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the Bonnet manufacturers of the county, who, if they be " oneu of 

 straw, ''^ are neither deficient in private enterprise or public spirit. 



There was one Bonnet in the Exhibition this year eminently 

 suggestive. It was made and contributed by jNFrs. Betsey Baker, 

 wife of Mr. Obcd Baker of West Dcdham, now seventy-three 

 years old. From the fact of its being a fac simile, of the first 

 straw Bonnet ever made in this country — made too by the same 

 hands that plaited the first Braid and sewed the first Bonnet pro- 

 duced by American skill and labor — the Bonnet deservedly at- 

 tracted much attention, and is entitled to have its history stated 

 in full in the volume of Transactions of the Society. 



The Committee find, in the " Transactions of the Rhode Island 

 Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry " for the 

 year 1858, pages 155 to 167, a " Sketch of the rise of Straw 

 Braiding for Ladies' Hats and Bonnets," prepared by Hon. W. 

 B. Staples, Secretary of the Society. 



Although Rhode Island claims to have given birth to the in- 

 ventor of Straw Braiding, Norfolk county has given her a resi- 

 dence for nearly sixty years, and enjoys in herself and exhibits to 

 the world the fruits of her inventive skill to a greater degree than 

 any other section of the country. 



The origin of a branch of industry by which so many of our 

 people subsist, ought to be more generally known, and the life, or 

 at least the name, of one who has been such a public benefactor 

 as Mrs. Baker, ought to be commemorated in the annals of this 

 Society. 



The Committee would therefore recommend the insertion of the 

 article referred to in the proceedings of this Society, and that to 

 Mrs. Baker be awarded the Society's diploma for a " Fac simile 

 of the Original American Straw Bonnet," both being made by 

 herself. M. M. FISHER, Chairman. 



Sketch of the Rise of Straw Braiding for Ladies^ Hats and 



Bon7iets. 

 In accordance with the recommendation of the Committee on 

 Straw Manufactures, and as peculiarly appropriate to this publi- 

 cation, we here insert a sketch of the rise of Straw Braiding for 

 Ladies' Ilats and Bonnets, condensed from an article in the 

 " Transactions of the Rhode Island Society for the Encourage- 

 ment of Domestic Industry," written 4)y the Secretary of that 

 Society, Hon. W. R. Staples. 



[Note. — By the hx^i " Imliistrial Statistics of the Commonwealth," imhlishctl 

 in 1855, it appears that durin}; the year cndinjr in June, tliere were made in tiic 

 State .•5,.'526,O0O Straw IJonnets, and 1,907,485 Straw Hals, employin<r 1000 males 

 and 9000 females. Norfolk county furnishes the chief part of these manufactures, 

 liavini:; made, according;: to the same Kcport, in 1855, 2,;?G7,lf)0 IJonnets and 

 1,580,000 Hats, and j^'ivinj^- emph)ynient to nearly 7000 persons in the mamifac- 

 turo of them.] 



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