Keeping secrets while a craft dies out

[Fletch]

This article from 1999, interviewing Michael Harris, then of Paul's Hatworks, picks up on a theme that always interests me: the phenomenon of hatmaking as a dying craft that still keeps secrets.

In 1999 there were probably no online resources for men's hatmaking. The market had been drying up for decades. Hatters were in a state of lockdown, holding onto every bit of the trade for themselves while it lasted. Harris was asked to leave shops for asking questions, had to wait for shops to go broke to find the tools he needed, and work in mass production for 9 years to qualify for an apprenticeship with Paul's.

Some questions inevitably occur to us outside the craft. Craftspeople care little for the dynamics of business, and businesspeople left the industry (and many other skilled crafts) behind decades ago. So it remains to be asked:

1. What's the tipping point? Does it make more sense, at some point, for a skilled craft to break the guild mentality and start passing things on? If not, why not? Might it have seemed, at one time, that letting hatmaking disappear was actually an honor to the men who had done it?

2. How much of the decline in hat trade was due to snowballing? (The harder it is to get quality and/or service in a good, the fewer buyers will want that good.) Was it rational self-interest for individual hat shops to fight competition as they went under?

3. Has the internet, including small mail-order hatters and information clearinghouses like FL, done anything much to counter the tradition of the craft dying? Have guild mentalities begun to soften? Has the internet built up even a niche market in a substantial way?

4. Might Harris have been exaggerating for public relations purposes? Any trade, craft, or product is more prized the more exclusive it is.

 

[Old Rogue]

Excellent questions Fletch. As someone who is still shopping for his first fedora, the fact that I have been unable to locate a local hat shop less than 120 miles from me is discouraging. Even a "starter" fedora is going set you back $100, so it would be nice to talk to a professional face to face before making the purchase. Yes, I would be willing to pay a bit of a premium for that, to ensure I was getting a quality hat with the proper fit. I've gotten tons of great advice in here, but if a bit more openness is what it takes to expand the industry then maybe it's something today's hat makers might want to consider.

 

[tonyb]

Thanks to the 'net, information (and misinformation) is certainly easier to access than it used to be. Any regular visitor to this forum can cull most of what there is to know about hat crafting and refurbishing.

Still, hatters are prone to keeping certain tricks to themselves. Most people practicing the craft today are largely self-taught, so their knowledge was acquired mostly through trial and error, with the emphasis on error, often in the form of ruined hat bodies and wasted ribbon, etc., not to mention the lost hours. So it's hard to blame a person for adopting a somewhat proprietary stance.

But even if all the information a person would ever need to know were readily available, it still wouldn't make him a hatter. Sure, most of the steps in crafting a new hat or refurbishing an old one are easy enough to understand, but that doesn't mean they're easy to perform. An admittedly grandiose analogy is coronary artery bypass surgery. It's real simple: cut, sew, make new routes around those clogged pipes. Anybody wanna give it a go?

And then there's that "touch." Finishing a felt hat body is something of an art, and mastering different types of finishes can be quite frustrating (see the "trial and error" sentence above). Different hatters employ different techniques, and those techniques take time to develop.

The work coming out of many custom hatters' shops these days is reminiscent of jazz variations on old standards. We see very traditional looking hat profiles in decidedly nontraditional colors and trimmed in out with nontraditional ribbon work. This is where aesthetic sense (or preferences) come into play. Different hatters have different styles. And that's cool.

 

[fmw]

The difference, of course, is that trial and error isn't a very good way to learn coronary bypass surgery. It is at least a reasonable method for hat making, however.

 

[tonyb]

The difference, of course, is that trial and error isn't a very good way to learn coronary bypass surgery. It is at least a reasonable method for hat making, however.

Yes, of course. There is no such thing as a perfect analogy, as this one clearly illustrates.

Still, I'd guess that budding heart surgeons practice on cadavers (?) and observe many a surgery before they make their first incisions on living, breathing patients. And I'd further imagine that they are working under the watchful eyes (and helping hands, perhaps) of experienced surgeons during those initial forays.

Learning the hatter's craft would be made easier by the guidance of an old pro. Lord knows I'm thankful for the tips passed on to me by more experienced people. But if there exists a formal program for the training of hatters (as contrasted with milliners), I've yet to hear of it.

 

[Aureliano]

As for secrets, I'd like to learn how to tie a hatters knot. I heard Major Moore mention it on an interview...

 

[danofarlington]

I agree that making hats for cadavers is is a good way to start. At least the customer will always be satisfied while one learns his trade. And they won't make any snide remarks if the hat is too stiff.

 

[tonyb]

Well, we ain't making hats for cadavers so much as from them. There's little lost by attempting to resurrect a hat otherwise fit for the grave -- a dirty, greasy, moth-nibbled, misshapen, etc., old hat. Indeed, it can be quite satisfying to make something at least presentable from such an article.

 

[Ralphin Ormond]

Maybe the internet came along just in time. It is certainly a fact that many of my interests have been sometimes made possible and in any case exceedingly well served by the internet marketplace. Since that has resulted in many thousands of my dollars going into the pockets of a variety of specialty craftsmen, not all of them in the USA, and since I am most likely not far from the norm of some millions of other people, it figures that we specialty product buyers are, in a way, working together to assure for each other, as well as ourselves, that the craft/art/tradesmen will be there when needed. The custom fedoras the F/L folks helped keep available for me will be repaid should any fedora lover discover an interest in the finest Mali djembes or Australian eucalyptus didgeridoos. It is, indeed, a sad old world, fuller each day of misery, but there are some bright spots, I think. The internet marketplace is outstandingly wonderful.

 

[Cliffnopus]

Well......they weren't called Mad Hatters for nothing.

Cliff

 

[Guttersnipe]

Before going back to school I was a skilled tradesman in an industry which, while not yet dying, is "contemplating retirement as its twilight years approach." It's a tricky proposition imparting you're wisdom and experience to someone else. Because the industry I worked in is so specialized, I was able to move jobs at will and it wasn't uncommon for attempts at "stealing" me away for current employers to be made (which translats to significant bargaining power with my bosses). I think such is typically the case with specialized skilled trades.

If you look at it from the perspective of some who makes a living through a skilled trade it doesn't make sense to train potential competitors/a person may end up taking your job. This is particularly so in industries such as hat making (or textile printing, in my case) where the tangible capital requirements for starting a business are much less than in other industries.

 

[Fletch]

Funny, though - I've played jazz professionally for years but I never begrudged an aspiring young musician a few pointers. If you snubbed him, in fact, it would get around that you're not a nice cat.

How long is it going to take the newbie to get to your level? You know he's not going to be at your level instantly or even for a good time to come - he can't command your prestige and pay. Is the idea to keep him from ever trying to break in?

Why is that so different from musicians? Work is scarce for us, too, and we don't hold our talent and experience cheap (except maybe monetarily - the main thing for us is getting heard and what it can lead to).

 

[majormoore]

To tie the knot you almost need to be standing beside me while I inform and show you how to do it, maybe next Sat you can email me at
buckaroohatters@gmail.com, and I will give you a number to call me at and maybe be able to walk you thru how I tie the knot. BTW are you right handed, hope you are.

Major Moore

As for secrets, I'd like to learn how to tie a hatters knot. I heard Major Moore mention it on an interview...

 

[bendingoak]

It's far worce than you think it is. Not only do hatters keep things close to vest but some will go out of there way to keep others down. With that knowledge, wouldnt you think twice about extending a hand out to someone.


I could show anyone in just a few day how to make a hat. You could pick it up that fast but you couldn't master them skills very fast. I had help from two very giving gentlemen but I still had to practice the skills. I could't even thread a needle when I started. Had to get my wife to do it for me. Kinda funny because she comes to me now. I don't want to even add up the time or dollars spent sewing over and over again try to get a sweatband seated the way I wanted or a ribbon the way I wanted. Wrecking felt bodies after felt bodies. Treating them like they cost me a dime , when in fact costing a lot more. I have a bunch of stacks sitting in my garage. If I add them up it would make me pull my hair out but it's the cost of learning. I guess my point is, even if someone shows you what to do. You still have to master the skills and nothing is a better teacher than experimenting on your own.

 

[barrowjh]

I empathize with Tonyb, and I am not a hat-maker. Part of the problem with passing along too much detailed information - someone else trying to implement your technique, without the trial-and-error 'feel' for how much is too much, then becomes angry when things do not pan out well. My own amateurish hat refurbishment techniques result in a few disasters now and then; I just absorb the cost of the failed experiment. A newcomer might not forgive such occasional disasters.

edited to empathize with bendingoak also.

 

[Guttersnipe]

Funny, though - I've played jazz professionally for years but I never begrudged an aspiring young musician a few pointers. If you snubbed him, in fact, it would get around that you're not a nice cat.

How long is it going to take the newbie to get to your level? You know he's not going to be at your level instantly or even for a good time to come - he can't command your prestige and pay. Is the idea to keep him from ever trying to break in?

Why is that so different from musicians? Work is scarce for us, too, and we don't hold our talent and experience cheap (except maybe monetarily - the main thing for us is getting heard and what it can lead to).

Playing music is different, while you expect to be compensated for performing you play for the love of music*. I've been performing music live for a long time too and, I know, for me, I really don't care about the money. I just enjoy jamming with other folks and and maybe making a few people happy in the process.

The difference it that most skilled trades are actually pretty tough and nasty jobs to perform; I certainly didn't spend ten years hunched over a print press soiled with ink as labor of love. Over the years many skilled artisans develop a repertoire of techniques that become, for the lack of better words, a portfolio of trade secrets. Interestingly tattooing is particularly like this and the level of hazing that apprentice tattoo artist endure is horrible. A friend of mine had older tattooists threaten to break his fingers with a hammer because he was seen as a threat!

fftopic: * There's also an interesting dynamic going on here. In my experience, "highbrow" musicians (e.g. Jazz, Classical, etc) tend to be more open because the competition for jobs is not as intense since there are fewer people able to play that kind of music. Also compensation for gigs tends to be better because "highbrow" genres are more respected art forms. I had an interesting discussion with Miss_1929 about this once; I've heard of Jazz player being payed more to play quietly in the corner of a cafe than I was payed when my old band headlined sold out shows for 300 - 400 people!!!

 

[Fletch]

I guess I get the practice-practice-practice part. We musicians are used to that. What we usually don't do, and I don't get, is the backstabbing that bendingoak refers to.

The only place you see that level of undercutting and secrecy in the music game is - hey, wait a minute - among craftspeople.

Now, we have to ask, why can the artist afford to do what the artisan cannot? Is there any reason any longer or is it just generations of tradition coming out of an apprenticeship hierarchy? There never were any "apprentice" musicians. Talent pretty much counted whoever had it.

And some of the more manly-men among you may not care to hear this, but hazing is bull$#!!. It is only ever about the people doing it. It is not about "bonding" or any tradition worth keeping.

 

[bendingoak]

You'll find hazing everywhere. I was a firefighter for 7 years. You must pay your dues.

As for the back stabbing. Most wouldn't believe me or who the back staggers are but there out there.

 

[Aureliano]

To tie the knot you almost need to be standing beside me while I inform and show you how to do it, maybe next Sat you can email me at
buckaroohatters@gmail.com, and I will give you a number to call me at and maybe be able to walk you thru how I tie the knot. BTW are you right handed, hope you are.
Major Moore

Oh my god! Thanks so much Major. I'll email you and coordinate the phone call but I'm afraid you're right: I'd probably need to stand beside you and watch you do it...Ambidextrous here, so no problem there!

 

[Yeps]

There never were any "apprentice" musicians. Talent pretty much counted whoever had it.

There have been and still are, at least with singers, and I assume with instrumentalists as well. Under the old system a young singer would be brought up through the ranks of a small opera house, learning technique from a teacher who learned it from his/her teacher some with pedigrees stretching back to the 18th century in some cases (the best techniques were those taught by the castrati in the early 19th century). Also, many people taught in one technique really do not trust other techniques at all, and there are rivalries within them. However, while a little of this still exists, training has become increasingly academic, with a masters degree in performance becoming necessary to enter into a young artist program or apprenticeship in which one gets to polish and experience needed to command the stage.