BLOCKING MACHINE
“CARRE VIVE BROCHIER”
[Illustration]
Inventors and Makers of other special adjusting, dressing and
pressing machines and accessories for the manufacture of
STRAW BOATERS of perfect and correct shape
SOCIÉTÉ ANONYME DES ETABLISSEMENTS
J. B. BROCHIER, 8 Rue de la Viabert, LYON
COMFORT IN HATS
Amongst the allied trades associated with the Straw Hat Industry must
be included the production of the Pneumatic or Easy-Fitting Sweats or
Leathers, which during the last 25 years have been the chief means of
establishing the Straw Boater as the most popular Summer Head-wear.
THE HAT MANUFACTURERS’ SUPPLY CO., LTD., of Stockport, England, make
claim to be the producers of the _best_ of these kind, and many of
their patent productions have a place in the History of the Straw Hat
Industry; the following have stood out prominently: “IVY” and “MARVEL,”
but apparently the zenith was reached with the production of the
World-famed--
=Patent=
“BON-TON IVY”
This patent Comfort Leather is acknowledged as the “LANDMARK” in
Head-comfort for any Hat. And considerably over _twenty millions_ have
been sold for Straw Hats alone, which fact must undoubtedly prove that
this Leather has been greatly instrumental in aiding the progress
of the Straw Boater; so much so, that the Patentees have appointed
manufacturing agents in various parts of the World to cope with the
increasing demand.
The latest production in these Easy-fitting Leathers is the--
(=Patent=)
“NEW BON-TON IVY”
(_introduced 1921_)
which is suitable for any kind of hats and, like its well-known parent
patent, guarantees _Perfect Fit, Comfort, and Ventilation_.
It is worth bearing in mind that all genuine “Bon-Ton Ivy” leathers
have adjustable _Elastic Fitting_, also see name Stamp on the leather.
_Patentees and Sole Manufacturers, at the_
HEADQUARTERS FOR HATTERS’ SPECIALITIES.
_Gold Printers_, _etc._
THE
HAT MANUFACTURERS SUPPLY Co., Ltd.
PRETORIA WORKS, STOCKPORT, ENGLAND
Samples on Application.
Téléphone:
No. 829
Télégrammes:
BURGISSER, FLORENCE
* * * * *
Soc. An. Burgisser
* * * * *
ITALIAN
Milans and Fancy Braids
Men’s and Ladies’ Leghorns
Fancy Bodies Novelties
BLEACHING and DYEING
FLORENCE
VIA MASACCIO 149
_SOLE REPRESENTATIVES_--
E. T. RABAN & SONS
3-6 Australian Avenue, London, E.C.1
ESTABLISHED OVER 100 YEARS
Benjamin Bennett
_LTD._
_Manufacturers of_
Ladies’ and Children’s Hats,
Trimmed and Untrimmed--Velours,
Felts, Straws, and Fancies,
also all kinds of Strawboard and
Leatherboard Boxes
* * * * *
_Factories_:
Connaught House, Upper George
Street, Luton
17 & 22 High Street, Dunstable
_Showrooms & Offices_:
61 George Street, Luton
_Telegrams_: Beebee Luton
_Telephones_: Luton 921 (2 lines); Dunstable 3
[Illustration]
H. GODFREY & CO.
ENGINEERS TO THE HAT TRADE
Makers of the Keston Blocking Machines
14a STUART STREET, LUTON
The London Varnish
and Enamel Co., Ltd.
Successors to Conrad Wm. Schmidt (F. A. Glaeser), Ltd.
City Works
Carpenters Road, Stratford
London, E.15, England
[Illustration]
THE ORIGINAL AND LARGEST
----MANUFACTURERS OF----
STRAW HAT POLISHES
IN ALL COLOURS
LUTON [Illustration: TRADE MARK] BRAND
These Spirit Hat Polishes were introduced
in 1878 and have been extensively used ever
since in Luton, London, and all Hat
Making Centres throughout
----the World----
_A.B.C. CODE 4th and 5th EDITION USED
CABLE ADDRESS: “LOVARNAMEL, LONDON”_
H. Spratley
(Late H. SPRATLEY & SON)
16, 18 & 20 Barber’s Lane, Luton
[Illustration]
The Oldest Established Firm in the Trade
for the making of
Ladies’, Gent’s,
and
Children’s Shapes
for
Straws and Felts
in
Wood, Plaster, Iron, Spelter and
Aluminium Pans and Dishes.
All Accessories for the Trade
_The Noted Blockmaker for High-Class
Work_
Tel. 778
ESTABLISHED 1866
Colling & Company
PROPRIETOR: CHAS F. COLLING
[Illustration]
_Plain and Fancy
Silk, Satin and
Cotton Goods_
* * * * *
_Manufacturers of
all kinds of
Hat Linings_
39 King Street, Luton
TELEGRAMS: “COLLING, KING ST., LUTON”
TELEPHONE: LUTON 17
PITMAN’S
COMMON COMMODITIES
AND INDUSTRIES SERIES
Each book in crown 8vo, illustrated, 3/- net
=TEA.= By A. Ibbetson
=COFFEE.= By B. B. Keable
=SUGAR.= By Geo. Martineau
=OILS.= By C. Ainsworth Mitchell
=WHEAT.= By Andrew Millar
=RUBBER.= By C. Beadle and H. P. Stevens
=IRON AND STEEL.= By C. Hood
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=COAL.= By F. H. Wilson
=TIMBER.= By W. Bullock
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=WOOL.= By J. A. Hunter
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=ALCOHOL.= By C. Simmonds
=CONCRETE AND REINFORCED CONCRETE.= By W. N. Twelvetrees
=SPONGES.= By E. J. J. Cresswell
=WALL PAPER.= By G. Whiteley Ward
=CLOCKS AND WATCHES.= By G. L. Overton
=ANTHRACITE.= By A. L. Summers
=INCANDESCENT LIGHTING.= By S. I. Levy
=THE FISHING INDUSTRY.= By W. E. Gibbs
=OIL FOR POWER PURPOSES.= By S. H. North
=STARCH.= By H. A. Auden
=TALKING MACHINES.= By O. Mitchell
=NICKEL.= By B. H. White
=PLAYER PIANO.= By D. M. Wilson
=INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES.= By J. Okill
=DYES.= By A. J. Hall
=MOTOR BOATS.= By F. Strickland
=VELVET.= By J. H. Cooke
=THE STRAW HAT INDUSTRY.= By H. Inwards
=BRUSHES.= By W. Kiddier
=PATENT FUELS.= By J. A. Greene and F. Mollwo Perkin
=FURS.= By J. C. Sachs
=STRAW HATS=
_Always leading for Style and Quality_
Frank Harden, Ltd.
_Manufacturers of_
LADIES’ HATS
_of all descriptions_
WHOLESALE AND SHIPPING ONLY
[Illustration]
58-62 Bute Street
Luton
[Illustration: Model as worn 25-30 years ago
MANUFACTURED BY
FRANK HARDEN]
[Illustrated: Model as worn 1922 season
MANUFACTURED BY
FRANK HARDEN, LTD.]
_Telegrams_: Harden, Luton
_Codes_: Marconi and A.B.C. 5th edition
[Illustration: FINISHING, LINING AND TRIMMING STRAW HATS
_Frontispiece_]
PITMAN’S COMMON COMMODITIES
AND INDUSTRIES
STRAW HATS
THEIR HISTORY
AND MANUFACTURE
BY
HARRY INWARDS
EX-PRESIDENT LUTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
[Illustration]
LONDON
SIR ISAAC PITMAN & SONS, LTD.
PARKER STREET, KINGSWAY, W.C.2
BATH, MELBOURNE, TORONTO, NEW YORK
PRINTED IN BATH, ENGLAND
BY SIR ISAAC PITMAN AND SONS, LTD.
TO
MY WIFE
EMILY INWARDS
A
LOVING TRIBUTE
_Cable Address_: _Codes_: _A B C_ (_4th, 5th & 6th Editions_)
“_Attention, Luton._” _A1_, _Bentley’s, & Marconi_
Henry Durler
and Son, Ltd.
* * * * *
_Importers_, _Exporters_,
_Bleachers & Dyers_
* * * * *
_of all kinds of_
_Chinese and Japanese_
_Straw Plaits_
_for_
_Hat Manufacture_
* * * * *
Luton, Bedfordshire
ENGLAND
FOREWORD
It will be noticed throughout this book that the author has deviated
from the dictionary methods of spelling words illustrative of the
action of _plait_.
The _Oxford Dictionary_ reads--
“_Plait_ (pleit, ploet, plit) ... _see_ also _plat_.”
“_Plat._ To form hats, etc., is now a less usual spelling than _plait_.”
“_Plat-ting_, the action of _plat_.”
Nuttall gives the pronunciation of _plait_ as plate, and that of the
action word _plaited_ as _plated_.
In the district where the manufacture is sufficiently ancient to have
established a claim to its regular pronunciation, _plait_, as it is
invariably spelt, has always been pronounced _plat_, and the action
words _plat-ter_, _plat-ted_, and _plat-ting_.
That this is not a local solecism of pronunciation is proved by the
renderings given under the headings _plat_ and _platting_ in the
_Oxford Dictionary_, and further, a literary and ancient example can be
found in “A Lover’s Complaint,” where Shakespeare speaks of “a plat-ted
hive.”
The author thinks it is time some definite method, in proper accord
with the custom of the industry, should be adopted, and he proposes
a precedent, which he claims to be well founded and sensible, viz.,
to continue to use the word _plait_ (pronounced _plat_) as the
substantive, and to establish the spelling _plait-ter_, _plait-ted_ and
_plait-ting_ as designations of the action words properly interpreting
the universal pronunciation.
I should like to express grateful thanks for assistance and
information given me in the course of my work, to Messrs. Murry Barford
(Mayor of Luton), of Barford & Sons, Luton; Percy Currant, of Currant
& Creak, Luton; Henry George Draper, of Walsh & Sons, Luton; George
Field, of Luton; Henry Gregory, of Gregory & Sons, Barbican, London,
E.C.; Charles Hubbard, of Luton; Thomas Mann, of Vyse Sons & Co.,
Luton; James Saunders, F.L.S., of Saunders & Son, Luton; Frank E.
Shoosmith, of Luton; John Irving Wright, J.P., of Luton; all of whom
have intimate knowledge of the straw trade and its machinery; and to
Mr. T. Maw, Librarian Luton Public Library.
The help of these gentlemen has materially added to the correctness of
many details, of which my knowledge was uncertain.
HARRY INWARDS
Luton.
_31st March, 1922._
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
FOREWORD vii
I. ORIGIN AND CLASSICAL HISTORY 1
II. COMMERCIAL RISE AND GROWTH 13
III. STRAW PLAIT--METHOD OF PREPARING THE STRAWS 25
IV. STRAW HOODS--METHOD OF PREPARING AND OF WEAVING THE FIBRES 35
V. STRAW PLAIT AND PLAITTING 45
VI. DYEING 52
VII. BLEACHING 60
VIII. BLOCKMAKING 66
IX. HAND AND MACHINE SEWING 71
X. STIFFENING 84
XI. BLOCKING BY HAND 93
XII. BLOCKING BY MACHINE 100
XIII. FINISHING. POLISHING. TRIMMING. LINING 111
INDEX 125
ERMEN & ROBY’S
COTTON
IS LUTON’S FAVOURITE
BRAND
[Illustration]
White and Black on 10,000 Yard Reels
All Colours on 5,000 Yard Reels
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
FINISHING, LINING AND TRIMMING STRAW HATS _Frontispiece_
THE PETASUS 2
THE STEPHANOS 3
THE ETRUSCAN HAT 4
HAT OF PENELOPE 5
A POMPEIAN BONNET 5
STRAW PLAITTERS AT WORK 30
PANAMA HOOD MAKING 39
BLEACHING AND DYEING OF PLAITS AND HOODS 55
A TIPPER 69
SECTION OF FOUR ROWS OF PLAIT 72
SEWING STRAW PLAIT INTO HATS BY MACHINE 75
SECTION OF ROLLERS 82
STIFFENING STRAW HATS 89
HAND BLOCKING 97
MACHINE BLOCKING 103
MACHINE BLOCKING (BROCHIER TYPE) 109
EVERY DESCRIPTION OF STRAW HATS
OF
GUARANTEED
EXCELLENCE
[Illustration: _The “Cavalier” Make_]
English Boater
Genuine “Luton Lodge”
REGD.
English Boater
Genuine “Walsh Luton”
REGD.
Established 1862
ROWLAND CUNNINGHAM
(WM. WALSH) LIMITED
STRAW HAT MANUFACTURERS
STUART LODGE HAT WORKS
LUTON, BEDS
Telegraphic Address:
“WALSH LUTON”
Telephone: 132 LUTON
Code A B C 4th & 5th Editions
MARCONI’S, BENTLEY’S
STRAW HATS
CHAPTER I
ORIGIN AND CLASSICAL HISTORY
The origin of what is known as a “Straw Hat” is lost in the mists of
antiquity.
Ambiguous references to what may have been hats of vegetable materials
are to be found in the works of almost all ancient writers, but very
little that is specific can be discovered. Perhaps one reason for
the paucity of information on this subject may be that the home made
hats of plaitted straws or rushes were probably worn only by the
common people. With society, as it existed in early days, if such were
the case, the matter would be considered almost too vulgar for the
classical writers to mention.
Doubtless in the earliest stages of human development any kind of
convenient material was utilized by primeval man in the endeavour to
keep his head or body warm or cool as the case might require.
Now the mere fact of the shelter afforded by trees would create some
inducement towards using leaves for covering the body, for one may
assume that even before vegetable products were gathered and used,
say, as thatch, for collective shelter, some of them were adopted for
individual protective purposes.
The earliest reference to such is the well-known account of the
“aprons of fig leaves” mentioned in the third chapter of Genesis. This
primitive method of clothing was soon followed by the use of skins
(as noted later in the same chapter), but even in this record the
vegetable product was used by man before that of animals, and shows in
a most unmistakable, even if allegorical, manner, the natural trend of
all development, viz., that articles easiest to procure are those that
are first used.
[Illustration: Fig. 1 PETASUS, FROM PARTHENON FRIEZE (ELGIN MARBLE)
BY PHIDIAS (_circ._ 450 B.C.) _Shaded part is now broken._]
It is, therefore, not unfair to assume that the manipulation of
vegetable fibres, such as leaves, rushes, straws and other similar
products, was really the earliest textile operation. That once
conceded, it is no long step to the use of the “plaitted” article as a
head covering.
The _Encyclopaedia Britannica_, in its articles on “Costume” and “Hats”
states that the “modern hat can be traced back to the _Petasus_ worn
by the ancient Romans when on a journey”; and similar hats, known as
_Kausia_, were also used by the ancient Greeks on like occasions.
The Greek _Kausia_ and the Roman _Petasus_ are described as “hats of a
pliant material which could be bent down at the sides like that worn by
_Atalanta_.”
La Croix, a French writer on the subject, assures us that the early
Romans and Franks “sought Bast and Straw of which to make them hats,”
and there is an antique statue of Mercury in the Vatican at Rome, which
has for head covering a hat of a “wide-awake” nature, sculptured in
close imitation of a finely plaitted straw.
The Goddess Hera (the Grecian name for the Roman Juno), Queen of
Olympus, is depicted on ancient vases, coins and statues wearing
a _Stephanos_ [one of the statues, the original of which was by
Praxiteles (350 B.C.), representing _Hera Teleia_ standing, is known
to moderns by copies to be found in the Vatican and other museums].
Pausanias (c. 160 B.C.) speaking of the coins of Argos, specifically
describes _Hera_ as wearing a _Stephanos_. This was a head covering
consisting only of a crown, similar in shape to a modern Turkish fez
inverted, of the same breadth and height all round, and was made of
various vegetable products.
[Illustration: Fig. 2 STEPHANOS, FROM TERRA-COTTA (700 B.C.),
BRITISH MUSEUM]
In the British Museum is to be seen a small terra-cotta figure seated
wearing the above sketched _Stephanos_ in which the plaitting marks
of coarse vegetable fibres are very distinct. This is probably the
earliest extant record, in the plastic art, of a straw hat.
“Wicker work (_poloi kalathoi_) was also used by the ancient Greeks to
make brim-less hats.” (Gerard. Antike Bildwerke.)
The ancient Etruscans wore what was known as a _Tutulus_, a brimless
hat with a high pointed centre to the crown; and a broad brimmed hat
similar to the _Petasus_, but with a pointed top like the _Tutulus_.
Etruria covered the district now occupied by the Italian straw plait
and hat makers, but while there is an extreme likelihood, from the
shape of the hat in the accompanying sketch, that the denizens of this
fertile champaign, producing as it does, and probably did, unlimited
materials that could be plaitted, made these hats of straw, there is
no definite information as to their being constructed of any vegetable
fibres.
[Illustration: Fig. 3 ETRUSCAN HAT (_circ._ 440 B.C.), HEAD OF PELEUS
FROM PAINTING ON EARTHENWARE DISH FOUND IN A TOMB AT VULCI]
Another very important link of classical interest with the remote past
is shown in the two sketches of hats and bonnets as worn by the ancient
inhabitants of ill-fated Pompeii.
The mural decorations of this long-buried city illustrate in a far
more cogent manner than any other known examples, the probable actual
appearance of the people who lived there before its catastrophe, and
the hat shown on the head of _Penelope_ is a model that has been
imitated during the last thirty-five years. The little knob on the top
is, however, quite novel.
The other example from Pompeii is from a comic fresco in which two men,
dressed as women, are having an altercation, and here the artist has
not only shown the lines which indicate the ridges of a woven vegetable
fibre hat, but this painting provides the first known drawing of a
_Bonnet_. Note the tilt at which it is worn, and the portion cut out at
base to admit the neck, and also the absolute resemblance to what is
known as a “Granny” Bonnet.
[Illustration: Fig. 4 HAT WORN BY PENELOPE]
[Illustration: Fig. 5 BONNET]
A very famous writer of antiquity (perhaps the one best known, except
Caesar, to all scholars of Latin), Virgil, makes allusion in his
_Pastorals_ to the “plaitting of osiers and willows.”
Probably there is no race of men that has so closely maintained to the
present time its ancient forms of clothing, as have the Arabs; and they
occasionally wear a hat made of twisted bands of straw similar to a
beehive. They are the only Moslems that do, and there is no trace of
any other people of that religion wearing a similar head covering.
All this evidence from the Graeco-Roman and other ancient sources
proves that the making in some way of straw hats was fairly general
even in the earliest times in the countries of Asia Minor and
south-eastern Europe, but some writers on the subject favour the claims
of the Black Forest of Germany as having been the birthplace of the
industry. This, of course, may be so, although no Germanic or Teutonic
writers of equal antiquity have handed down such direct evidence as
that of the Graeco-Romans.
But it seems a little invidious for any special part of the world to
make such a claim, for doubtless the weaving of vegetable fibres was
not confined to any particular area, but that primeval man all over the
world practised the operation for his own needs.
There are no British records of straw hats until A.D. 1459, when it is
narrated that Sir John Fastolfe died possessed of “ij Strawen hattes”;
the “_Promtorium parvulorum_” of about that date renders the “hatte of
straw” as _capedulum_.
Spenser, Shakespeare and Thynne, brilliant luminaries of the
Elizabethan period, all make allusions to the straw hat.
Spenser, the Poet Laureate of Good Queen Bess (who herself is said to
have worn a straw hat that may still be seen at Hatfield House), quite
early in the sixteenth century says--
“Some plaid with straws,” etc.:
while Thynne, about 1570, in his “Debate between Pride and Lowliness”
writes of a man with
“A _strawen hatte_ upon his head
“The which was fastened underneath.”
Shakespeare in _The Tempest_ (Act IV, Scene 1) makes _Iris_ say--
“You sunburned sicklemen, of August weary
“Come hither from the furrow, and be merry;
“Make holyday: your _rye straw hats_ put on
“And these fresh nymphs encounter every one
“In country footing.”
In _A Lover’s Complaint_, the immortal bard still further emphasizes
the use, which apparently was fairly general, of the straw hat--
“Upon her head a platted hive of straw
“Which fortified her visage from the sun.”
This passage is interesting first on account of the use of the word
_hive_. This object, as used for beekeeping, was without doubt very
familiar to Shakespeare, and therefore the maid’s head covering, as it
existed in the imagination of the poet, was probably similar to that
worn by the Arabs mentioned previously, for she and they wore it as
a protection against the sun’s heat. Second, Shakespeare’s spelling
of the word “platted” was undoubtedly the method of spelling current
at the time and was phonetic. (The author in the “Foreword” bases
his reasons for using the double T in “plaitting” or “plaitter” in
conjunction with the modern spelling of the word on this and other more
recent well-known examples of literature co-eval with the birth of the
trade in Great Britain.)
Ben Jonson, the Poet Laureate of James I, about 1630, in an epigram to
Lady Mary Wroth, writes--
“He that saw you wear the wheaten hat,” etc.
The inimitable diarist, Pepys, describes an actress at the Duke’s
Theatre as “dressed like a country maid with a straw hat on”: and
mentions that while staying at Hatfield, “The women (of the party) had
pleasure in putting on some _Straw Hats_, which are much worn in this
country, which did become them mightily, _but especially my wife_!!”
It may be interesting at this point to mention a widely known subject,
of which interpretations have been greatly at fault. One of Peter Paul
Rubens’ best known paintings is entitled “La Dame au Chapeau de Poil.”
The subject is of a lady wearing a large brimmed and somewhat high
crowned hat adorned with a sweeping plume of feathers, and many writers
on straw hats have endeavoured to show that the hat of the picture was
made of straw, arguing that the word “Poil” in the title was an ancient
form of the French word for straw, viz., “Paille.” It is true that
some old Gaelic writers in mentioning the stalks of cereals have used
various methods of spelling the equivalent for straw; “Pail,” “Paile”
and “Paill” are to be found in sixteenth and seventeenth century books,
but in no case has the word “Poil” ever been used, and quite rightly
so, because this word means an entirely different thing, and is used
to-day with the same spelling and for the same purpose as it was in
the sixteenth century. “Poil” means “nap,” a raised “pile,” which can
be obtained on various fabrics. This consists of a sufficient number
of the loose ends of the staple, of which the material is woven or
felted, being left on the surface, or afterwards raised by means of
combs, etc., so as to form either a velvety richness on which the loose
ends stand upright, or a glossy finish, like that obtained on a man’s
top hat, where the loose ends are smoothed down. The real translation
of the picture’s title is “The lady with a Pile hat,” in this case
undoubtedly of some felted nature and of which the actual modern
equivalent would be either a beaver, flamand or velour.
From this time onwards, as printing became more general, allusions
to straw hats became frequent, and, with the advent of periodicals of
fashions, etc., for ladies, both letterpress and illustrations confirm
their widespread use. Naturally detail began to be given, and the poet
Gay (cir. 1714) in his Pastorals sings of
“My new straw hat, thus trimly lined with green.”
In the _Ladies Dictionary_ (1694) under the heading of “Apparel,”
straw hats are mentioned as among the things “necessary to feminine
adornment.”
Miss Constance Isherwood says that “Straw hats--became the rage among
the reigning beauties of Queen Anne’s court and the early Georgian
period.”
_The Ladies’ Magazine_ of the eighteenth century has many plates
showing various styles of what are certainly straw hats, the design and
manipulation of the straws in woven hats and the detail of the plait in
sewn hats being very carefully and distinctly engraved.
These excerpts from ancient as well as more recent authorities all tend
to show the widespread use of the straw hat, and prove that the term
“straw” was, as it is now, a most comprehensive one, and one in no way
entirely confined to the stalks of cereals.
But they also show that, although straw hats were made all over the
Continent, etc., the work on them was purely individual and local.
There were no recognized centres of manufacture or distribution,
for, excepting the fact that some localities were more productive of
suitable materials for plaitting than others, the making of straw hats
was universal, and it is not until the sixteenth century that any
reliable information is obtainable of special centres for straw hat
production. According to Cesare Cantu, a well-known Italian historian,
the manufacture of hats of straw in the neighbourhood of Florence,
for distribution outside the locality, can be traced back to the
fourteenth century. This is probably quite true, but unfortunately
the statement is not corroborated by any contemporaneous evidence.
But in the year 1574, Signa, a village near Florence, was entitled
“the original seat of the industry.” (From a consular report.) It
is, therefore, almost safe to declare that the commercial life of
the straw hat began in the district of Florence, and here, probably,
for the first time in history, were to be found gathered together in
sufficiently large numbers to make their wares marketable, persons both
male and female engaged in weaving straws into hats, or _capelli_, or
in plaitting straws into braids, which were called _paglia_ or plait.
From Tuscany to Piedmont is not a “far cry,” and Coryat in his
_Crudities_ (a work published in 1611 and consisting of a series of
observations made in a journey through Europe) says, “at many places in
Piemont I observed most delicate strawen hats, which both men and women
use in most places of that Province.”
Again, Piedmont is not very distant from Lorraine, and it is from
this latter district, which was the country of the birthplace of her
mother, that Mary, Queen of Scots, is said to have brought plaitters to
Scotland in 1552, and thus to have introduced the art to the British
Isles.
Some writers on this subject, failing to discriminate between plait and
hats, adduce many adverse arguments (_see_ below) when the claim is
made that the unfortunate queen established the trade in the coasts of
Britain. These point to the undoubted fact that straw hats were made
both in Scotland and England before her time. That, of course, is quite
true, but what is not equally certain is whether the hats made in the
British Isles before 1552 were hats woven in one piece, or hats made of
plaitted braid sewn afterwards in some manner to the required shape.
In the old account of the transaction one reads that in Lorraine Mary
noticed the people “profitably employed, some in plaitting straws and
others in working (_sic_) the straw plait into hats.” It is, therefore,
evident that it was an established industry in Lorraine and that _both_
operations were being carried on. One may also deduce that, while
the weaving of hats may have been common in Scotland, the making of
plait and the subsequent making into hats was a novelty to Mary, and,
therefore, in the interests of her Scottish subjects, she endeavoured
to promote a similar industry in which they also might be “profitably
employed.”
The late Mr. John Waller, of Luton, a member of one of the oldest
families connected with the straw trade, after a careful and apparently
unbiased investigation, says that the statement about Mary being the
founder of the industry “can only be regarded as pleasing fiction”; and
to support this quotes from Oldmixon’s _History of England_ (edition of
1724) “That the manufacture of straw plait had thriven for about 100
years in the neighbourhood of Hemel Hempstead and Dunstable.” But from
1552 to 1624 is a long period, and one can easily imagine the natives
of sunny Lorraine feeling none too homelike in “Caledonia, stern and
wild.” With the accession of James I (Mary’s son) to the English
throne, what could be more natural than the migration of these workers
to more genial southerly temperatures, bringing with them their art? As
James became king in 1603 there would have been plenty of time for the
industry of making plait for sewing into hats being established between
then and 1624, which would be exactly 100 years before Oldmixon’s
account! And speaking of the advent of the Lorrainers into Beds and
Herts, Mr. Thomas George Austin, in his book on the _Straw Hat and
Bonnet trade of the Luton District_, writes, “It is said to be the true
history of the introduction of the handicraft into England.”
One must, therefore, come to the conclusion that the system of making
hats from plait, as distinct from the weaving the hat in one piece, was
introduced by Mary, Queen of Scots, to Scotland, and from thence the
method came south, and for reasons which will be set out hereafter,
settled itself in the regions of South Bedfordshire, North-east
Hertfordshire, and East Buckinghamshire.