In those times chemistry was comparatively unknown, and glue being at hand, our predecessors in the hatting trade commenced the stiffening of their hats with that material, which long continued the only article likely to succeed. Latterly, however, glue has become quite obsolete, having been entirely superseded by the various gums and resins, which, when properly prepared, enable the manufacturer to put into the market a much superior hat, and one more pleasant to wear, weighing 3 oz. which in former times would have weighed full half a pound.
The solubility of glue in water was its defect, and the ultimate cause of its rejection. Our spirited predecessors in the business, by a knowledge superior to that of their predecessors, coupled with a devoted spirit and unfailing resolution, after many vexatious trials but little known to our modern workers, succeeded in rendering a hat not only stout, light, and water-proof, but cheaper and more beautiful to look at, ventilated, and altogether pleasanter to wear.
Upon a retrospective view, and considering the total of these improvements, we may well excuse the many secrets and partialities existing in the trade, for before any new admixture of stiffening materials or method of applying them, whether before or after dyeing, &c., could be properly proved, many dozens of hats were under way. It required a length of time to enable a proper judgment of the experiment to be pronounced; thus, if unsuccessful, involving the character of the manufacturer as a tradesman, and his pecuniary affairs at the same time.
The result, however, was at last satisfactory, and now there are several methods of stiffening with a water-proof stiff, which possesses all the requisite qualifications.
There is no department in the hatting trade of more importance than that of stiffening, as the kind, quality, and quantity of the stiff must be regulated according to the country in which the hats are to be worn.
England, for instance, where there is so much moisture in the atmosphere, requires a much harder stiff than we do in America. American manufacturers finding that shellac possesses every requisite for both stiffening and water-proofing, now for their best hats use that gum only dissolved in alcohol.
20 lbs. orange shellac being dissolved with 5 gallons alcohol in a close vessel, cold,
attending carefully to stir it up repeatedly to keep it from lumping and sticking to the bottom. The vessel commonly is used in the form of a barrel or some sort of churn. When fully melted the stiff is ready for use by being thinned down to the desired consistency with additional alcohol and put into the hat with a stiff brush.
A cheaper, called alkali-stiff, and much used for inferior hats, is—
9 lbs. shellac, dissolved with 18 oz. of sal soda in 3 galls. water in a tin vessel.