Jasper County Democrat, Volume 2, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 September 1899 — HATS OF OUR ANCESTORS. [ARTICLE]

HATS OF OUR ANCESTORS.

Changes that Have Taken Place in Manufacturing Headgear. “Speaking of the hat business,” sadd a veteran of the business to the local historian, “most wonderful changes have taken place since 1850. In olden times soft felt and derby hats were not known, and it was as late as 1843 when silk dress hats were first introduced in this country, this being a French invention, and all silk plush used for hats In the world was, up to this time, made in France. When Kossuth came to America he introduced the soft felt hata* wearing one himself. It did not take American hatters long to take up the Idea, and in less than one year old and young Americans covered their heads with Kossuth hats. They were in shape nearly the same as tourist hats now, only being trimmed up with a nice, long ostrich plume. Along about 1858 an English tourist came along with the derby hat, and in a very few years they became the general headgear In the country, and up to the present date the demand for so>ft hats and derby hats is nearly evenly divided. “In those days all the best class of soft hats were imported from France, and stiff derbies from England. This, however, has taken a material change, as American hats are now sold in all parts of the globe, and It Is a known fact that we produce the most tasty and best hats made. Before the arrival of Kossuth and the English tourist, however, the' Americans did not go bareheaded, but contented themselves with napped otter and napped beaver hats, for the more expensive, and the so-called scratch-up or brush hats for the cheaper. Brush or scratch-up derive their name from the fact that nap was raised on them by means of a stiff brush constructed of whalebones. The first manufacturers who made American production In those goods popular and world-renowned, and who forced French and English hats out of this market, were Riualdo M.‘ Waters, John B. Stetson, J. D. Bird and B. J. Brown. “During the early periods of 1840 and 1850 a dealer was a hatter In fact, else there would have been no room soar him, as all made the hats they sold, all handwork, no machines of any kind, and one who knew how to make a napped otter or beaver hat was an artist, earning S4O to S6O per week being nothing unusual, many making from $75 to $100.”—8t. Louis (Lobe-Demo-crat. v*