HAT MANUFACTURE (see HAT, ante). Until recent times hats were made by the process of felting, and as tradition ascribed the discovery of that very ancient operation to St. Clement, he was assumed as the patron saint of the craft, and the annual festival of the trade continues to be held on his day, the 23d of November. Felt hats are now made of three different kinds, plain soft, plain hard, and "napped" or "ruffed" felts. There is a great range in the quality of felt hats, the finer and more expensive qualities being made entirely of fur; for the commoner qualities a mixture of fur and Saxony wool is used; and for the lowest kinds wool alone is employed. The processes and apparatus necessary for making hats of fur differ also from those required in the case of woolen bodies; and in large manufactories, especially in America, machinery is generally employed for operations which at no distant day were entirely manual. In the smaller factories, and for special objects, the old hand processes are , still in operation. Hatter's fur consists principally of the hair of rabbits (technically called coneys) and hares, with some proportion of nutria, musquash, and beaver's hair; and generally any parings or cuttings from furriers are also used. Furs intended for felting are deprived of their long, coarse hairs, after which they are treated with a solu tion of nitrate of mercury, an operation called carroting or secretage, whereby the felt ing properties of the fur are greatly increased. The fur is then cut by hand or machine from the skin, and in this state it is delivered to the hat maker. A considerable in rabbit fur for hat making is maintained between Great Britain and the United States. The silk hat, which has now become so co-extensive with civilization, is an article of recent general introduction. It was known in Florence about a century ago; but its manu facture was not introduced into France till about'1825, and its development has taken place entirely since that period. A silk hat consists of a light stiff body covered with a plush of silk, the manufacture of which in a brilliant glossy condition is the most important element in the industry; and in that manufacture the French and American styles are in large demand. Originally the bodies were made of felt and various other
materials, but now calico is almost exclusively used. The calico is first stiffened with a varnish of shellac, and then cut into pieces sufficient for crown, side. and brim. The side-piece is wound round a wooden hat block, and its edges are joined by hot ironing, and the crown piece is put on and similarly attached to the side. The brim, consisting of three thicknesses of calico cemented together, is now slipped over and brought to its position, and thereafter a second side-piece and another crown are cemented on. The whole of the body, thus prepared, now receives a coat of size, and subsequently it is varnished over, and thus it is ready for the operation of covering. In covering this body, the under brim, generally of merino, is first attached, then the upper brim, and lastly the crown and side sewed together are drawn over. All these by hot ironing and stretching are drawn smooth and tight, and as the varnish of the body softens with the heat, body and cover adhere all over to each other without wrinkle or pucker. Dressing and polishing, by means of damping, brushing, and ironing, come next, after which the hat is "velured " in a revolving machine by the application of haircloth and velvet velures, which cleans the nap and gives a smooth, and glossy surface. The brim has then only to be bound, the linings inserted, and the brim finally curled, wher the hat is ready for use. In all kinds of hat-making the French excel. and in such cen tern as Anduze, Lyons, and Paris the trade is very extensive and important. In Great Britain the felt hat trade is principally centered at Denton and other localities in time• neighborhood of Manchester, and in America the states of New York and New Jersey' enjoy the greater part of the industry. According to the census of 1870 the statistics of hat manufacture in the United States were as follows: Hat and can establishments, 483; hands employed. 16,173; capital, $6,489,571; wages, $6,574,490; materials, $12,262,107; products, $24,848,167.