The block is now to be withdrawn, and the hat turned inside out, which reverses this would-be upper brim to the under side. The hat is next to be re-blocked, a repetition of the gum and cloth is to be applied to this side of the brim exactly as with the other, and then succeeds the covering of the crown, which is to be wholly laid over first with the gutta-percha and then with the previously prepared cloth cover as a crown piece, these being held tight by means of the blocking-cord. The whole crown, both tip and sides, is to be cemented and finished, never omitting the wet finishing-cloth between the hat and the hot iron, and the hat is now complete and ready for lining and trimming.
The above makes a good soft pliable cloth hat. But if a stiffer and firmer hat is wanted of the same material, the felt body is to be put through the process of the alkaline bath, similar to that of fur hats, and when dry, proceeded with as above.
Another method of making these cloth hats is to dispense with the fur body entirely, the block being covered with two thicknesses of cloth and having a ply of gutta-percha gum between, which are cemented together by steaming and pressing, using at all times a wet cloth under the hot iron. The brim is separate and distinct from the crown when made, and consists of a piece of thick wool padding, which is to be covered on both sides with the proper cloth, cemented together with the gum, first one side and then the other, after which the crown and brim are sewed together.
In all these cases, the gutta-percha gum acts not only as a cement but also a water-proofing to the hat.
[Conclusion.]
In this treatise upon the history of hats and hat-making, of furs, wools, &c., and the manufacture of felt, we are well aware of the impossibility of illustrating in full the hatting trade of America, as this country stands alone as compared with others, on account of the mixed population that is here collected. As we have representatives in this, as in every other line of business, from every civilized nation upon earth, with all their various methods of working in their own accustomed ways, the prejudices naturally engendered and entertained through habit being hard to combat, so that the judges of this work may be numerous and various, and no doubt profusely severe in some of their criticisms.
But there is going on a rapid amalgamation of all that is best in the trade of hatting, resulting from the continued flow of immigration, and heightened greatly by the wanderings of hatters generally, from shop to shop, and from town to town, that must ultimately bring together in this our beloved land, a perfection in the trade that cannot be attained by any other nation.