1. The business, peculiar to the hatter, consists in making hats from
the fur or hair of animals, by the process called _felting_. The hair
of animals is the only material which can be firmly matted together in
this way; yet, that of every animal is not suitable for this purpose.
The fur of the beaver, the otter, the seal, the muskrat, the rabbit,
the hare, the coney, and the nutria, together with the wool of the
lama, sheep, and camel, are employed to the exclusion of almost every
other.
2. The skin of all animals having fur, is covered with two kinds of
hair; the one, long and coarse; the other, short, fine, and thickly
set. The coarse hair is pulled out from the skin, by the aid of a
shoe-knife, and thrown away, while the fine, which is the fur, is cut
from it with one of a circular form, such as the saddlers and
harness-makers use in cutting leather.
3. In the application of the materials, the first object of the hatter
is to make the _body_. In the common three, four, and five dollar
hats, the body is composed of the wool of the sheep; but, in those of
greater value, it is usually made of the wool of the lama, and
different kinds of cheap furs. In describing the process of making
hats, one of the latter kind will be selected.
4. A sufficient quantity of the materials for the body is weighed out,
and divided into two equal parts. One of these is placed on a table,
or, as the hatters call it, a _hurl_. The individual hairs composing
this portion, are separated, and lightly and regularly spread out into
a proper form, by the vibrations of a bow-string, which is plucked
with a wooden pin.
5. The fur is then carefully compressed with a flat piece of
wicker-work, denominated a hatter's basket, and covered with a damp
piece of linen cloth, in which it is afterwards folded, pressed, and
worked, with the hands, until it becomes matted together into a _bat_.
This bat is next folded over a triangular piece of paper, and formed
into a conical cap.
6. When another bat has been made in the same way, from the other half
of the materials, the two are put together to form one, which is then
worked in the damp cloth as before, until it is much contracted and
matted together. After this, having been conveyed to another room, it
is rolled in a woollen cloth, pressed, rubbed, and worked, with the
hands and a rolling-pin, around a kettle of hot water, into which it
is often plunged during the operation, which is called _planking_.
7. In this way, the materials are consolidated into _felt_, and the
body contracted to the proper size. The reason why the process just
described produces this effect, may be found in the nature of the
fibres themselves. Upon a close examination, it will be observed, that
these are covered with little scales, or beards, which admit of motion
in one direction, but retard it in the other. This peculiar formation
causes them to interlock in such a way as to become closely matted
together.
8. When the body has been dried, and shaved on the knee with a sharp
knife, to free it from projecting filaments, it is stiffened with
gum-shellac dissolved in alcohol, and then steamed in a box, to cause
the stiffening _to set_. It is now prepared for being _napped_.
9. The fur for the _nap_ is prepared on the hurl, like the conical cap
first described. In applying the nap to the body, the latter is wet
with hot water, and _flakes_ of the former are matted down upon it, by
working it on the planks around the kettle. After three layers have
been put on in this way, the cap is beaten, while wet, with sticks, to
raise the nap, and then drawn over a cylindrical block, which gives it
the general form of a hat.
10. The nap having been raised with a card, the hat is prepared to be
colored. The dye is made, chiefly, of the extract of logwood,
copperas, and verdigris. The hats, to the number of forty-eight or
more, are hung upon a wheel by means of pegs, which pass through the
centre of the blocks. This wheel can be turned, so as to keep one half
of the hats alternately in the dye. After having been properly
colored, they are taken from the blocks, washed, and dried.
11. The hat is now prepared for the _finisher_, who first whips up the
nap with a ratan, and, after having rendered it pliable with steam,
draws it over the _finishing block_. The fibres composing the nap, are
properly disposed with a card and brush, and rendered smooth and
glossy by means of a hot iron. The superfluous part of the rim is cut
off with a blade, placed in a gauge. The hat is finished by adding
suitable trimmings, the nature of which, and the mode of application,
can be easily learned by examining different kinds of hats.
12. Hats of various colors have been worn; but those most in use are
black, white, and drab. The white hats, which are intended only for
ladies and children, have a nap of rabbits' fur, selected from the
white skins. Drab hats are also made of stuffs of the natural color,
assorted for that purpose.
13. The value of hats depends, of course, upon the workmanship, and
the cost of the materials used in the manufacture. So great is the
difference in these respects, that their price ranges between
seventy-five cents and fifteen dollars. The woollen bodies used by
hatters are now often procured from persons, who devote their
attention exclusively to their manufacture.
14. Several years ago, woollen cloths were made in England, by the
process of felting; but, on trial, they were found to be deficient in
firmness and durability. Since the year 1840, an American citizen has
been manufacturing cloths by this method; but, whether they are liable
to the objection just mentioned, is yet uncertain.
15. Some kind of covering for the head, either for defence or
ornament, appears to have been usually worn in all ages and countries,
where the inhabitants have made the least progress in the arts of
civilized life.
16. The form, substance, and color, of this article of dress, have
been exceedingly various in different ages, according to the
circumstances or humor of the wearer. The ancient Persians wore
turbans, similar to those of the modern Turks; and the nations
inhabiting the Indian Peninsula, wore a kind of head-dress so large,
that it divested the person of all proportion.
17. The imperial turban is said to have been composed of a great many
yards of muslin, twisted and formed into a shape nearly oval, and
surmounted with a woollen cap, encircled with a radiated crown. The
turban of the prime minister was smaller in its dimensions, but of
greater altitude. The chief magi, on account of his superior eminence,
wore a higher turban than those of the monarch and minister united.
Those worn by the inferior magi, were regulated by the dignity of the
stations which they held.
18. The Jewish people and the neighboring nations borrowed the turban
from the Persians; but, at a later period, they very commonly adopted
the cap which the Romans were accustomed to give to their slaves, on
their manumission.
19. The ancient helmet, made of steel, brass, and sometimes of more
costly materials, was worn as a piece of defensive armor in war,
instead of the ordinary coverings, used while engaged in peaceful
occupations.
20. Roman citizens went bare-headed, except upon occasions of sacred
rites, games, and festivals; or when engaged in travelling or in war.
They were accustomed, however, in the city, to throw over their head
the lappet of their toga, as a screen from the wind or sun. The people
of Scotland used to wear a kind of bonnet, as in some parts of that
country they do at the present time; and the English, before the
invention of felt hats, covered the head with knit caps and cloth
hoods, and sometimes with hats made of thrummed silk.
21. The Chinese do not wear hats, but use a cap of peculiar structure,
which the laws of civility will not allow them to put off in public.
The form and material of this is varied with the change of the
season. That used in summer is shaped like a cone, is made of a
beautiful kind of mat, and lined with satin; to this is added, at the
top, a large tuft of red silk, which falls all round to the lower part
of the cap, and which fluctuates gracefully on all sides, while the
wearer is in motion. The kind worn in winter is made of shaggy cloth,
bordered with some kind of fur, and ornamented in a similar manner.
22. Head-dresses, from their variety, simplicity, and mutability, were
but little regulated by commercial or manufacturing interests, until
the introduction of felt hats, which has occasioned a uniformity in
this article of dress, unknown in former ages.
23. Curiosity is naturally excited to become acquainted with the
particulars of the invention of the hat, and the subsequent stages of
improvement in the manufacture. But the operation of individual
interest, so generally connected with the useful arts, seems to have
concealed the whole in obscurity; and little information on the
subject can now be obtained.
24. The hatters have a tradition, that the art of felting originated
with St. Clement, the fourth bishop of Rome. Under this impression, in
Catholic countries, they adopt him as their patron saint, and hold an
annual festival in his honor. The principle of felting is said to have
been suggested to his mind by the following circumstance; while
fleeing from his persecutors, his feet became blistered, and, to
obtain relief, he placed wool between them and his sandals. On
continuing his journey, the wool, by the perspiration, motion, and
pressure of the feet, assumed a compact form.
25. Notwithstanding this tradition, it appears, that felt hats were
invented at Paris, by a Swiss, about the commencement of the fifteenth
century; but they were not generally known, until Charles the Seventh
made his triumphal entry into Rouen, in the year 1492, when he
astonished the people by wearing a hat, lined with red silk, and
surmounted with a plume of feathers.
26. When some of the clergy first adopted this article of dress, it
was considered an unwarrantable indulgence. Councils were held, and
regulations published, forbidding any priest or monk to appear abroad
wearing a hat; and enjoining them to keep to the use of chaperons, or
hoods, made of black cloth, with decent cornets; if they were poor,
they were, at least to have cornets fastened to their hats, upon
penalty of suspension and excommunication.
27. At length, however, the pope permitted even the cardinals to wear
hats; but, enjoined them to wear those of a red color at public
ceremonials, in token of their readiness to spill their blood for
their religion.
28. In England, considerable opposition was made to the use of the
hat. By a statute, enacted in the thirteenth year of the reign of
Elizabeth, every person between certain ages was obliged, on Sundays
and holidays, to wear a woollen cap, made by some of the cappers of
that kingdom, under the penalty of three shillings and four-pence for
every day's neglect. This law continued in force, for about
twenty-five years. The manufacture of hats was commenced, in England,
in the time of Henry the Eighth, by Dutchmen and Spaniards.
29. Hats made of plaited straw, grass, or chip, are much used in the
summer; and caps of cloth or fur are now frequently substituted for
hats, in cold weather. Silk hats have also been much worn, since the
year 1825. They are made of the common hat body, and a texture of silk
with a long nap. The silk is fastened to the body with glue.
[Illustration: ROPE MAKER.]