510 



HATS. 



Nassau, and thus of Holland, whence the party cry 

 of orange boven, " Up with the orange ;" black 

 and yellow of Austria, black and white of Prussia, 

 and red of Spain. Our own is, HS must be known 

 to all, black. It is the family badge of the elec- 

 tors of Hanover. White cockades are worn by 

 servants in England at weddings, and it has been 

 the fashion to have them as large as possible. Gold 

 and silver hat-bands and loops were formerly much 

 in fashion, but they are now confined to livery ser- 

 vants. 



Hat Manufacture. Hats formed of straw, wil- 

 low, the bark of trees, and other materials of the 

 same description, we find among the manufactures 

 of nations in an early state of civilization, but the 

 process by which a beaver-hat is formed, requires 

 great judgment, an intimate knowledge of the 

 effect of heat and moisture upon certain substances, 

 and considerable mechanical skill. Great progress, 

 therefore, must have taken place in the arts of life, 

 in any nation, before a beaver-hat can be made. 



The first part of the manufacture of a beaver- 

 hat, is the making of .what is called the body. The 

 materials of which the body is formed, are rabbits' 

 down, lambs' wool, and a small quantity of camels' 

 hair. The camels' hair, which is a much longer 

 fibre than either of the other t\vo materials, assists 

 greatly in binding together the substance of the 

 body, much after the same manner as the hair 

 used by the plasterer, in the making of mortar. 



Proportionate quantities of these three sub- 

 stances being weighed, they undergo the operation 

 of bowing. The materials are laid upon a level 

 board, enclosed on all sides but one, to prevent 

 their loss, when the bowstring is brought into ac- 

 tion. The bow is large and strong, and formed of 

 wood ; not pliable, like the bow of an archer, but 

 answering the purpose of a frame, over which a 

 strong string of catgut is strained. The mate- 

 rial being spread on the board, the bow is drawn 

 down nearly to the table, the middle of its 

 frame being held firmly in the workman's left hand, 

 the string being now almost on a level with the 

 wool, is drawn out with the right hand, and when 

 allowed to recoil, it strikes the wool, and separates 

 and mixes its fibres ; which, after floating for a 

 time in the air, gently descend, and lie in a loose 

 flock, on the surface of the board. The bowing 

 being repeated for a certain time, the wool is drawn 

 into a conical or triangular shape, and while lying in 

 this form on the board.it is pressed into a more firm 

 substance, by the hardening-skin, a piece of half- 

 tanned leather. When sufficiently solid for the pur- 

 pose, a kind of paper model, that is, a piece of stiff 

 paper, of the same triangular form as the hardened 

 wool, but somewhat smaller, is laid on its sur- 

 face, and the edges are folded over ; the paper and 

 wool are then laid aside, and another and equal 

 quantity of material undergoes the same process. 

 When ready for the purpose, the first portion 

 which was prepared, along with the paper mould, 

 is laid with its upper surface, downwards, on the 

 second portion of prepared wool, the edges of 

 which are also folded over, as in the first instance; 

 by this means, the paper mould is covered on both 

 sides with wool, and if both portions were united, 

 would form a conical cap (the body.) In order, 

 therefore, to unite the fibres, the newly-formed 

 body is sprinkled with water, and pressed and 

 rolled in various directions. 



The paper mould is now removed and the cap 

 is taken to the battery. This battery consists of 



a metal vessel, called the kettle, in the centre, sur- 

 rounded by six or eight inclined wooden planes ; 

 the liquid in the kettle is kept nearly boiling, by 

 means of a flue that runs round it, connected with 

 a furnace. The body of the hat, which is at pre- 

 sent nearly eighteen inches in width across its 

 opening, has now to undergo the operation of 

 thickening, which at the same time makes it 

 smaller. For this purpose the workman dips it in 

 the liquor contained in the kettle : this liquor is 

 composed of dregs of beer, and a small quantity of 

 oil of vitriol. The effect of the hot liquor is to 

 cause the fibres of the body to shrink, and to be- 

 come more closely incorporated, as well as thick- 

 ened. Between each dip into the hot liquid, the 

 workman rolls the cap up in various directions, so 

 as to cause the parts to become more intimately 

 combined. When, by constant rolling and dipping, 

 the body is reduced to its proper dimensions, it is 

 removed from the battery and dried. 



The next process is to render the body water- 

 proof: this is done by means of a solution of shell- 

 lac in spirits of wine; it is then fit, for covering 

 with beaver, or any other wool. To effect this, a 

 quantity of the material intended to be used is 

 subjected to the same process of bowing and 

 hardening, as the wools used in forming the body ; 

 but in this case, the body itself is substituted for 

 the paper model, and the hardened beaver is laid 

 on both sides, so as to cover it completely ; it i 

 then carried to the battery, and dipped and rolled 

 until the beaver has attached itself to the body. 

 It is most singular, that in this operation, the root 

 end of the hair or wool employed invariably at- 

 taches itself the body, so that when dry, it appears 

 as it did when growing on the back of the animal. 

 The body is now turned inside out, and another 

 quantity of beaver is applied in a strip along its 

 margin, to form the under side of the brim of the 

 hat. It is now completely covered, but is still in 

 the form of a conical cap. 



To make this cap into the shape of a hat, it is, 

 while still wet, drawn over a wooden block in the 

 form of the crown of a hat, until the peak of the 

 cap is gradually obliterated and becomes a flat sur- 

 face, forming the top of the hat, and the lower 

 border of the body is drawn out flat on the slant- 

 ing board of the battery, and forms the brim. It 

 is then dipped in cold water, which immediately 

 stiffens it by hardening the varnish. It is next 

 clipped; that is, the beaver is cut into an equal 

 length over the surface, like the pile in velvet, and 

 afterwards carried to be dyed. The dyeing is 

 managed in the same manner as in dyeing any other 

 woollen goods, by steeping it in the vat of black 

 dye. The only remaining process it has to under- 

 go is that of finishing, which is performed by heat 

 and moisture, and the use of a heavy iron to lay the 

 hair all in one direction. The rim is also cut of an 

 equal width all round, and it is fit to leave the 

 hands of the manufacturer, to be bound and lined by 

 women. 



The furs and wools of which hats are manufactured 

 contain in their early stage of preparation, hemps 

 and hairs, which must be removed in order to pro- 

 duce a material for the better description of hats. 

 This separation is effected by a sort of winnowing 

 machine, which wafts away the finer andlighter parts 

 of the furs and wools from the coarser. Messrs 

 Parker and Harris obtained a patent in 18'22 for 

 the invention and use of such an apparatus, whose 

 structure and functions may be perfectly under- 



