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German & Austrian Hutmachers

Steve1857

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,870
Location
Denmark
This was the third of a trio of hats bought from Stefan. The first two were English, this one, German from the Resolut Hutfabrik.

The high crown, wide brim and curl, plus the dapper top hat wearing gent on the liner appealed to me.

This is indeed a Homburg that will not go unnoticed while out and about.
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Messages
18,469
Location
Nederland
No luck again on my hat-hunt yesterday: nothing new has arrived in the vintage shops yet (and I'm beginning to feel jittery). So I decided to bring this one back home with me, because it has some redeeming qualities, even though it's another black homburg (sort of).
Peschel, let's say homburg for beginners in black. Size 58 (or 7 1/4 American), brim at 5,7cm and crown 10,5cm at the center dent. What are those redeeming qualities, you ask. Well, it's a Peschel and they knew how to do a finish on a hat like nobody's business. The hand of this felt is just fabulous. And the hat has a nice shape and sits on that fine line somewhere between a fedora with a rolled brim and a homburg. All in all cool enough to bring it along. Liner is still stitched in, so I'm guessing late fifties, early sixties maybe.

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Steve1857

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,870
Location
Denmark
No luck again on my hat-hunt yesterday: nothing new has arrived in the vintage shops yet (and I'm beginning to feel jittery). So I decided to bring this one back home with me, because it has some redeeming qualities, even though it's another black homburg (sort of).
Peschel, let's say homburg for beginners in black. Size 58 (or 7 1/4 American), brim at 5,7cm and crown 10,5cm at the center dent. What are those redeeming qualities, you ask. Well, it's a Peschel and they knew how to do a finish on a hat like nobody's business. The hand of this felt is just fabulous. And the hat has a nice shape and sits on that fine line somewhere between a fedora with a rolled brim and a homburg. All in all cool enough to bring it along. Liner is still stitched in, so I'm guessing late fifties, early sixties maybe.

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Even though it's not your size, it would have been a crime to have left that one in the shop Stefan. Nice Peschel find.

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Messages
17,521
Location
Maryland
I received the following gifts from Tonak when I visited the factory for the Tonak / JHS 220 Years celebration (September 6, 2019).

Tonak 1799 Bag with photo of J. Hückel ´s Söhne Employees from early 1900s. (Clicking on photos might enlarge.)

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Tonak 220 Years Miniature Fur Felt Hat.

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Tonak Hat Pin.

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Tonak Miniature Hat Brush with Bag.

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Messages
18,469
Location
Nederland
I received the following gifts from Tonak when I visited the factory for the Tonak / JHS 220 Years celebration (September 6, 2019).

Tonak 1799 Bag with photo of J. Hückel ´s Söhne Employees from early 1900s. (Clicking on photos might enlarge.)

48816917678_9fc2e101e4_h.jpg


48817287096_e574217571_h.jpg


Tonak 220 Years Miniature Fur Felt Hat.

48817183496_6487f9aa53_b.jpg


48817346207_d908b15d55_b.jpg


48816879728_6be8efd3d5_b.jpg


Tonak Hat Pin.

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Tonak Miniature Hat Brush with Bag.

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Very cool gifts, Steve. That small hat is really cute for some reason.
 

milandro

A-List Customer
Messages
420
Location
The Netherlands
Very nice, the dent ( which I can’t see, is it in the crown?) probably comes out just by steaming and then using something to “ burnish” it ( a soup ladle ?), the steam should loosen the stiffener and then it will reset.
 

milandro

A-List Customer
Messages
420
Location
The Netherlands
I can vaguely see it. My bowler had a similar dent but I have been treating it. In my case I suspect that the hat is simple thin wool felt but took rather well to steam. Perhaps you want to steam the hat from the outside alone and not the inside (as it may loosen the headlining.
 
Messages
17,521
Location
Maryland
Arrived today:
J. A. Seidl / Hut-Seidl München - no labels or other information under the sweat
The high-quality lining is glued in place, which leads to the 60's!?
Very good condition - except a small dent I hope to get out - does anyone have any experience?

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Matt, Great find! I can't tell who might have made it. With Stiff Felts it's not unusual to see glued in liners due to the felt stiffness. I tend to think this one is later but my guess would be mid to later 1950s.

Can't really add to André's comments. Repairing dents can be problematic. You have to apply intense steam from the outside and hope it will respond. If the felt is damaged you will always see the results at close inspection. This was the fate of most Stiff Felts.
 
Messages
17,521
Location
Maryland
Legend TONAK: The oldest millinery in the world is 220 years old!

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Nový Jičín made an indelible history as a "city of hats". Its hatter's history was written by Prokop Hatter, mentioned in the archival sources from 1506. Later, in 1630, a separate hatter's guild came into being here. from Würtzburg, Bavaria, which first settled in Fulnek in 1638 and operated a hat shop for 160 years.In 1799 Johann Nepomuk Hückel became a hat maker in Nový Jičín and laid the foundations of the oldest factory of its kind in the world.

Deed of acceptance of Johann Nepomuk Hückel into the hatter's guild. Photo: State District Archives

With steam to the top Johann Nepomuk Hückel ran his trade at first at the then Courierring (today's General Hlaď Street) in house number 749. Later in 1811 his brother Augustin (1786-1848) came to the town and joined into the local hat production. Both brothers had adjacent workshops at the Lower Gate number 16 and 18, which in 1848 Augustine's son Johann (1814-1880) merged into one production complex. After the return of his sons from hat making studies abroad, in 1865 he mechanized the production of a 3 horsepower steam engine. His workshop was the first mechanized millinery in the then Austria. The contribution of new technologies to production immediately increased demand. Therefore, in 1867 it was decided to purchase land on the southern side of the city and build a modern hat factory. Soon after the construction of the new factory, Johann Hückel employed 300 workers. In 1868, the company was newly registered as a trading company J. Hückel's Sohne. At the same time the brothers Augustin (1848-1917) and Johann (1843-1917) Hückel used all possibilities and means to develop the whole enterprise a few years later, in 1874, their factory became the largest in the city, and the next year their youngest brother Karl (1850-1919) joined as a partner. and Hückel's extensive production was awarded at many world exhibitions at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Drawing by Johann Hückel at Lower Gate. Photo: State District Archive Nový Jičín

View of the factory Johann Hückel's Reaches from 1895. Photo: Museum of Novojidín

Tradition continues

Only the First World War halted further development of the millinery production. After its end, in addition to the Viennese branch, plants were also established in Racibórz, Germany and Skočov, Poland. During the boom before the next world war, the company employed about 3,000 workers, masters and clerks. Nearly 1,000 different machines were driven by four steam boilers and a turbine with almost three wagons of coal a day. During World War II the company gradually switched to arms production. In 1941, Hückel's factory purchased the former Brüder Böhm factory from the German state. Like many other Nový Jičín families, the Hückels left for Germany and Austria at the end of the war. Subsequent nationalization and merger of all then Czechoslovak hatter's factories gave rise to the firm TONAK, a national enterprise. Today's TONAK joint stock company continues in the tradition of Nový Jičín and ranks among the oldest factories in the world with amazing 220 years of history. It exports its products to more than fifty countries around the world. This year's anniversary will commemorate not only the September festivities of the city, but also the first large publication mapping the hatter's history in our city. Radek Polách, Museum Novojičkiska
 
Last edited:

Mean Eyed Matt

One Too Many
Messages
1,142
Location
Germany
Matt, Great find! I can't tell who might have made it. With Stiff Felts it's not unusual to see glued in liners due to the felt stiffness. I tend to think this one is later but my guess would be mid to later 1950s.

Can't really add to André's comments. Repairing dents can be problematic. You have to apply intense steam from the outside and hope it will respond. If the felt is damaged you will always see the results at close inspection. This was the fate of most Stiff Felts.

Thanks you, Steve!
When I had only seen pictures, I thought it could be 30s.
But now I'm sure it's postwar, mainly because of the shape of the crown.
However, the workmanship of the interior is excellent:
great leather, heavy silk lining - the hat is very high quality!

But who is the manufacturer? That is the question...
Do you have any idea until when Seidl made it himself?
I know from your homepage, the references to Mayser were strong.
Can that perhaps help?

To the dent: The felt is probably not broken, not kinked or torn.
Let's see what is possible with steam here...
 

Steve1857

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,870
Location
Denmark
Legend TONAK: The oldest millinery in the world is 220 years old!

48838554362_b6e34c9fa7_h.jpg


48838554302_43eddfdc52_h.jpg


Nový Jičín made an indelible history as a "city of hats". Its hatter's history was written by Prokop Hatter, mentioned in the archival sources from 1506. Later, in 1630, a separate hatter's guild came into being here. from Würtzburg, Bavaria, which first settled in Fulnek in 1638 and operated a hat shop for 160 years.In 1799 Johann Nepomuk Hückel became a hat maker in Nový Jičín and laid the foundations of the oldest factory of its kind in the world.

Deed of acceptance of Johann Nepomuk Hückel into the hatter's guild. Photo: State District Archives

With steam to the top Johann Nepomuk Hückel ran his trade at first at the then Courierring (today's General Hlaď Street) in house number 749. Later in 1811 his brother Augustin (1786-1848) came to the town and joined into the local hat production. Both brothers had adjacent workshops at the Lower Gate number 16 and 18, which in 1848 Augustine's son Johann (1814-1880) merged into one production complex. After the return of his sons from hat making studies abroad, in 1865 he mechanized the production of a 3 horsepower steam engine. His workshop was the first mechanized millinery in the then Austria. The contribution of new technologies to production immediately increased demand. Therefore, in 1867 it was decided to purchase land on the southern side of the city and build a modern hat factory. Soon after the construction of the new factory, Johann Hückel employed 300 workers. In 1868, the company was newly registered as a trading company J. Hückel's Sohne. At the same time the brothers Augustin (1848-1917) and Johann (1843-1917) Hückel used all possibilities and means to develop the whole enterprise a few years later, in 1874, their factory became the largest in the city, and the next year their youngest brother Karl (1850-1919) joined as a partner. and Hückel's extensive production was awarded at many world exhibitions at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Drawing by Johann Hückel at Lower Gate. Photo: State District Archive Nový Jičín

View of the factory Johann Hückel's Reaches from 1895. Photo: Museum of Novojidín

Tradition continues

Only the First World War halted further development of the millinery production. After its end, in addition to the Viennese branch, plants were also established in Racibórz, Germany and Skočov, Poland. During the boom before the next world war, the company employed about 3,000 workers, masters and clerks. Nearly 1,000 different machines were driven by four steam boilers and a turbine with almost three wagons of coal a day. During World War II the company gradually switched to arms production. In 1941, Hückel's factory purchased the former Brethren Brothers factory from the German state. Like many other Nový Jičín families, the Hückels left for Germany and Austria at the end of the war. Subsequent nationalization and merger of all then Czechoslovak hatter's factories gave rise to the firm TONAK, a national enterprise. Today's TONAK joint stock company continues in the tradition of Nový Jičín and ranks among the oldest factories in the world with amazing 220 years of history. It exports its products to more than fifty countries around the world. This year's anniversary will commemorate not only the September festivities of the city, but also the first large publication mapping the hatter's history in our city. Radek Patách, Museum Novojičkiska
Happy Birthday, Tonak [emoji512] [emoji485]
My first Fedora was a Tonak bought in 1994 in Brno, Czech Republic.
Congrats to you too, Steve, on all your hard work bringing the history of this company and the aftermath of WWII to light.

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