STRAW PLAIT--METHOD OF PREPARING THE STRAWS
The foregoing details, mainly devoted to the classical and historical
side of straw hat manufacture, have demonstrated that the word “straw”
is very elastic in its meaning when applied to its use for making hats.
All classes of vegetable fibres have been included at some time or
other in its embrace, and to-day the range of materials technically
known as “straws” is larger than at any previous time. But as the
industry of straw hat making centred itself in the locality of South
Bedfordshire on account of the superior straw, and because the process
of splitting and subsequent manipulation effected a total revolution
in straw hat working, a description of the processes common in that
district will, with a few minor exceptions, serve as an example for
all plait making. The straws used in England are principally those
of wheat, the exceptions are very small. They are specially grown by
careful methods of tillage, and at the proper period are cut either
with the sickle or with the scythe, the mowing machine being likely to
bruise the stalks. They are tied into suitable bundles, considerably
smaller than the usual sheaf, with the ears of corn as nearly level
as possible; these are then cut off and used for grain purposes. The
bundles of straw are carefully “combed” with a coarse wooden comb to
rid the stalks of all the loose portions and thin blades. They are then
cut into the standard lengths, about 10 ins. long, and are ready for
sizing. This is effected by working through a series of sieves, with
somewhat deep sides. As the straws have been carefully gathered with
ears uppermost, it naturally follows that all the similar thicknesses
of stalk are together, and therefore the process of sorting becomes a
fairly speedy one. The cut lengths now become _straw pipes_, and they
are first placed on the largest end in the largest grade sieve, the
pipes smaller than the mesh fall through, leaving only those of the
coarsest dimensions. This process is repeated until all the varying
thicknesses of straw have been sorted into their respective sizes. They
are then tied up carefully into bundles of about 5 ins. in diameter,
and are ready for the plaitter.
In Italy, where the straw is grown solely for plaitting purposes,
the process before sorting is a little different. The sowing of corn
(_Triticum turgidum_, or _Triticum oestivum_, which is a species of
rye) is done very thickly, so as to produce thin and short stalks. It
is gathered when the ear is in a soft, milky state before the final
stages of ripening. It is then thinly spread over the ground in fine,
hot weather, and afterwards tied in bundles and stacked, so that the
resultant heat may drive off all moisture. After remaining stacked
for about a month, it is spread out and exposed to the action of dew,
sun and air, in order to bleach it. During the exposure, which varies
according to necessity, the stalks are frequently turned. When the
bleaching process is sufficiently complete, the lower joint of the
straw stripped of its outside thin sheath is divided from the upper
one, which is still allowed to retain the ear. This process provides
the _punta_ and the _pedale_. The straw is then subjected to the
action of steam and the fumes of sulphur. When this bleaching process
is complete the assortment into sizes by sieves takes place, and the
graded straws are then ready for use.
From this stage for making plaits of the whole or unsplit straw, the
processes adopted by both England and Italy are in the main identical;
Italy, however, has not generally adopted the splitting processes
for plait making on account of the fineness of her straws. But the
British plaitter reserves the sulphur bleaching of the straws until
the plait is actually made, for, with the excellent colour of the
straw, in many cases this can be dispensed with until the need for
hat making arises. The first processes of plaitting, either of hats
or of braid, were undoubtedly of the unsplit stalks, and all “English
whole straw” plaits were so made. It has been shown how and why the
splitting of straws arose. The plaitter, having determined on the
variety of plait to be made, acquired a sufficiency of suitable sized
_pipes_. With the _splitter_, the point of which, inserted in the end
of the straw, and pressed downwards, the tube of straw coming against
the radially set cutters, the _pipes_ were divided into _splints_ of
equal widths of a fineness according to the plaitter’s requirements.
These were then wetted so as to render them a little tougher and more
amenable for manipulation and bending. The plaitter, with a bundle of
splints under the left arm, and generally a few in the mouth, through
the lips of which they are drawn to keep moist, commences operations.
Any description of all the methods of plaitting would be tedious, all
the operations consisting of a constant under and over locking of
the splints, but in the split straw making of the “Patent Dunstable”
the plaitting, instead of being of either one straw or splint, is of
two, wetted and laid together, and in the varieties known as “Splits”
the splints are plaitted singly, leaving alternately, or in a spaced
pattern, according to the design required, the inside and the outside
of the straw; the outside of silicate being shiny, and the inside with
its slight pith (or _rice_ as it is termed) being dull. The “Whole
Straw Dunstable,” the first plait made in the neighbourhood, was of
seven entire straws, “Patent Dunstable” or “Twist” was of seven doubled
strands, or _ends_, formed of fourteen splints. _Rice_ similarly made,
but with the splints inside out, making a plait of a dull white which
was extensively used for bonnets for weddings. “Split” was formed of
seven single split straws, presenting the varied appearance mentioned
above, and was naturally the lightest of British fine plaits. “Luton”
was made like “Patent Dunstable,” but without the “Twist” head, making
a flat plait similar to split but with both sides alike. “Bedford,”
made of eleven single or eleven double ends of twenty-two splints,
similar to and in imitation of the Italian plait “11-end Tuscan,”
and “Rustic,” a plait of four whole or split straws plaitted to show
pointed serrations on both edges. These plaits form the base from
which all other straw plaits have developed; their composition and
methods are to be found in every variety whether made in Great Britain
or abroad, and although other hand-made plaits have larger or smaller
numbers of “ends” (from three to almost any number upwards) their basis
of treatment remains the same.
The two primary homes of plaitting straws into braids, Italy and
Great Britain, had many features in common in the conditions and
methods by which the plait was made. In both countries the whole of
the industry was carried on by peasants and their wives. The males,
who were generally agricultural labourers or small traders in rural
districts, for the main part saw to the growing of the straws and their
preparation and distribution for plaitting, followed after the braids
were made by the marketing of the work done by their female friends or
relations. In some districts, such as the environs of Florence and of
the South Beds and neighbouring counties, these occupations were of
such magnitude as to give constant employment to many.
In all the districts the main labour of plaitting was undertaken by
the womenfolk, although men at times took a hand, and in the middle
of the nineteenth century it was a real feature of village life in
the plaitting centres, to see the good wives and daughters, after the
household work was done, standing at their cottage doors, swiftly and
dexterously plaitting and at the same time distributing that gentle
and yet satisfying gossip that was so dear to rustic life. In this
manner by far the greater bulk of the plaits of Italy and Great Britain
were made, although in the latter country since about 1825, some extra
means of production were employed. Instead of the art being taught from
mother to daughter, as was the earlier practice, schools of plaitting
were instituted. These were generally arranged in the cottage home
of one of the most expert plaitters, who for a small fee taught the
youthful aspirants all the intricacies of the trade, while at the same
time the instructor contrived to keep at work on her own particular
plaitting. The view of a portion of a plaitting village, on a fine
day, with its generally picturesque surroundings framing an active
rustic group of women engaged in plaitting, was such as should have
commended itself to many an artist, yet strange to say the pictures
extant of either Italian or British plaitting scenes are very few and
far between. These pleasant, pastoral occupations seem to have gone for
ever from Great Britain, although one may still see in Italy the once
familiar signs. Hand plaitting has migrated to the Far East, and there
in China and Japan one can to-day see, with the changes consequent on
the different setting of the scenes, the sights which seventy-five
years ago were common to the countryside around Dunstable, Hemel
Hempstead, and Luton.
[Illustration: Fig. 6 STRAW PLAITTERS AT WORK--A BEDFORDSHIRE VILLAGE
SCENE IN 1870]
Machine-made straw plaits have never been produced in quantities in
England, although patents for plaitting have been taken out; but in
Italy and Switzerland machinery has been in use since 1840, producing
plaits of straw mixed with other fibres, such as horsehair or silk.
Fiesole, a village near Florence, became a centre of machine-made
plaits of Tuscan straw woven in Wattle fashion with strands of silk and
cotton, and gave its name to all similarly made plaits.
The other continental centres making straw plaits were Switzerland and
Belgium. By the former practically all the straws used were imported
from Italy, only quite a small portion being home grown; but Belgium
produced some beautiful straws, and the “Split” and “Piping” made in
that country have never been surpassed. The “7 end cord,” of same
detail as “Patent Dunstable,” although excellent in make and colour,
missed the sharp twisted head (from whence the name “Twist”) peculiar
to the British made article, the straws being of too soft a nature
to retain the desired effect throughout the hat-making processes.
The methods of gathering and preparing the straws in Belgium closely
followed the British.
China, the first Far Eastern straw plait competitor, is able to count
on almost limitless quantities of straw, and the plaits made there
are, as far as appearance is concerned, second to none. But while the
British plaitter inserts only one or say two straws at a time, the
Chinese frequently insert what is known as the _whole sett_; this
naturally causes a greater weakness at the junction than is found in
British plait, and for that reason many Chinese patterns, although
beautiful to look at, are very difficult to work, and the probability
of some of these _setts_ coming undone and the consequent raggedness
of the _speels_ (as the loose ends are called) make these plaits
undesirable for the highest class work. But the Chinese, although not
too adaptable, are nothing if not deft, and a few makes of plait are
put on the market, which from their altered “setting” are known as
“speelless.” “Speelless Maslimpo,” an imitation in very fine whole
straws of Italian 7 ends pedal is one of the most beautiful fine plaits
made, and although it seldom entirely justifies its adjective, in the
main it is the least difficult Chinese plait to work up. The methods
employed by the celestials in preparing the straws are tantamount
to those employed in Britain, and the methods of splitting them are
identical.
Japan occupies a unique position in the cultivation and production of
straws for plaitting. The soil is extremely fertile, and the geological
condition of the country is volcanic. The straws when grown attain to
a great size of tube, even as much as 1/3 of an inch in diameter, and
plaits have been made of Japanese straws, split only in one place,
which when opened out form a splint an inch wide, making braids of
only 4 or 5 ends, about 3 ins. in width. The volcanic nature of the
country seems to have permeated the soil with some bleaching agent.
Sulphur is usually a product of volcanic eruption, and although its
fumes are deadly to the growth of cereals, straws grown on volcanic
soil acquire a colour which is unobtainable elsewhere. And the colour
of the Japanese straw is entirely unlike, and at the same time vastly
better than, any other known variety. Its rapid growth also engenders a
special lightness of weight, and although not tough as the Italian or
British, it is sufficiently so for any plaitting purposes. In this case
the preparation of straws for working is simply the drying and sorting.
Cereals only have as yet been described, but two other vegetable
products can almost claim by user to be classed as straws, as the straw
hat making industry has adopted them in a very whole-hearted manner.
One of the first vegetable plaits, other than those of actual straw,
was made of fine splints of the wood of willow. This was sufficiently
seasoned in plank, a finely planed surface obtained, and a planing
cutter, with scoring knives set to the requisite width, was made to
take a very thin shaving. This naturally produced the shaving in very
narrow strips that were the _media_ from which 3 ends, 5 ends, 7 ends
and 9 ends “Chip” were plaitted by hand. Also wider splints of willow
shavings were used to make fancy patterns of plait, the number of which
is legion. This branch of the industry emanated from Italy, and Saxony
and the Black Forest subsequently did some business in chip plaits,
but their shavings were not equal to the Italian, being more woolly
and less glossy, and they enjoyed mainly a local success. About 1890
the Japanese began to make chip plaits, their wood was equal to the
Italians, and their prices vastly lower, so that for some years, while
the plait known as “3 ends Chip” monopolized the great bulk of the hat
making requirements, Italy and Japan were keen competitors. As in the
birthplace of chip plaits, so in Japan were subsequently made all kinds
of fancy designs, which for some time nearly extinguished the Italian
trade.
The other vegetable fibre is hemp. This was first used by the Swiss in
the manufacture of a machine made braid similar in appearance to the
hand plaitted 9 or 7 end chips.
The fibre from which the first braids were woven was derived from an
aloe-like plant _Sansaviera Zeylanica_ (or bow string hemp) which grew
in the island of Java in a district called Tégal. This particular
hemp when prepared was exceedingly lustrous and tough, and when put
on the market in braids was called by the name of its native place.
The name has been corrupted into several forms, Tagal, Tagel, Tagle,
etc., but the proper name is Tégal, and this is still retained by the
French, while in England the most popular form is Tagal. The method of
weaving was to plait into braids, strands formed of one, two or three,
or even more fibres of the hemp, and plaits were marketed conveying
those features, such as “13/2” (which meant 13 strands of two fibres),
or “13/3” (thirteen strands of 3 fibres). This shoelace like braid was
soon followed by a design similar to Italian 7 end Pedal, and was at
first known as “Tégal Picot,” but is now more generally called “Pedal
Tagal.” When worked this plait has a very close resemblance to its
model, and like all the other hemp plaits, will take a softly brilliant
and regular coloured dye.
The Japanese soon copied all these Tagal braids and quickly made it
almost impossible for any other competitor, although at first their
reproductions were extremely faulty. While Italy, that also made hemp
plaits, and Switzerland yet enjoy a small trade, it is probable that at
least 95 per cent of Pedal Tagal emanates from the “Land of the Rising
Sun,” which has found means to utilize other varieties of hemp, and
has also incorporated silk fibres into the plaitting, and at the same
time is now producing qualities that are not surpassed by either of
the European varieties. The only merit of continental Tagal above the
Japanese is that the braids are somewhat firmer and squarer in make.
Hemp fibres, like almost all others, have been extensively used, either
by themselves or in conjunction with other materials, in making fancy
braids of a thousand and one varieties. One feature of all Tagal plaits
is that there is no other known medium which combines such toughness
and wear-resisting qualities.
Further, plaits have been made from the naturally produced vegetable
fibres, Raffia, Cuba Bast, Yedda (a particularly light stripping from
an exotic plant), Sinnet or Palm leaf, Rushes of all kinds, and various
similar growths.
Mechanically prepared fibres from vegetable growths such as cotton,
jute, etc., have been pressed into the making of various braids of
close and open designs, while silk and imitation silks of cellulose
nature have enjoyed great popularity as plaits for making fancy hats.
The only purely animal product used in making plaits is horsehair.
This material, so extremely liked by the highest classes of wearers,
is now most difficult to obtain owing to the rise of the motor car and
the subsequent decline of the horse, but in spite of its origin it has
been, since at least sixty years, included as one of the materials that
can be classified as a “straw hat.”
All the plaits mentioned, with very few exceptions, such as the
cellulose, visca, cotton or black horsehair varieties, require
bleaching or dyeing before being ready for sewing. In a few cases these
processes take place where the plait is made, but generally speaking
they are done at the places where plaits are made into hats.