Harold Cotton, Sr. Round Hat Block
notes: label: Description
content: This wooden hat block served as a versatile form for a variety of hats. The process of cleaning and blocking felt, fur, or straw hats involved heating or steaming the hat and placing it over a form such as this to return it to its original shape. The oval shape of this form mimicked the general shape of the human head and made it easier to fit the hat to the person wearing it.
label: Description
content: From the late-nineteenth century to to the mid-twentieth century, work attire required hats for men and women and most Americans had at least one hat in their wardrobe. Daily wear meant hats got scuffed, dirty, and misshapen. Thrifty consumers did not throw away hats, but had them cleaned and reformed by hatters to extend the life of their purchases. As the fashion of wearing hats declined in the 1960s, hat blocking became a fast-receding craft.
label: Description
content: Hatter and small businessman, Harold Cotton, Sr. used this block and others in this collection in his shop in Greensboro, NC. A black entrepreneur, Cotton used the income from his shop to move up the economic ladder and promote the welfare of the black community. Profits from the shop supported institutions within the black community, including St. Stephen’s United Church of Christ, the local black Boy Scout troop, and the NAACP.
label: Description
content: For other blocks used by Cotton, see 2012. 0201. 01, 2012. 0201. 04, 2012. 0201. 03 and 2012. 0201. 05.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: African American
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Work
label: See more items in
content: Work
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content: American Enterprise
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Michael J. Cotton and Harold C. Cotton II
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2012.0201.02
label: accession number
content: 2012.0201
label: catalog number
content: 2012.0201.02
objectType: label: Object Name
content: hat block, smooth
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: brown (overall color)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 6 in x 7 1/2 in x 6 in; 15.24 cm x 19.05 cm x 15.24 cm