1f skins. The Government of German a has forbidden the exportation o al skins, claiming that it is necessary t w keep them in the country for the us S. of domestic manufacturers Ina
 part of France devastated by tn h. Germans was the district from whic al the best rabbit skins came, but unde ce the present conditions very few skin Id can be expected from that section.
 'fI understand that the supply c al English and Scotch skins wi tn l be far below the normal. There ar C. several reasons for this. One is tha ce before the war it was customary t e send large quantities of rabbits Ill the frozen state from Australia Ill England. The carcasses were used fC st food, and the belts sold to skin co 7a lectors for manufacture into hal te ters' furs. During the war, in orde h. to save cargo space, the Australia
 Government adopted the principle skinning the rabbits in Australia an t' shipping only the carcasses to Ems th land. So the quantity of rabbit sl1ir II, that should be in England has bee Id. reduced by the number of skins r VI tained in Australia
 ,aa' "The fur shortage. then, is un l"' versa1?" Colonel Cummings W;
 asked.
 ''It is worldwide" he replied. t'TI
 fur shortage exists in every count
 in Europe, as well as in the Unite
 States. The hat manufacturers Italy, France, and England face u
 same difficulty Another contribu ing cause to the hat manufacturer
 troubles in securing furs, is the e: AH tensive use of furs in women gVs dress
 az 'What will be the outcome of g
 this?" Colonel Cummings was aske
 My candid opinion,'' Colonel Gun nS mings replied. ''is that the scarci nst of fur will result in a very materi me decrease in the production of mer the hats during the latter part of tn rol year, and that prices will go consi vas erab1y higher before they go lowe -ho If within a reasonable time inc ley should be a let-up in the demand f put wonoer's garments trimmed with fir the the hat manufacturers may ha the some relief
 ott -