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HAT

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Originally appearing in Volume V13, Page 61 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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HAT , a covering for the See also:

head worn by both sexes, and distinguished from the cap or See also:bonnet by the See also:possession of a brim. The word in O.E. is heet, which is cognate with O. Frisian See also:halt, O.N. hods, &c., meaning head-covering, See also:hood ; it is distantly related to the O.E. hod, hood, which is cognate with the See also:German for " hat," Hut. The See also:history of the hat as See also:part of the See also:apparel of both sexes, with the various changes in shape which it has undergone, is treated in the See also:article See also:COSTUME. Hats were originally made by the See also:process of felting, and as tradition ascribed the See also:discovery of that very See also:ancient operation to St See also:Clement, he was assumed as the See also:patron See also:saint of the See also:craft. At the See also:present See also:day the See also:trade is divided into two distinct classes. The first and most ancient is concerned with the manufacture of See also:felt hats, and the second has to do with the See also:recent but now most extensive and important manufacture of See also:silk or See also:dress hats. In addition to these there is the important manufacture of See also:straw or plaited hats (see STRAW AND STRAW MANUFACTURES); and hats are occasionally manufactured of materials and by processes not included under any of these heads, but such manufactures do not take a large or permanent position in the See also:industry. Felt Hats.—There is a See also:great range in the quality of felt hats: the finer and more expensive qualities are made entirely of See also:fur; for commoner qualities a mixture of fur and See also:wool is used; and for the cheapest kinds wool alone is employed. The processes and apparatus necessary for making hats of fur differ also from those required in the See also:case of woollen bodies; and in large manufactories machinery is now generally employed for operations which at no distant date were entirely See also:manual. An outline of the operations by which the old See also:beaver hat was made will give an See also:idea of the manual processes in making a fur napped hat, and the apparatus and See also:mechanical processes employed in making See also:ordinary hard and soft felts will afterwards be noticed. Hatters' fur consists principally of the See also:hair of rabbits (technically called coneys) and See also:hares, with some proportion of See also:nutria, See also:musquash aid heavers hair; and generally any parings and cuttings fromfurriers are also used.

Furs intended for felting are deprived of their See also:

long coarse hairs, after which they are treated with a See also:solution of nitrate of See also:mercury, an operation called carroting or secretage, whereby the felting properties of the fur are greatly increased. The fur is then cut by See also:hand or See also:machine from the skip, and in this See also:state it is delivered to the hat maker. The old process of making a beaver hat was as follows. The materials of a proper beaver consisted, for the See also:body or See also:foundation, of rabbits' fur, and for the See also:nap, of beaver fur, although the beaver was often mixed with or supplanted by a more See also:common fur. In pre-paring the fur See also:plate, the hatter weighed out a sufficient quantity of See also:rabbit fur for a single hat, and spread it out and combined it by the operation of bowing. The See also:bow or stang See also:ABC (fig. I) was about 7 ft. long, and it stretched a single See also:cord of See also:catgut D, which the workman vibrated by means of a wooden See also:pin E, furnished with a See also:half knob at each end. Holding the bow in his See also:left hand, and the pia in his right, he caused the vibrating See also:string to come in contact with the heap of tangled fur, which did not See also:cover a space greater than that of the hand. At each vibration some of the filaments started up to the height of a few inches, and See also:fell away from the See also:mass, a little to the right of the bow, their excursions being restrained by a See also:concave See also:frame of wicker See also:work called the See also:basket. One half of the material was first operated on, and by bowing and gathering, or a patting use of the basket, the stuff was loosely matted into a triangular figure, about 50 by 36 in., called a See also:bat. In this formation care was taken to work about two-thirds of the fur down towards what was intended for the brim, and this having been effected, greater See also:density was induced by See also:gentle pressure with the basket. It was then covered with a wettish See also:linen See also:cloth, upon which was laid the hardening skin, a piece of dry half-tanned See also:horse hide.

On this the workman pressed until the stuff adhered closely to the See also:

damp cloth, in which it was then doubled up, freely pressed with the hand, and laid aside. By this process, called basoning, the bat became compactly felted and thinned toward the-sides and point. The other half of the fur was next subjected to precisely the same processes, after which a See also:cone-shaped slip of stiff See also:paper was laid on its See also:surface, and the sides of the bat were folded over its edges to its See also:form and See also:size. It was then laid paper-See also:side downward upon the first bat, which was now replaced on the See also:hurdle, and its edges were transversely doubled over the introverted side-See also:lays of the second bat, thus giving equal thickness to the whole body. In this See also:condition it was reintroduced between folds of damp linen cloth, and again hardened, so as to unite the two halves, the See also:knitting together of which was quickly effected. The paper was then with-See also:drawn, and the body in the form of a large cone removed to the See also:plank or See also:battery See also:room. The battery consisted of an open See also:iron See also:boiler or See also:kettle A (fig. 2), filled with scalding hot See also:water, with shelves, B, C, partly of See also:mahogany and partly of See also:lead, slop- See also:ing down to it. Here the body was first dipped in the wa ter, and then withdrawn to the plank to cool and drain, when it was unfolded, rolled gently with a pin tapering towards the ends, turned, and worked in every direction, to toughen and shrink it, and at the same See also:time prevent See also:adhesion of its sides. Stopping or thickening any thin spots seen on looking through the body, was carefully performed by dabbing on FIG. 2. additional stuff in succes- sive supplies from the hot liquor with a See also:brush frequently dipped into the kettle, until the body was shrunk sufficiently (about one-half) and thoroughly equalized.

When quite dried, stiffening was effected with a brush dipped into a thin See also:

varnish of shellac, and rubbed into the body, the surface intended for the inside having much more laid on it than the See also:outer, while the brim was made to absorb many times the quantity applied to any other part. On being again dried, the body was ready to be covered with a nap of beaver hair. For this, in inferior qualities, the hair of the See also:otter, nutria or other See also:fine fur was sometimes substituted. The requisite quantity of one or other of these was taken and mixed with a See also:pro-portion of See also:cotton, and the whole was bowed up into a thin See also:uniform See also:lap. The cotton merely served to give sufficient body to the material to enable the workman :o handle the lap. The body of the hat being damped, the workman spread over it a covering of this lap, and by moistening and gentle patting with a brush the cut ends of the hair penetrated and fixed themselves in the felt body. The hat was then put into a coarse hair cloth, dipped and rolled in the hot liquor until the fur was quite worked in, the cotton being left on the surface loose and ready for removal. The blocking, See also:dyeing and See also:finishing processes in the case of beaver hats were similar to those employed for ordinary felts, except that greater care and dexterity were required on the part of the workmen, and further that the coarse hairs or kemps which might be in the fur were cut off by shaving the surface with a See also:razor. The nap also had to be laid in one direction, smoothed and rendered glossy by repeated wettings, ironings and brushings. A hat so finished was very durable and much more See also:light, cool and easy-fitting to the head than the silk hat which has now so largely superseded it. The first efficient machinery for making felt hats was devised in See also:America, and from the See also:United States the machine-making processes were introduced into See also:England about the See also:year 1858; and now in all large establishments machinery such as that alluded to below is employed. For the forming of hat bodies two kinds of machine are used, according as the material employed is fur or wool.

In the case of fur, the essential portion of the apparatus is a " former," consisting of a See also:

metal cone of the size and form of the body or bat to be made, perforated all over with small holes. The cone is made to revolve on its See also:axis slowly over an orifice under which there is a powerful See also:fan, which maintains a strong inward See also:draught of See also:air through the holes in the cone. At the side of the cone, and with an opening towards it, is a See also:trunk or See also:box from which the fur to be made into a hat is thrown out by the rapid revolution of a brush-like See also:cylinder, and as the See also:cloud of See also:separate hairs is expelled from the trunk, the current of air being sucked through the cone carries the See also:fibres to it and causes them to cling closely to its surface. Thus a coating of loose fibres is accumulated on the See also:copper cone, and these are kept in position only by the exhaust at work under it. When sufficient for a hat body has been deposited, it is damped and a cloth is wrapped See also:round it; then an outer cone is slipped over it and the whole is removed for felting, while another copper cone is placed in position for continuing the work. The fur is next felted by being rolled and pressed, these operations being performed partly by hand and partly by machine. In the case of wool hats the hat or body is prepared by first See also:carding in a modified form of carding machine. The wool is divided into two separate slivers as delivered from the See also:cards, and these are See also:wound simultaneously on a See also:double conical See also:block of See also:wood mounted and geared to revolve slowly with a reciprocating See also:horizontal See also:motion, so that there is a continual See also:crossing and recrossing of the wool as the sliver is wound around the cone. This See also:diagonal arrangement of the sliver is an essential feature in the apparatus, as thereby the strength of the finished felt is made equal in every direction; and when strained in the blocking the texture yields in a uniform manner without rupture. The wool wound on the double block forms the material of two hats, which are separated by cutting around the median or See also:base See also:line, and slipping each half off at its own end. Into each cone of wool or bat an " inlayer " is now placed to prevent the inside from See also:matting, after which they are folded in cloths, and placed over a perforated iron plate through which See also:steam is blown. When well moistened and heated, they are placed between boards, and subjected to a rubbing See also:action sufficient to harden them for bearing the subsequent strong planking or felting operations.

The planking of wool hats is generally done by machine, in some cases a form of fulling See also:

mill being used; but in all forms the agencies are See also:heat, moisture, pressure, rubbing and turning. When by thorough felting the hat bodies of any See also:kind have been reduced to dense leathery cones about one-half the size of the See also:original bat, they are dried, and, if hard felts are to be made, the bodies are at this See also:stage hardened or stiffened with a varnish of shellac. Next follows the operations of blocking, in which the felt for the first time assumes approximately the form it is ultimately to possess. For this purpose the conical body is softened in boiling water, and forcibly drawn over and over a hat-shaped wooden block. The operation of dyeing next follows, and the finishing processes include shaping on a block, over which See also:crown and brim receive ultimately their accurate form, and pouncing or pumicing, which consists of smoothing the surface with fine See also:emery paper, the hat being for this purpose mounted on a rapidly revolving block. The See also:trimmer finally binds the outer brim and inserts the lining, after which the brim may be given more or less of a curl or turn over according to prevailing See also:fashion. Silk Hats.—The silk hat, which has now become co-extensive with See also:civilization, is an article of comparatively recent introduction. It was invented in See also:Florence about 176o, but it was more than half a See also:century before it was worn to any great extent. A silk hat consists of a light stiff body covered with a See also:plush of silk, the manufacture of which in a brilliant glossy condition is the most important See also:element in the industry. Originally the bodies were made of felt and various other materials, but now See also:calico is chiefly 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 arejoined 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 See also:

merino, is first attached, then the upper brim, and lastly the crown and side sewn 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 See also:velvet velures, which cleans the nap and gives it a smooth and glossy surface. The brim has only then to be See also:bound, the linings inserted, and the brim finally curled, when the hat is ready for use.

End of Article: HAT

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