mingoslim
Practically Family
- Messages
- 858
- Location
- Southern Ohio
So here is a primer you can use . . .
The following list is in no way complete, but should cover some of the better known manufacturers . . .I can not vouch for all of the info 100%, but generally, I think it is fairly accurate . . .
Manufacturers and Marketers: Classic and Modern . . .
Adam
The budget brand of the day, Adam none-the-less made a dependable hat, and made sure that they copied the styles of the most popular hat makers . . .
Akubra
An Australian firm, and still in operation . . . Many hold Akubra to be the finest hats currently in production.
Bailey
Founded in 1922 by George Bailey, and still in production.
Barbisio
Founded in 1862, Barbisio was a classic Italian manufacturer in the Cervo Valley, and a competitor of Borsalino. The company began exporting worldwide in the 1930s and continued to produce quality hats today.
Bates
Edward Bates Ltd of London was founded on Jermyn Street at the turn of the last century, and remains in business today.
Beaver Brand
Founded in 1860 in St. Louis, Missouri, and based in New Haven, Missouri since 1928, this manufacturer, formerly known as Gauss-Hunicke and Langenburg Hat Co is still in operation today.
Bee Hats
A small family run firm, founded in 1926 and originally located on Washington Avenue in downtown St. Louis, the company is no longer producing fine hats as of 2000.
F. Berg and Co.
At the turn of the last century, the F. Berg hat factory complex was the most productive of the 34 firms manufacturing hats in Essex County New Jersey, which was the hat-making capital of the world between 1870 and World War I. The area had 21 hat-making companies by 1892, and 35 by 1900. Hat making began to decline in the 1920s, and the Berg company moved to Norwalk, Connecticut, where it was primarily a finisher, producing hats for high-end retailers such as Finchley’s in New York.
Biltmore
Founded in 1917 and still in operation
Borsalino
A classic Italian manufacturer, still doing business today. The company began in 1857, in Alessandria Italy; when Giuseppe Borsalino set up the first artisan workshop for the production of felt hats.
When Giuseppe Borsalino died in 1900, his business employed almost a thousand workers and boasted an annual production of one million hats. By 1913 the company employed more than 2500 workers and reached an annual production of more than 2 million hats with its products reaching every corner of the world.
Brent
The “house” brand for Montgomery Wards stores . . .
Brooks Brothers
Cavanagh
One of the premiere hat-makers in the 1920s and 30s, Cavanagh remained a premier hat maker through the 1950s, and made excellent hats into the 60s.
The company was located in Norwalk, CT, where many of the the high end hatters were located: Knox, Crofut & Knapp, and Dobbs.
Dobbs and Cavanagh formed Cavanagh-Dobbs in 1928, and added Crofut & Knapp to the fold in 1929. Hat Corporation of America took over the company in 1932.
Cervo
Cervo is fine Italian hatter, and has from time to time been contracted by Borsalino to make their felts and hats.
Champ
Champ was originally from Sunbury, PA, and were distributed nationally from at least the 1940s.
Considered a budget to mid-quality brand, Champ made a really nice quality hat, and they had a lot of style! Champ hats sold for about $7.50 in the 1940s and 50s, on par with the products of Adam and Lee, while Knox, Mallory and Stetson started in the $10 range.
In the 1950s Champ used celebrities in advertising, such as Guy Williams. They also sponsored fights and had radio ads with Walter Winchell.
In the 1960s Resistol acquired Hat Corporation of American and had Champ under its collection of labels.
Christy's of London
Founded by Miller Christy in a small courtyard shop off Gracechurch Street in the city of London in 1773, Christy’s is still manufacturing fine quality hats today.
The modern Christys' has absorbed or merged with many old hatters firms;. including Lincoln Bennett, Henry Heath, The Chestergate Hat Manufacturing Co., Scott's Ltd., Battersby's, T&W Lee's of Stockport, Moore's and Wilson's of Denton, and, of course, the original Christys'.
Churchill A line of fine quality hats, the Churchill line was bought out by Resistol in the 1950s, though Resistol continued to produce hats under that name for quite some time.
Crofut & Knapp
The makers of Knapp Felt Hats in New York City. The company was actually located in Norwalk, CT, where many of the the high end hatters were located, including Knox, Cavanagh, and Dobbs.
The company merged with Cavanagh-Dobbs in 1929, which was, in turn, taken over by Hat Corporation of America in 1932.
Disney
Founded in 1885 in New York City, during the 1930s and 1940s the Disney Hat Co. was a known for excellent quality and styles that appealed to the younger man, with different colors and ribbon combinations.
Dobbs
One of the premiere hat-makers from the 1920s into the 1940s, and still around today, the Dobbs Hat Company was formed in 1908 by advertising executive Robert Holmes in partnership with H. Dewit Dobbs.
The company was located in Norwalk, CT, where many of high-end hatters were located, including Knox, Crofut & Knapp, and Cavanagh.
Dobbs and Cavanagh Hats merged in 1928 to form Cavanagh-Dobbs Inc., and added Crofut & Knapp to the fold in 1929. Hat Corporation of America took over the company in 1932.
Dunlap
Robert Dunlap received his first job at the age of 12 in 1857 as a general office boy for Charles Knox of Knox Hats in New York. Soon the boy graduated to the ranks of the hat salesmen, and several years later was still selling Knox hats, his salary having risen to $12 weekly. Ambitious, he asked for $15, and when Knox refused the raise the angry, Dunlap left to start his own business. Thus began the famed Dunlap hat company, founded by a onetime Knox errand boy.
By the late 1890s Dunlap Hats was known for the quality of its high end “formal” hats, such as top hats and bowlers. In deed, Dunlap succeeded in turning out the blackest derbies ever known, the Dunlap hat eventually outsold the Knox in Manhattan. For many a year small hat-makers held up their spring lines until they could see and imitate the Dunlap derby and the Knox felt.
As for Knox-Dunlap competition, both the Knox and the Dunlap businesses declined in the second decade of the 20th century and in 1918 Dunlap was acquired by Knox, though hats under the dunlap name continued to be produced.
Elis
INFORMATION NEEDED! I have seen a few Elis hats on line, and they looked great, but I have yet to come across one in person or see any real info on the company.
Etchinson
This small North Carolina company traced its origins to 1866 but by the 1940s, they were probably getting their hats made through Lee and finished them out with their liners and sweatbands.
Francato Cappello
A quality hat-maker with product comparable to Borsalino.
Flechet
French company . . .
Foreman & Clark
INFORMATION NEEDED! I have seen a few F&C hats on line, but I have yet to come across one in person or see any real info on the company.
Guerra
Another very good Italian hat.
Hat Corporation of America
Founded in the 1930s by John Cavanagh, whose Park Avenue hat shop was among the most prestigious in the United States.
In 1932 the company aquired Cavanagh-Dobbs making it one of the leading manufacturers of high-end hats.
In the 1960s the Hat Corporation of America merged with Resistol, and through that merger owned the rights for such brands Knox, Kevin McAndrew, Bradford, Churchill, and Champ as well as Dobbs and Cavanagh.
In 1979 the Hat Corporation of America acquired the Stetson name and in 1985 was bought by ADJ Caps, which owned the Texas, Miller and Adam labels, among others.
Herbert Johnson
Herbert Louis Johnson was apprenticed in 1872 for seven years to hat-makers Lincoln Bennett, to learn the trade. He obviously did well and in 1889 on the somewhat unlikely advice of the Prince of Wales (later to become King Edward VII), he went into business with one Edward John Glazier at 45 New Bond Street, London.
Johnson continued to work in the business personally until his retirement in 1928. He had made the name synonymous with quality "a man with a Herbert Johnson hat is a man apart".
Knox
Charles Knox, an Irish immigrant who came to the United States in 1930 at age 12, and apprenticed to Leary & Company Hatters of New York, opened his first hat shop before he was 20.
The company he founded was one of the premiere hat-makers in the day, along with Dobbs and Cavanagh, Knox positioned their hats as being the best money could buy, and had a knack for exploiting a market with slick advertising.
The company was located in Norwalk, CT, where many of the the high end hatters were located, including Cavanagh, Crofut & Knapp, and Dobbs.
Knox merged with Dunlap 1918, but was bought out by Byer-Rolnick (Resistol) in the 1930s and eventually became part of HatCo (Hat Corporation of America) in the 1960s.
Lamson-Hubbard Co. Boston.
Langenburg (Lion Hats)
Founded in 1860 as Gauss-Hunicke in St. Louis, the Langenburg Hat Co is the forerunner of Beaver Brand hats.
The company moved its operations to New Haven Missouri in 1928, where it formed and shaped hats from stock materials manufactured at other locations. During peak production, the factory produced and shipped nearly 500,000 hats domestically and around the world each year. The facility closed in the late 1990s and the company was liquidated in 2000.
Largomarsino
Founded in 1891 by Don Carlos and Don Jose Lagomarsino in Buenos Aires, Argentina, this South American manufacturer is still in business today.
Lee
The Frank Lee Hat Company, located in the hat-making center at Danbury, CT, Lee was probably the most prolific producer of hats for private labelling . . . such as the economic JC Penney’s Marathon line and Brent for Montgomery Wards; their own brand ran from mid-grade to fine quality.
Usually the wider the ribbon on a Lee the higher the grade of the hat (but not always as is the case, as is seen in the thin ribbon on the Lee 100). Lee considered its base $5-7.50 hat (depending on the year) a "farmer hat." The farmer hat had a thin ribbon and a thinly bound edge. The sweatband and liner were not as high quality as their expensive models. As the scale went up in price the hat was a better dress hat on up to the 100.
James Locke & Co.
British company with a good reputation . . .
Lincoln Bennett & Co.
British hat manufacturer known for top hats.
MacLachlan
Harry MacLachlan began work as a hatter’s apprentice in 1884 and went into business for himself in 1892 in Danbury, Connecticut, producing rough felt bodies for finishers in the hat trade in that city. He formed the S.A.G. Hat Company in 1904, and in 1909 Mr. McLachlan and Frank H. Lee formed a partnership under the name of the Lee-McLachlan Co., which continued until 1914, when the partnership was dissolved and H. McLachlan & Co.,Inc. was incorporated.
Mallory
Owned by the E. A. Mallory Company, Mallory Hats was one of the oldest hat-makers in the United States when the brand was sold to Stetson in 1946. The Mallory Factory in Danbury, Connecticut, was in production from 1860 until 1969, when it was sold to the Danbury Hat Company which filed for bankruptcy in 1987.
Mayser
Founded in 1800 in Lindenberg, Germany, over the course of 200 years Mayser grows from a small hat-maker into a large hat factory with several production sites in Germany, and a safety technology division which is among industry leaders.
Kevin McAndrew
McAndrew was a high quality hatmaker, originally out of England, and later acquired by the Hat Corporation of America.
Marathon
Made by Lee for J.C. Penney’s.
Mossant
The Mossant factory was in Bourg-de-P?©age, France, and manufactured some of the finest hats in the early decades of the 20th century. The brand was considered the pinaacle in France and but was also well-known in the United States for most of the twentieth century. The company was founded by Charles Mossant in the nineteenth century, and by 1929 more than 2,000 hats a day were being produced; half of them were directly shipped to the U.S. Hat production ended in 1998.
Panizza
The Panizza Headwear Company is among the oldest companies in Italy, having been manufacturing headwear since 1898.
Perfect Hats The Perfect Hat Company of New York was known for its slogan "Good as the Name".
Portis
The Portis Borthers Company was founded by the Portis brothers in the 1920s, and was based in Chicago its first decade, but later moved manufacturing across the lake to western Michigan.
The company made fine hats, and did a lot of advertising in magazines such as Esquire and Colliers.
Portis lasted until the late 1960's, when the line was taken over by Stevens Hats.
Puerto Fino
Founded 50 years ago, this South American manufacturer is in Columbia and is still in business today.
Resistol
Founded in Dallas Texas by financier E.R. Byer and hat maker Harry Rolnick in 1927 the firm of Byer-Rolnick produced men's felt hats in Western and Dress stylings, under the newly created brand name "Resistol Hats," meaning to resist-all weather.
Distribution was limited to Texas and Oklahoma early on, but by the late 1930s was nation-wide.
Byer-Rolnick eventually merged with the Hat Corporation of America (HatCo) in the 1960s.
Rundle & White
Established in the mid-1800s in Danbury, Conneticut.
Scala
The brand is now owned by Dorfman-Pacific.
Schoble
Frank Schoble & Co was founded in Pennsylvania in the 1880s.
Selco
Founded in 1898 in Brooklyn, New York, Selco traced its root back to 1799 and the Italian firm of Selentino. They manufactured hats (or had them manufactured under contract) into the 1950s, but are best known for marketing Tonak hats, made in the Czech Republic. There is still a Selco store in Brooklyn today.
Stack
Frank Stack started the company in South Norwalk, CT in 1911. Stack made quality hats, but was primarily a hat finisher; using felt from the large manufacturers in Norwalk, such as Crofut and Knapp. The company lasted at least until 1945.
Stetson, John B.
John Batterson Stetson was born in East Orange, New Jersey in 1830. His father, Stephen Stetson, was a successful hatter and taught his children the trade. Stetson developed tuberculosis as a young man, and moved west hoping to recover. He first settled in St. Joseph, Missouri, and later moved west following the Gold Rush to California, before finally returning to Philadelphia to try his hand at the hat manufacturing trade.
Stetson found the eastern hat market difficult, and so turned his attention to the Westerners . . . marketing hats based upon styles he had seen and developed during his own travels. By 1872, he was also marketing dress hats in his own catalog, and by the turn of the twentieth century he had the world's largest hat factory.
Although John Stetson died in 1906, his company followed men's fashions into the twentieth century, manufacturing top hats, bowlers, homburgs, fedoras, and trilbys, as well as straw hats in both western and dress styles.
By the early 1950s, there were fewer dress hat wearers, and Stetson has since focused primarily on their western hats.
In 1971 Stetson sold its machinery to the Stevens Hat Company and ceased production of hats, concentrating instead on marketing, and outsourced its actual manufacturing. In 1979 the Stetson name was acquired by the Hat Corporation of America (HatCo).
Stetson, Stephen
Stephen L. Stetson was (by some accounts) a grandnephew of John B. Stetson, and an independent hatter in New York City, during the first half of the 20th century.
The John B. Stetson company eventually sued in January of 1934 and made a case for copyright infringement, from which point you see the notice “In no way related to the Stetson Hat Company of Philadelphia" on the company’s label.
Stevens
A small family-owned firm, the Stevens Hat Company was located in St. Joseph, Missouri. The company merged with HatCo’s Stetson division in 1984, and took over the production of Stetson Hats, most of which are still made in St. Joseph.
Trimble
Located in Orange, New Jersey, the Trimble Hat Company was a popular hat manufacturing company during the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century.
Wormser
Wormser was considered a mid-range hat, though several were just as good as any vintage Stetson or Mallory. They had different levels of quality.
Worth and Worth Founded in 1922.
Dutch McCoy said:
The following list is in no way complete, but should cover some of the better known manufacturers . . .I can not vouch for all of the info 100%, but generally, I think it is fairly accurate . . .
Manufacturers and Marketers: Classic and Modern . . .
Adam
The budget brand of the day, Adam none-the-less made a dependable hat, and made sure that they copied the styles of the most popular hat makers . . .
Akubra
An Australian firm, and still in operation . . . Many hold Akubra to be the finest hats currently in production.
Bailey
Founded in 1922 by George Bailey, and still in production.
Barbisio
Founded in 1862, Barbisio was a classic Italian manufacturer in the Cervo Valley, and a competitor of Borsalino. The company began exporting worldwide in the 1930s and continued to produce quality hats today.
Bates
Edward Bates Ltd of London was founded on Jermyn Street at the turn of the last century, and remains in business today.
Beaver Brand
Founded in 1860 in St. Louis, Missouri, and based in New Haven, Missouri since 1928, this manufacturer, formerly known as Gauss-Hunicke and Langenburg Hat Co is still in operation today.
Bee Hats
A small family run firm, founded in 1926 and originally located on Washington Avenue in downtown St. Louis, the company is no longer producing fine hats as of 2000.
F. Berg and Co.
At the turn of the last century, the F. Berg hat factory complex was the most productive of the 34 firms manufacturing hats in Essex County New Jersey, which was the hat-making capital of the world between 1870 and World War I. The area had 21 hat-making companies by 1892, and 35 by 1900. Hat making began to decline in the 1920s, and the Berg company moved to Norwalk, Connecticut, where it was primarily a finisher, producing hats for high-end retailers such as Finchley’s in New York.
Biltmore
Founded in 1917 and still in operation
Borsalino
A classic Italian manufacturer, still doing business today. The company began in 1857, in Alessandria Italy; when Giuseppe Borsalino set up the first artisan workshop for the production of felt hats.
When Giuseppe Borsalino died in 1900, his business employed almost a thousand workers and boasted an annual production of one million hats. By 1913 the company employed more than 2500 workers and reached an annual production of more than 2 million hats with its products reaching every corner of the world.
Brent
The “house” brand for Montgomery Wards stores . . .
Brooks Brothers
Cavanagh
One of the premiere hat-makers in the 1920s and 30s, Cavanagh remained a premier hat maker through the 1950s, and made excellent hats into the 60s.
The company was located in Norwalk, CT, where many of the the high end hatters were located: Knox, Crofut & Knapp, and Dobbs.
Dobbs and Cavanagh formed Cavanagh-Dobbs in 1928, and added Crofut & Knapp to the fold in 1929. Hat Corporation of America took over the company in 1932.
Cervo
Cervo is fine Italian hatter, and has from time to time been contracted by Borsalino to make their felts and hats.
Champ
Champ was originally from Sunbury, PA, and were distributed nationally from at least the 1940s.
Considered a budget to mid-quality brand, Champ made a really nice quality hat, and they had a lot of style! Champ hats sold for about $7.50 in the 1940s and 50s, on par with the products of Adam and Lee, while Knox, Mallory and Stetson started in the $10 range.
In the 1950s Champ used celebrities in advertising, such as Guy Williams. They also sponsored fights and had radio ads with Walter Winchell.
In the 1960s Resistol acquired Hat Corporation of American and had Champ under its collection of labels.
Christy's of London
Founded by Miller Christy in a small courtyard shop off Gracechurch Street in the city of London in 1773, Christy’s is still manufacturing fine quality hats today.
The modern Christys' has absorbed or merged with many old hatters firms;. including Lincoln Bennett, Henry Heath, The Chestergate Hat Manufacturing Co., Scott's Ltd., Battersby's, T&W Lee's of Stockport, Moore's and Wilson's of Denton, and, of course, the original Christys'.
Churchill A line of fine quality hats, the Churchill line was bought out by Resistol in the 1950s, though Resistol continued to produce hats under that name for quite some time.
Crofut & Knapp
The makers of Knapp Felt Hats in New York City. The company was actually located in Norwalk, CT, where many of the the high end hatters were located, including Knox, Cavanagh, and Dobbs.
The company merged with Cavanagh-Dobbs in 1929, which was, in turn, taken over by Hat Corporation of America in 1932.
Disney
Founded in 1885 in New York City, during the 1930s and 1940s the Disney Hat Co. was a known for excellent quality and styles that appealed to the younger man, with different colors and ribbon combinations.
Dobbs
One of the premiere hat-makers from the 1920s into the 1940s, and still around today, the Dobbs Hat Company was formed in 1908 by advertising executive Robert Holmes in partnership with H. Dewit Dobbs.
The company was located in Norwalk, CT, where many of high-end hatters were located, including Knox, Crofut & Knapp, and Cavanagh.
Dobbs and Cavanagh Hats merged in 1928 to form Cavanagh-Dobbs Inc., and added Crofut & Knapp to the fold in 1929. Hat Corporation of America took over the company in 1932.
Dunlap
Robert Dunlap received his first job at the age of 12 in 1857 as a general office boy for Charles Knox of Knox Hats in New York. Soon the boy graduated to the ranks of the hat salesmen, and several years later was still selling Knox hats, his salary having risen to $12 weekly. Ambitious, he asked for $15, and when Knox refused the raise the angry, Dunlap left to start his own business. Thus began the famed Dunlap hat company, founded by a onetime Knox errand boy.
By the late 1890s Dunlap Hats was known for the quality of its high end “formal” hats, such as top hats and bowlers. In deed, Dunlap succeeded in turning out the blackest derbies ever known, the Dunlap hat eventually outsold the Knox in Manhattan. For many a year small hat-makers held up their spring lines until they could see and imitate the Dunlap derby and the Knox felt.
As for Knox-Dunlap competition, both the Knox and the Dunlap businesses declined in the second decade of the 20th century and in 1918 Dunlap was acquired by Knox, though hats under the dunlap name continued to be produced.
Elis
INFORMATION NEEDED! I have seen a few Elis hats on line, and they looked great, but I have yet to come across one in person or see any real info on the company.
Etchinson
This small North Carolina company traced its origins to 1866 but by the 1940s, they were probably getting their hats made through Lee and finished them out with their liners and sweatbands.
Francato Cappello
A quality hat-maker with product comparable to Borsalino.
Flechet
French company . . .
Foreman & Clark
INFORMATION NEEDED! I have seen a few F&C hats on line, but I have yet to come across one in person or see any real info on the company.
Guerra
Another very good Italian hat.
Hat Corporation of America
Founded in the 1930s by John Cavanagh, whose Park Avenue hat shop was among the most prestigious in the United States.
In 1932 the company aquired Cavanagh-Dobbs making it one of the leading manufacturers of high-end hats.
In the 1960s the Hat Corporation of America merged with Resistol, and through that merger owned the rights for such brands Knox, Kevin McAndrew, Bradford, Churchill, and Champ as well as Dobbs and Cavanagh.
In 1979 the Hat Corporation of America acquired the Stetson name and in 1985 was bought by ADJ Caps, which owned the Texas, Miller and Adam labels, among others.
Herbert Johnson
Herbert Louis Johnson was apprenticed in 1872 for seven years to hat-makers Lincoln Bennett, to learn the trade. He obviously did well and in 1889 on the somewhat unlikely advice of the Prince of Wales (later to become King Edward VII), he went into business with one Edward John Glazier at 45 New Bond Street, London.
Johnson continued to work in the business personally until his retirement in 1928. He had made the name synonymous with quality "a man with a Herbert Johnson hat is a man apart".
Knox
Charles Knox, an Irish immigrant who came to the United States in 1930 at age 12, and apprenticed to Leary & Company Hatters of New York, opened his first hat shop before he was 20.
The company he founded was one of the premiere hat-makers in the day, along with Dobbs and Cavanagh, Knox positioned their hats as being the best money could buy, and had a knack for exploiting a market with slick advertising.
The company was located in Norwalk, CT, where many of the the high end hatters were located, including Cavanagh, Crofut & Knapp, and Dobbs.
Knox merged with Dunlap 1918, but was bought out by Byer-Rolnick (Resistol) in the 1930s and eventually became part of HatCo (Hat Corporation of America) in the 1960s.
Lamson-Hubbard Co. Boston.
Langenburg (Lion Hats)
Founded in 1860 as Gauss-Hunicke in St. Louis, the Langenburg Hat Co is the forerunner of Beaver Brand hats.
The company moved its operations to New Haven Missouri in 1928, where it formed and shaped hats from stock materials manufactured at other locations. During peak production, the factory produced and shipped nearly 500,000 hats domestically and around the world each year. The facility closed in the late 1990s and the company was liquidated in 2000.
Largomarsino
Founded in 1891 by Don Carlos and Don Jose Lagomarsino in Buenos Aires, Argentina, this South American manufacturer is still in business today.
Lee
The Frank Lee Hat Company, located in the hat-making center at Danbury, CT, Lee was probably the most prolific producer of hats for private labelling . . . such as the economic JC Penney’s Marathon line and Brent for Montgomery Wards; their own brand ran from mid-grade to fine quality.
Usually the wider the ribbon on a Lee the higher the grade of the hat (but not always as is the case, as is seen in the thin ribbon on the Lee 100). Lee considered its base $5-7.50 hat (depending on the year) a "farmer hat." The farmer hat had a thin ribbon and a thinly bound edge. The sweatband and liner were not as high quality as their expensive models. As the scale went up in price the hat was a better dress hat on up to the 100.
James Locke & Co.
British company with a good reputation . . .
Lincoln Bennett & Co.
British hat manufacturer known for top hats.
MacLachlan
Harry MacLachlan began work as a hatter’s apprentice in 1884 and went into business for himself in 1892 in Danbury, Connecticut, producing rough felt bodies for finishers in the hat trade in that city. He formed the S.A.G. Hat Company in 1904, and in 1909 Mr. McLachlan and Frank H. Lee formed a partnership under the name of the Lee-McLachlan Co., which continued until 1914, when the partnership was dissolved and H. McLachlan & Co.,Inc. was incorporated.
Mallory
Owned by the E. A. Mallory Company, Mallory Hats was one of the oldest hat-makers in the United States when the brand was sold to Stetson in 1946. The Mallory Factory in Danbury, Connecticut, was in production from 1860 until 1969, when it was sold to the Danbury Hat Company which filed for bankruptcy in 1987.
Mayser
Founded in 1800 in Lindenberg, Germany, over the course of 200 years Mayser grows from a small hat-maker into a large hat factory with several production sites in Germany, and a safety technology division which is among industry leaders.
Kevin McAndrew
McAndrew was a high quality hatmaker, originally out of England, and later acquired by the Hat Corporation of America.
Marathon
Made by Lee for J.C. Penney’s.
Mossant
The Mossant factory was in Bourg-de-P?©age, France, and manufactured some of the finest hats in the early decades of the 20th century. The brand was considered the pinaacle in France and but was also well-known in the United States for most of the twentieth century. The company was founded by Charles Mossant in the nineteenth century, and by 1929 more than 2,000 hats a day were being produced; half of them were directly shipped to the U.S. Hat production ended in 1998.
Panizza
The Panizza Headwear Company is among the oldest companies in Italy, having been manufacturing headwear since 1898.
Perfect Hats The Perfect Hat Company of New York was known for its slogan "Good as the Name".
Portis
The Portis Borthers Company was founded by the Portis brothers in the 1920s, and was based in Chicago its first decade, but later moved manufacturing across the lake to western Michigan.
The company made fine hats, and did a lot of advertising in magazines such as Esquire and Colliers.
Portis lasted until the late 1960's, when the line was taken over by Stevens Hats.
Puerto Fino
Founded 50 years ago, this South American manufacturer is in Columbia and is still in business today.
Resistol
Founded in Dallas Texas by financier E.R. Byer and hat maker Harry Rolnick in 1927 the firm of Byer-Rolnick produced men's felt hats in Western and Dress stylings, under the newly created brand name "Resistol Hats," meaning to resist-all weather.
Distribution was limited to Texas and Oklahoma early on, but by the late 1930s was nation-wide.
Byer-Rolnick eventually merged with the Hat Corporation of America (HatCo) in the 1960s.
Rundle & White
Established in the mid-1800s in Danbury, Conneticut.
Scala
The brand is now owned by Dorfman-Pacific.
Schoble
Frank Schoble & Co was founded in Pennsylvania in the 1880s.
Selco
Founded in 1898 in Brooklyn, New York, Selco traced its root back to 1799 and the Italian firm of Selentino. They manufactured hats (or had them manufactured under contract) into the 1950s, but are best known for marketing Tonak hats, made in the Czech Republic. There is still a Selco store in Brooklyn today.
Stack
Frank Stack started the company in South Norwalk, CT in 1911. Stack made quality hats, but was primarily a hat finisher; using felt from the large manufacturers in Norwalk, such as Crofut and Knapp. The company lasted at least until 1945.
Stetson, John B.
John Batterson Stetson was born in East Orange, New Jersey in 1830. His father, Stephen Stetson, was a successful hatter and taught his children the trade. Stetson developed tuberculosis as a young man, and moved west hoping to recover. He first settled in St. Joseph, Missouri, and later moved west following the Gold Rush to California, before finally returning to Philadelphia to try his hand at the hat manufacturing trade.
Stetson found the eastern hat market difficult, and so turned his attention to the Westerners . . . marketing hats based upon styles he had seen and developed during his own travels. By 1872, he was also marketing dress hats in his own catalog, and by the turn of the twentieth century he had the world's largest hat factory.
Although John Stetson died in 1906, his company followed men's fashions into the twentieth century, manufacturing top hats, bowlers, homburgs, fedoras, and trilbys, as well as straw hats in both western and dress styles.
By the early 1950s, there were fewer dress hat wearers, and Stetson has since focused primarily on their western hats.
In 1971 Stetson sold its machinery to the Stevens Hat Company and ceased production of hats, concentrating instead on marketing, and outsourced its actual manufacturing. In 1979 the Stetson name was acquired by the Hat Corporation of America (HatCo).
Stetson, Stephen
Stephen L. Stetson was (by some accounts) a grandnephew of John B. Stetson, and an independent hatter in New York City, during the first half of the 20th century.
The John B. Stetson company eventually sued in January of 1934 and made a case for copyright infringement, from which point you see the notice “In no way related to the Stetson Hat Company of Philadelphia" on the company’s label.
Stevens
A small family-owned firm, the Stevens Hat Company was located in St. Joseph, Missouri. The company merged with HatCo’s Stetson division in 1984, and took over the production of Stetson Hats, most of which are still made in St. Joseph.
Trimble
Located in Orange, New Jersey, the Trimble Hat Company was a popular hat manufacturing company during the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century.
Wormser
Wormser was considered a mid-range hat, though several were just as good as any vintage Stetson or Mallory. They had different levels of quality.
Worth and Worth Founded in 1922.
