Fig. 1.Hat Bow.Fig. 2.Bow-Pin.
Fig. 1.
Hat Bow.
Fig. 2.
Bow-Pin.
In this operation, the different materials are tossed about to-and-fro repeatedly, and mixed with a much greater regularity and change of position of the various filaments than if drawn by carding machinery. One half of the intended hat, called a bat, is bowed at a time, and both in nearly a triangular shape, which being gathered up, and pressed with a flat square piece of wicker-work,Fig. 3, and afterwards with a smooth skin or cloth, is pressed and gently rubbed with the hands backward and forward so as to create a frictionon the surface fibres, thereby interlacing the outside filaments, by which means the simply safe-lifting of these two half-solidified portions of the future hat is secured. The one-half being laid upon the other, with a triangular piece of paper or cloth between, they are joined together by overlapping two of the three sides, thereby giving to the intended hat the form and figure of a hollow cone or great bag, but so tender that none but an experienced hatter could handle it.
Fig. 3.Hat Basket.
Fig. 3.
Hat Basket.
This operation of bowing is the same, with but little variation, whether it be for coarse or fine hats.
If wholly of wool, they are now swaddled carefully in an outer cloth, and sprinkled with water, and laid upon a warm plate of metal which sends the steam up through the hat which is to be pressed, and slightly rubbed, sprinkled again, and turned over. Continuing the pressing and rubbing, and by repeating these operations for some time, the motions are transmitted to all the inclosed fibres of wool with an irritating feeling, as it were, exciting their propensity for travelling, till the outer hairs, in their motions, warp themselves with each other and the surface appears skin-like and becomes smooth.
During these actions, the hat inside of the cloth must be several times changed in position and kept in proper form, when its swaddling envelope and the paper within which kept the inside open and free may be removed. These operations concluded, the tender hat must now be subjected to a much more laborious operation, where, properly speaking, the grand practical art of felting takes place, where thousands of thousands of filaments are all in active though slow motion, all travelling on their own individual course, independent of, and at the same time dependent upon, each other for their mutual support, being carefully guided collectively, by the hatter's good judgment.
This stage of the operation is a wet one requiring an open boiler surrounded by planks, which slope towards the centre, called a battery,Fig. 4, suitable for six or eight men to work at. Each man is provided with a rolling-pin, cloths, brushes, &c. The soft and tender hat is laid upon one of these planks or benches, wrapped in a damp cloth, and carefully wetted, squeezed, folded, rolled and unrolled, keeping it constantly moistened by dipping it in the hot water of theboiler, folding and unfolding with every variety of crossings, rolling it as a scroll, pressing, shaking, dipping and rolling it again and again, the hatter all the while bending over his work in front of the almost boiling caldron, and surrounded by steam. He labors hard, ever changing the position of the hat under his hands, so as to make it an evenly felted and perfect piece of work, which these oft-repeated motions ultimately accomplish.
Fig. 4.Battery for Sizing Hats.
Fig. 4.
Battery for Sizing Hats.
This is the grand felting operation; the cause of which was so long considered a mystery, and now ascertained to result from the peculiar natural construction of the animal fibre, as already explained.
In this planking or sizing of the hat, sometimes with half a dozen under hands at the same time, the enveloping cloth is soon thrown aside as the hat grows in solidity. The hands of the hatter are defended from the scalding water by thick leather shields upon the palms, and as the hat approaches its proper size, it is scalded and belabored with determined importunity, coiled, rolled, pressed, and pinned, backward and forward till the size of the hat is reduced to nearly half of its original dimensions, and the tension of the several fibres becomes so great that the hat will felt no farther. At this stage it is impossible for it to be torn asunder, and is still in its original form of a hollow cone.
Such is the making department of the trade, the felting process, where a firm piece of cloth (for such is the body of a hat) is manufactured from loose wool or fur, independent of either spinning or weaving.
We have now explained the making of the barebody, as it is called, of a plain hat, in as concise a manner as the subject will permit.
There are yet a variety of qualities and kinds of hats requiring a variation more or less in the manipulation of the article, so as to suit a fanciful and fastidious people. For instance, the quantity and quality of fur, or an entire change of materials, produce quite a different appearance both in the look, the wear, and the price of the hat, while the form of the cone must be changed to admit of a high or low crown, or of a broad or narrow brim, &c. &c.
AllFELThats, of whatever texture, nature, or name, must have undergone the above described operations, and many have to go back a second time to the plank kettle, and there undergo an additional teasing and ducking in the scalding water. For instance, all those destined to receive a coat of fur upon the outside finer than that of which the body is made, and constituting the flowing nap of the hat, which is merely a kind of veneering or outside plating, which will shortly be described.
A very good hat is made having a flowing nap that is raised directly from the body itself. Thus when the body of such a hat as has been described is about half wrought up at the kettle, it undergoes in another department the operation of shaving, by which means the projecting coarse hairs are all cut off, after which, on being returned to the kettle, the hatter, with his stiff brush, card, and comb, raises a nap upon the half solidified body, which is constantly improved as he continues to manipulate with the brush. The hat is, at the same time, reduced in its dimensions by the operation of felting until at the conclusion when it appears of the desired size, fully felted, andadorned on the outside with its rough and flowing nap, which otherwise would have been smooth and cloth-like. This is called the brush hat.
In the process of fur felting there is a constant tendency for the strong straight hairs of the body to work to the outside, so that whether the hat is designed to receive aBAREfinish afterwards, or to get a plated cover of beaver for a nap, those bodies must all undergo the operation of shaving. A workman sits in another apartment with one of them, when dry, spread over his knee, and with a long bladed sharp knife in hand, sweeps rapidly over the surface, cutting off and depriving it of those deteriorating superfluous intruders, after which the hats are forwarded to the stiffening department.
The bodies of the hats now made, dried and shaved, and the spirit water-proofing already prepared, being thinned, or reduced to the proper consistence, the hat is laid upon a flat sloping board, and the stiffening is put into it with a stout brush, and soaked to that degree of saturation known only by experience, the brims receiving a double portion for extra stoutness, and are then set aside to dry.
The alkali or inferior kind of stiffening, when used, is likewise diluted, and applied by immersing the body fully into the prepared ingredients already described, and either wrung out with the hands, or passed a couple of times between a pair of rollers set at a proper width, which determines the quantity of proofing absorbed by the hat.
It should be observed, regarding this stiffening of hats, that it is simply a varnishing of the several fibres of the fur of which the hat is made, each hair individually has got a coat of water-proofing varnish, for when dry it will be found that the interstices between each and every fibre are quite open and free, and therefore susceptible of ventilation; thus differing entirely from what would have been the case had it been stiffened with any kind of paste.
Very little of this is done at present in the United States. After the bare body of the hat is stiffened, if a flowing nap of beaver, otter, neutra, or other fine fur is desired, finer than that of which the body is made, half an ounce more or less of the superior uncarroted stuff is weighed out, sufficient to cover the whole outside surface of the hat. The hatter lays this precious morsel with perhaps one-eighth ounce of cotton on the hurdle, under the bow, as he did with the stuff for the body, and with a similar but lighter instrument, these two stuffs are completely mixed and spread upon the boards, as evenly as his experienced hands can do it; the cotton being used merely to enable him to handle the fur, which otherwise would be so thinly spread, and so attenuated of itself, as to endanger the simple act of lifting it. This mixture of fur and cotton is next spread upon the wet bare body of the hat as it lies upon the plank at the kettle, a little water is sprinkled over it and beat down with a brush. The hat with this surface covering is wrapped very carefully in a piece of cloth or coarse hair-cloth, and operated on very lightly, and nearly in the same manner as when felting the body. The object to be attainedis to get the fibres of the fine fur to penetrate the body, and take root as it were therein—great care and watchfulness being demanded of the workman at every motion of his hands, in this manner of working. The points of the fibres of the beaver fur penetrate the body of the hat, and having once got a footing, it constantly advances, as the active careful rolling, folding and unfolding, shaking and tossing go on, until the fur has separated itself from the cotton; by its boring, having obtained a firm lodgment in the solid felt of the hat body root end foremost. The cotton with which it was mixed is left behind loose and useless, for want of the little rough scaly property that the other possessed. An inexperienced workman in thus ruffing a hat is liable to continue his work too long, until the beaver napping has burrowed quite through to the inside of the hat, where it is lost.[C]
In the various operations of the hatter with hot water, whether in body-making, napping, or dyeing, &c., the water should not be allowed to boil, for independent of the damage to some kinds of stiffening, as hair contains a large portion of gelatine in its substance (to which alone it owes its suppleness and toughness), this gelatine will be separated from the hair. This is particularly the case with napped hats, for when thus treated the fibre becomes much morebrittle than before, and the nap soon breaks off round the square.
Fur hats having a flowing nap are sometimes clipped very short with revolving shears similar to those used in dressing cloth, and which is done previous to blocking or dyeing.
Fig. 5.Hat Block.
Fig. 5.
Hat Block.
Previous to dyeing, all hats must be blocked, using such blocks as approach the intended shape of the hat, and as soon as possible after the making department is concluded. It is a laborious operation, though simple, as the nature of felt allows it to be stretched to a great extent in any direction when it is wet and hot.
In the act of blocking, the conical form of the hat is lost for the first time. The hat is now immersed in theboiling waterof the kettle, and while wet and hot the tip is stretched wide, and the whole thing simply drawn down over the block, a tight cord is run down to where the band is to be and the brim flattened out.
The next operation is that of dyeing or coloring, and if convenient, and the hats fine, each hat should be upon its respective block when in the color kettle,great care being observed to keep the square from abrasion, as the least rub may deprive a napped hat of its fur at that exposed and important part. Most generally, however, the hats are colored without a block, the blocking being performed as soon after the dyeing and washing as possible inboilingwater.
The ordinary ingredients for black are, for 12 dozen,
The kettle should never boil nor exceed 190 degrees, and during the operation the hats must be repeatedly taken out and exposed to the action of the oxygen of the air, so as to strike a deeper color, and during the necessary exposure to these airings, the time is improved by having two suits of hats going on at the same time.
From six to twelve hours are required to complete the operation. The shorter the time the hats are in the dye, compatible with the deepness of the color, the better will be the goods, as boiling extracts the gelatine of the hair and makes the nap brittle, which is seen by comparing dyed articles with those that are of a native color.
Pouncing is a term for rubbing down the outside of a hat with a piece of pumice stone, sand paper, or emery paper, whereby the hat is made entirely bare, smooth, and fine, resembling a piece of very fine cloth. These are generally called cassimere hats. This operation is usually performed after dyeing, and previous to finishing. Some makers, however, prefer to singe the hats instead of pouncing, but suchhats never feel so fine as the others, as the singeing of any hair invariably produces a hard crisp burnt knob upon the end.
When a hat arrives at that state of forwardness ready for finishing, it is a very unsightly object to any person but a hatter. Most of its processes have been wet ones, but now it is to assume a genteel and prepossessing appearance, under the artistic appliances of brushes, cloths, hot irons, and labored exercise. If a plain soft hat, it is pulled over such a block as is required, a cord is run round the hat to keep it tight upon the block; the tip and brim are then flattened with the hot iron, wet sponge, brushes, and hair-cloth cushion or velure, several wettings being necessary in finishing.
Fig. 6.Hat Iron.
Fig. 6.
Hat Iron.
The brim is next cut to the required width, and the cord run down to the depth of the block. Theside-crown is now to be finished, along with the tip and upper and under sides of the brim, the hatter exercising his best judgment. The block is then withdrawn, the brim curled and set, and the finished hat sent off to the trimmer to get lined and bound; it is then tipped off and packed for market.
The finishing of this kind of hat is a simple operation when compared to that of a napped hat; requiring only the assuming of the proper shape and form, the solidifying of the body, and giving it such a lustre and finish as the quality of the material will allow.
The stiff cassimere hat being less flexible, is subjected to hot steam preparatory to blocking, whereby it is made soft and pliable. When in this state it is drawn down over the block, and the block withdrawn, to insert a prepared disk of pasteboard into the crown for strength, after which it is finished much in the same way as that already described, but with the difference, that a cloth must always intervene between the hot iron and the hat when finishing.
The finishing of a napped hat, whether it be brush or beaver, is a very different process from that for either of those just described, requiring the nicest attention and patient perseverance by the best workmen. The hats are given out by the half dozen, which are sorted for the different sizes and steamed one by one; the hot steam softens the stiffening, and when pliable, the hat is drawn down over the respective finishing blocks, the nap of each hat straightened with a wet brush, and a half finish given to it with the water, brush, and bare hot iron. The block is then withdrawn and the hat given to be shaved with a razor. This seems a singular operation;but a few passes with that instrument over the hat effectually cut off all those projecting coarse hairs that have eluded all previous attempts at removal, and without in the smallest degree endangering the finer fur of the nap. The hat is now returned to the finisher to complete the process.
These coarse hairs, when left in the hat depreciating very materially its value, were formerly plucked out by hand with a pair of pickers, hair by hair, often to the injury of the hat. The advantage of the razor will be obvious to all.
A pasteboard disk, well spread with dissolved shellac, is now inserted into the tip, and the block reset. The workman with his hot iron, wet and dry brushes, &c., lays down the nap in its proper direction, and the hat by continuous labor becomes solidified and more elastic, the tip is rendered stout by the adhesion of the prepared inside disk; and by the repeated wettings, and careful ironings and brushings, all the ripply appearance of the fur is destroyed, and the whole surface becomes smooth and shining.
The crown being finished is then papered up, and the same operations that were bestowed upon the crown are now to be repeated on the brim, both on the upper and under side, which having been accomplished, a gauge is applied and the brim cut to the required width ready for the trimming.
There is a beautiful invention for preserving the form of all hats having flat or soft supple brims by means of a flattened wire, upon which two small twists are made, and when joined as a hoop, the proper concave is produced. This hoop is attached to the outer edge of the brim, and covered with the binding, and thus the unsightly slouch that oftendeformed, particularly the soft brimmed hat, is permanently prevented, and the graceful curve completely secured.
The art of silk hatting is comparatively of modern invention, consisting simply of a cover of silk plush over a body of some other material. As much sleight of hand is required in this department, it naturally follows that a good workman is a valuable and appreciated artisan.
The bodies used for this kind of hat have been so various, that a full, or even succinct, description of them would be quite superfluous. Wool and fur bodies, straw and leghorn, cork, whalebone and muslin, &c., even stretchers similar to umbrellas without a body at all have been adopted, and all of them have had their day. At present, however, the trade seems to have settled down to the two kinds—fur and muslin.
The fur body of a silk hat, called a shell previous to coming into the hands of the silk finisher, is made much in the same manner as that of a plain soft hat, by felting and sizing it down to the proper dimensions in the plank kettle. It is quite light and thin, and when blocked or otherwise, and dried, is then ready forstiffeningby the finisher.
The different substances for this purpose, and the various methods of doing it, have been as numerous as the varieties of bodies that have been adopted. The whole of them, however, now have been abandoned for shellac.
The most simple and the best stiffening for any hat is shellac dissolved in alcohol, and thinned down toa proper consistence. A cheaper, however, and at the same time good stiffening, is the ammonia stiff already described. Either of these is applied in a like manner and with the like operations. The soft body or shell, as it is often called, is immersed in the liquid in a basin, then wrung out and pulled upon a block, the brim being flattened, a brush is dipped into another vessel containing a thicker lac, and applied to the square and brim for extra strength; after this the block is withdrawn, and the body set to dry.
These felted bodies or shells, as they are called, when dry are steamed generally over the hatter's hot iron, and pulled when warm and soft over the finishing block. A cord is then run tight round the shell, and the block withdrawn; the prepared pasteboard tip is inserted into the crown, and the block reset; after which the body receives a regular hot ironing all over. In this operation the inserted tip adheres to the felt, and the whole body assumes the exact counterpart of the block, both crown and brim. The rough hairs are now to be removed by sand or emery paper and the block withdrawn. The body next receives a coat of the best size, and when dry two coats of seed-lac, or copal varnish which finishes the making of this kind of body.
Those bodies that are made of muslin, when first invented, were called gossamer, from their extreme lightness, and though they have increased in weight, they still retain the name of gossamer hats.
In preparing for the body, a few yards of muslin are extended upon a frame, and saturated with liquefied shellac, or water stiff, which when dry is cut bias into strips for sides, tips, and brims. One side of these side and tip pieces of muslin is overlaid withthe silk intended for the inside lining of the hat, and pressed to adhesion; or this may be done while in the web before being cut into strips. The block being set upon the bottom-board, one of these extra prepared sides is wound tight round the side-crown of it, and the two ends stuck together by overlapping. A piece of the prepared tips is next laid on, and made to adhere to the side-crown.
The brim consists of three thicknesses of stout muslin of a circular form, each with a hole in the centre, all of which are slipped over the crown down to their place of destination with a quarter of an inch of the edge rising up on the side. A second side-crown and another tip are now applied, covering the others, and the whole of these cemented together with the hot iron, the shellac with which they were stiffened acting as a cement. After receiving a coat of size and one of varnish, this body will be ready, like the otherFURbody, for the finisher. In preparing these bodies, cover the block with a soft shell.
Before commencing the finishing, however, we will describe the sewing of the silk plush cover, which is quite a nice and particular piece of work. The strip of plush for the side-crown is cut from the web bias and of a width the depth of the intended hat; the tip piece which is to mate this side-crown is of course circular, and a quarter of an inch larger all round than the tip of the hat. These two pieces are to be sewed together by hand face to face, the edges being folded back, and the plush put well through to the proper side with the needle as the sewers proceed, so that the seam when the hat is finished may not appear bare for want of plush.
In finishing, whether the hat body be of fur orgossamer, the first thing is the putting on of the under brim, which we shall suppose to be plush, satin, or merino. A strip is cut from the web or piece at about an angle of forty-five degrees, and having the length reduced to suit the size of the hat; the two ends are then sewed together, and having been laid on the hat, one of the edges is made fast to the edge of the brim with the iron, all round, and smoothly laid down, the bias allowing this to be done by stretching. It is next to be steamed with a damp cloth under the hot iron and the inner edge stuck inside of the hat with the nose of the iron.
The upper brim is next in order. A strip of silk plush the requisite width is run on, slightly, in much the same manner as with the under brim, but dispensing with both the cloth-steaming and often with the sewing. The one end of this upper brim being cut with the scissors and the other with the knife, a good invisible seam may be made.
The brims being now on, the tip of the hat is wetted inside, and the block put in. The silk plush cover, having been previously spread with gum tragacanth, about where the side seam is likely to be, and now dry, is carefully drawn over the crown and fitted to the hat; the two ends of the cover being folded back and marked for the seam. The cover is then removed, the plush brushed back at the folding, and the cloth cut for the seam with a pair of sharp scissors; the top of the seam is cleaned or dressed off and the cover replaced on the hat body. The tip and side crown are now to be stuck with the hot iron to the body with particular care, so as to make a good joining at the seam, and not to draw through thevarnish. The making of a good seam is the test of a good workman.
The dressing and polishing of the hat now commence; and while it remains upon the block, this is done by means of brushes, wettings, ironings, &c., once, twice, or three times in succession, after which it is fixed on the veluring machine where it is revolved rapidly, for the purpose of freeing the nap of all impurities by means of the hair-cloth velures that are applied.
The hat is next taken back to the bench, where it receives its final dry-ironing, veluring, &c., and the crown is papered up.
The brim is yet to be finished, which is done by hand, with the brushes, sponge, iron, &c., and made to shine like the crown; after this it is given to the trimmer to be trimmed and bound, when it comes back to be curled and properly shaped in the brim, suiting the taste of the wearer. The workman who gives the hat its final touches makes use of a number of tools, which, though of seemingly trifling appearance, are nevertheless necessary for his department, which requires a refined taste.
Such is hat-making, but we cannot conclude without remarking that there have been many patents granted in this and other countries for improvements in hatting, that we cannot notice. Nevertheless there are two, of decided merit, claiming attention, as having entirely revolutionized one-half of the making department, and which may be modified and extended to answer many purposes, in addition to that of hat-making.
Fig. 7.Forming Machine for Fur Hat Bodies.
Fig. 7.
Forming Machine for Fur Hat Bodies.
The first and most ingenious is called the pneumatic process of forming the bodies, hence in all large cities the bowing operation is not employed. It is as follows: A cone of sheet copper punched full of small holes, and set upright, revolves slowly upon its axis; beneath this or attached to it an exhausting fan is placed, causing by its rotation a current of air to draw through the holes from the outside. A trunk or box with an opening facing against this revolving cone, discharges the fur which is fed into it at the other end by a feeding apron, in quantity just sufficient for one hat-body. It is drawn into this trunk between two rollers that are covered with leather or felt, and immediately seized by a cylinder revolving about four hundred times in a minute, furnished with a number of stiff brushes. This generates a current of air which scatters the fur and blows it out of the mouth of the trunk, where floating in the air it is speedily drawn upon the perforated cone, and evenly spread over the top and sides of the same, in quantity enough for one hat-body in so many revolutions. The discharging trunk is so adjusted that any desired quantity of fur can be deposited on any particular portion of the cone. When the cone has got the fur for one hat-body, the workman wraps over it a wet cloth and slips a metallic cover over the whole, which he removes into a tank of hot water. A new cone is immediately set in its place to receive another coating of fur. The hot water into which it has been dipped tends to make the mat more tenacious, which is next slipped off the cone, taken to a table, gently worked by hand-rolling in a piece of blanket, squeezed and pressed, and folded into a convenient shape andsent to the regular hatter to be felted at the ordinary plank kettle.
The cost of hat-bodies is reduced, it is computed, by this process as five or six to one of the old bowing system, and the rapidity of production is as thirty to one.
Fig. 8.Forming Machine for Wool Hat Bodies.
Fig. 8.
Forming Machine for Wool Hat Bodies.
It will not have escaped observation that this ingenious piece of machinery is applicable only for fur, the filaments of which are short and less inclined to tangle than those of wool, but another and no less useful piece of mechanism has been invented for forming the bodies of wool hats, and like the other has entirely superseded the use of the bow in all large factories where wool hats are made. It consists of a modified common carding machine, the sliver from which is conducted to a set of double conical blocks that are placed base to base, and which slowly revolve upon their axes in front of the carding machine, and the sliver is received and wound upon these combined blocks to the required thickness, sufficient for one hat, both blocks being covered at the same time. This machine which carries the blocks has a horizontal vibratory motion, or swaying backwards and forwards, that enables the sliver tobe wound in a systematic manner on the cones, with a varied thickness of material for brims and crowns, and causing also the fibres of the wool to lie in a diagonal position, as layer upon layer covers the blocks. The bodies of the two hats, each of a conical figure, are thus made over the surface of a double cone which are separated by cutting them along their middle or base line, and slipping them off at the end. They are now ready to be wetted, shrunk, and felted in the usual manner by the regular hatter.
We will here describe the making of felted gaiters and shoes, which is similar to the art of hatting. There may be other and better methods, as the expansive stretching nature of felt may admit of other modes.
The wearer of these gaiters may walk upon the slippery pavement with comfort and full confidence, and if furnished with a leather or rubber under-sole, they are a neat, easy, comfortable cover for the feet.
A given quantity of wool calculated for one pair of shoes is weighed out, which is divided into four equal portions, two of them for each shoe. One at a time is laid upon the hurdle, and with the proper bow it is bowed as if for a hat, and disposed of in exactly an equilateral triangle, which being gathered together with the basket, is pressed, and temporarily solidified, laid aside, and the other portion treated in the same manner. A piece of coarse brown paper is now folded into a triangular shape, a little smaller than the bats just bowed; all the three edges are to be folded together with the paper inclosed. The use of the inclosed paper is to prevent the inner surfaces from felting together,and to keep the inside open. The intended shoe is next lapped in a sheet of cloth, and hardened at the hot basin (the basin is a disk of solid iron with a fire beneath). Water sprinkled on the sheet when turned upon the basin, sends steam all through the mass, and when rubbed slightly by hand, friction is communicated to the surface fibres, which in a short time become smooth, when the position of the triangular wool should be changed and the rubbing continued. A few crossings and rubbings give it a consistence sufficient for handling at the plank kettle, where we shall suppose both shoes to have arrived.
The felting operation at the kettle is performed in quite the same manner as that of a hat, by pressing, rolling, folding, and unfolding, &c., with its dippings into the hot water, until the material has assumed a hardness and solidity quite astonishing to the casual observer.
This operation finished, the shoe still in the triangular shape, one corner is now to be cut off to make an opening, and the confined paper taken out, which is quite a soggy spongy lump of pulp. The mate to this shoe having been advanced to the same forwardness, they are to be pulled upon their respective lasts and dried, and perhaps dyed, after which they are pounced, and finally trimmed.
The making ofsheetfelt for calico and other printers is a business that fell into the hands of the hatters at the introduction of the water-proofing of hats, as previous to that time the thick stout old hats of former times were quite sufficiently thick for the fittings of their blocks, so that when no more of them could begotten, recourse was had to the new article, although it should be at a slight sacrifice.
Felt is employed in this business because of the facility with which it lifts and carries from the color sieve, the colors that are to be applied to the cloth. Wood and Copper blocks or rollers require two different thicknesses of felt, and though various qualities are made, a solid body and clear smooth surface and edge when cut and pounced by the block-cutter, are absolutely necessary, as otherwise, a ragged edge to the printed figures on the cloth will be the result.
The following makes a very goodarticle:—
The coney is first well broken over with a light bow, upon the hurdle, and then by means of the heavier wool bow, the well-carded Saxony is intimately mixed with it. This thoroughly accomplished, the whole is to be divided into two portions; the one a little heavier than the other, which is laid upon the hurdle, and with the same wool bow, strung with stouter cat-gut, the hatter disposes of the mixture in a perfectly even flat form, of an oblong square, which when gathered by the hatter's basket, measures 18 inches wide by 3 feet long. A cloth is then spread over it, and the whole turned upside down; the sides and ends of the cloth are lapped over, so that this bat as it is called is completely enveloped. A stiff skin is now thrown over it, and pressed and rubbed for some time in an even manner, to reduce its thickness. The skin having been removed, the sheet with its bat is rolled and pressed still more, then laid aside while the other half undergoes exactly the same operation, but is made three inches shorter in length.
These two sheets, which are destined to form but one, are connected thus. The shorter is first folded over upon itself, and the two ends joined by overlapping with a proper inlayer of paper; then the larger bat is laid upon this one, and the whole turned upside down, so that the joinings of the two bats will be upon opposite sides of the sheet of felt. After these joinings are carefully made, the would-be sheet appears exactly like a lady's muff, and is again to be enveloped in the cloth, for the hardening process, at the hot basin, where it receives a partial steaming, rubbing, re-folding, &c., till finally it is carried to the plank kettle, where the severest labor must be applied; the object being to condense the materials of which it is made to the utmost degree of tension. It is then cut open, dried, and receives an application of a weak solution of size; when again dry it is well pounced with pumice stone, and the edges cut straight, which finishes a first class printers' sheet of felt, the size being 33 or 33½ inches long by 12 inches wide. Sheets forcopperblocks or rollers require a thickness of a quarter of an inch, and those forwoodthree-sixteenths of an inch. Some prefer a sheet altogether of Saxonywool.
After the introduction of gutta-percha into the arts, and the manufacture of it into thin sheeting, a new kind of hat was introduced, made of gutta-percha cloth, and from the variety of shades, &c. seemed for some time to supersede the soft low-crownedFELTarticle. But the cupidity of some of the manufacturers destroyed the business almost entirely when in its infancy, some say purposely, by making them so veryinferior and at the same time so perfect a counterfeit, that the really good and perfectly made hat became universally distrusted, and hence the result.
We shall refrain from all notice of the methods employed tending to this deterioration of the new article, and merely describe the making of the honest, sound, and valid hat, the revival or resuscitation of which is well worthy of consideration.
A dry, thin, and soft fur or wool body is to be drawn upon the proper block, generally 3 or 4 inches deep with either a square or round crown, and the brim spread out upon the bench or bottom board. A circular piece of gutta-percha gum the size of the intended brim, having its centre cut out, is to be slipped over the crown down on to the felt brim; a similar piece of good cloth is likewise slipped over in the same manner to cover the gum, and now the extreme outer edges of the felt and cloth are to be carefully cemented together by means of the gum, by passing round a hot iron. The usual stirrup or bridle is then thrown over the hat, girding the inner edge of the cloth to the block, and stuck with the heel of the iron. This partially stuck brim is finally overlaid with a wet loose brim-cloth and properly ironed, the heat of the steam from the damp cloth softens the gutta-percha gum and effects the adhesion of the cloth to the fur body. About half an inch of cloth will project up on the side crown, which is also made to adhere to the felt body by the heated iron.
The block is now to be withdrawn, and the hat turned inside out, which reverses this would-be upper brim to the under side. The hat is next to be re-blocked, a repetition of the gum and cloth is to be applied to this side of the brim exactly as with theother, and then succeeds the covering of the crown, which is to be wholly laid over first with the gutta-percha and then with the previously prepared cloth cover as a crown piece, these being held tight by means of the blocking-cord. The whole crown, both tip and sides, is to be cemented and finished, never omitting the wet finishing-cloth between the hat and the hot iron, and the hat is now complete and ready for lining and trimming.
The above makes a good soft pliable cloth hat. But if a stiffer and firmer hat is wanted of the same material, the felt body is to be put through the process of the alkaline bath, similar to that of fur hats, and when dry, proceeded with as above.
Another method of making these cloth hats is to dispense with the fur body entirely, the block being covered with two thicknesses of cloth and having a ply of gutta-percha gum between, which are cemented together by steaming and pressing, using at all times a wet cloth under the hot iron. The brim is separate and distinct from the crown when made, and consists of a piece of thick wool padding, which is to be covered on both sides with the proper cloth, cemented together with the gum, first one side and then the other, after which the crown and brim are sewed together.
In all these cases, the gutta-percha gum acts not only as a cement but also a water-proofing to the hat.
In this treatise upon the history of hats and hat-making, of furs, wools, &c., and the manufacture of felt, we are well aware of the impossibility of illustrating in full the hatting trade of America, as this countrystands alone as compared with others, on account of the mixed population that is here collected. As we have representatives in this, as in every other line of business, from every civilized nation upon earth, with all their various methods of working in their own accustomed ways, the prejudices naturally engendered and entertained through habit being hard to combat, so that the judges of this work may be numerous and various, and no doubt profusely severe in some of their criticisms.
But there is going on a rapid amalgamation of all that is best in the trade of hatting, resulting from the continued flow of immigration, and heightened greatly by the wanderings of hatters generally, from shop to shop, and from town to town, that must ultimately bring together in this our beloved land, a perfection in the trade that cannot be attained by any other nation.
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FOOTNOTES.[A]The most familiar instance of mutual association and combination, resulting in real utility, though not so striking on account of our familiarity with it, is the broadcloth of which our clothes are made, which when cut by the tailor will never unravel. This result is wholly the effect of its felting in the fulling mill during the operation of scouring and washing, every fibre of the wool of which the cloth is made, having clung to its immediate neighbors, both warp and weft, and with the spirit of true friendship they still remain in each other's embrace, and the cloth is transformed from a loose to a solid fabric.Another instance of the power of combination is the mysterious Gordian knot that we read of in history, which promised the empire of the world to him who could unloose it, and which Alexander the Great is reported to have cut with his sword, because he failed in the attempt. If not a fabulous story, that compound knot the illustrious Gordius is supposed to have cunningly felted previous to hanging it up in the temple.[B]The reason why wool and woollen goods felt and solidify more readily than any straight fibred furs, is owing to the natural curl or frizzle possessed by wool, each and every bend of every individual filament assuming an inclination for travel independent of each other and of the general inclination of the perfect fibre.[C]Hatters' kettles forFURhatting are made of copper, as they take less firing than those that are made of lead. But lead must be the metal if sulphuric acid, no matter in how small quantity, is used in the water. It is generally resorted to by the men in sizingWOOLhats, as it facilitates the felting operation. This acid (vitriol), having no affinity for lead, does not affect the kettle, while it would soon eat the one of copper through. Care, however, must be taken that no stone be let fall into the water of the lead kettle, for a hole will soon result from such an accident.[D]As every hat must be finished upon a block of some particular form, upon which the hat assumes the exact counterpart, it becomes necessary with those having broad tops, that the block be in five separate pieces, so as to get them out or into the hat, the centre piece acting as a wedge to the whole.
[A]The most familiar instance of mutual association and combination, resulting in real utility, though not so striking on account of our familiarity with it, is the broadcloth of which our clothes are made, which when cut by the tailor will never unravel. This result is wholly the effect of its felting in the fulling mill during the operation of scouring and washing, every fibre of the wool of which the cloth is made, having clung to its immediate neighbors, both warp and weft, and with the spirit of true friendship they still remain in each other's embrace, and the cloth is transformed from a loose to a solid fabric.Another instance of the power of combination is the mysterious Gordian knot that we read of in history, which promised the empire of the world to him who could unloose it, and which Alexander the Great is reported to have cut with his sword, because he failed in the attempt. If not a fabulous story, that compound knot the illustrious Gordius is supposed to have cunningly felted previous to hanging it up in the temple.
[A]The most familiar instance of mutual association and combination, resulting in real utility, though not so striking on account of our familiarity with it, is the broadcloth of which our clothes are made, which when cut by the tailor will never unravel. This result is wholly the effect of its felting in the fulling mill during the operation of scouring and washing, every fibre of the wool of which the cloth is made, having clung to its immediate neighbors, both warp and weft, and with the spirit of true friendship they still remain in each other's embrace, and the cloth is transformed from a loose to a solid fabric.
Another instance of the power of combination is the mysterious Gordian knot that we read of in history, which promised the empire of the world to him who could unloose it, and which Alexander the Great is reported to have cut with his sword, because he failed in the attempt. If not a fabulous story, that compound knot the illustrious Gordius is supposed to have cunningly felted previous to hanging it up in the temple.
[B]The reason why wool and woollen goods felt and solidify more readily than any straight fibred furs, is owing to the natural curl or frizzle possessed by wool, each and every bend of every individual filament assuming an inclination for travel independent of each other and of the general inclination of the perfect fibre.
[B]The reason why wool and woollen goods felt and solidify more readily than any straight fibred furs, is owing to the natural curl or frizzle possessed by wool, each and every bend of every individual filament assuming an inclination for travel independent of each other and of the general inclination of the perfect fibre.
[C]Hatters' kettles forFURhatting are made of copper, as they take less firing than those that are made of lead. But lead must be the metal if sulphuric acid, no matter in how small quantity, is used in the water. It is generally resorted to by the men in sizingWOOLhats, as it facilitates the felting operation. This acid (vitriol), having no affinity for lead, does not affect the kettle, while it would soon eat the one of copper through. Care, however, must be taken that no stone be let fall into the water of the lead kettle, for a hole will soon result from such an accident.
[C]Hatters' kettles forFURhatting are made of copper, as they take less firing than those that are made of lead. But lead must be the metal if sulphuric acid, no matter in how small quantity, is used in the water. It is generally resorted to by the men in sizingWOOLhats, as it facilitates the felting operation. This acid (vitriol), having no affinity for lead, does not affect the kettle, while it would soon eat the one of copper through. Care, however, must be taken that no stone be let fall into the water of the lead kettle, for a hole will soon result from such an accident.
[D]As every hat must be finished upon a block of some particular form, upon which the hat assumes the exact counterpart, it becomes necessary with those having broad tops, that the block be in five separate pieces, so as to get them out or into the hat, the centre piece acting as a wedge to the whole.
[D]As every hat must be finished upon a block of some particular form, upon which the hat assumes the exact counterpart, it becomes necessary with those having broad tops, that the block be in five separate pieces, so as to get them out or into the hat, the centre piece acting as a wedge to the whole.