THE HATTER.
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.
