Photos of hatters tools

[Mr.Astor]

Hatter4 that brass tolliker of yours is very nice! A real old piece?

 

[John Galt]

View attachment 10868 I feel that this is a long-handled brim iron. [...] If you look at the bottom one, it is very similar to your photos, although yours might have been used for millinery work (women's hats).

You are probably right. There were irons for making flowers & leaves in the same set of auctions, so it is clear that this particular hatter made women's hats.

To be clear, none of the items in these last posts were mine - all were part of eBay auctions I should have participated in, but sat out...

 

[John Galt]

John: You showed a picture of a brass foot tolliker - here is my brass foot tolliker with an imprint for the thumb with a heavy patina. View attachment 10869

Beautiful! I have noticed this or similar thumb imprints in some of the (to my mind) better foot/ shaped foot tollikers.

 

[John Galt]

Mr. Astor wrote:

"That brass tolliker with the curling option went for $173.00! I lost out on it, very nice old piece. Thanks for the pics John?"

Sorry to hear you lost. It was a nice piece. I guess I got the price wrong - either way, a pretty decent price for the old school real deal. Maybe JW will sell one at a time? I may ask myself...

 

[John Galt]

Hatter4 that brass tolliker of yours is very nice! A real old piece?

+1

 

[Hatter4]

John and Mr. Astor: I'm glad you liked my brass foot tolliker. Here's another tolliker made out of solid brass. It has a thumb print on one side and it sits at an angle. The original owner must have marked it XXI.

 

[Hatter4]

Have you ever seen one of these? It is for smoothing the nap on silk top hats. Also below is a copy of the original patent papers.

 

[John Galt]

View attachment 10881 View attachment 10882 John and Mr. Astor: I'm glad you liked my brass foot tolliker. Here's another tolliker made out of solid brass. It has a thumb print on one side and it sits at an angle. The original owner must have marked it XXI.

Very nice! Love your collection. It is great to see these tools. I am working on a plan for a prototype brass foot tolliker that I hope to finish in the next few days. Stay posted.

In the meantime, do you heat the brass tollikers before using? I wouldn't think so, but it comes to mind.

 

[John Galt]

Have you ever seen one of these? It is for smoothing the nap on silk top hats. Also below is a copy of the original patent papers. View attachment 10883 View attachment 10884

Nope, I don't think so, but will keep my eye out...

 

[Hatter4]

John - I use the brass tollikers dry, like a dry iron, for the weight.

 

[John Galt]

Couldn't resist this 1945 electric cordless sad iron. The best of both worlds.

Edit - Should have done, could have gotten it much cheaper if I'd looked around a bit...

"Faint hat never won fair lady"

 

[John Galt]

Here is a photo of an electric hatter's iron - from a collector's page.

"Faint hat never won fair lady"

 

[Landman]

What does "sad" represent in the name "sad iron"?

 

[Hatter4]

The sadiron — whose name derives from the Old English word “sald,” meaning solid — first appeared in the 17th century. The basic sadiron is a shaped piece of metal, with a polished base and attached metal handle. These irons were heated in front of an open fire or on a stove. The undesirable aspect of this, however, was that it heated the handle as well, so they had to be held with a potholder or thick glove. Sadirons were heavy, usually ranging from 5 to 9 pounds, and the weight contributed as much as the heat to the pressing process.

 

[John Galt]

[Edit] What he said ;-)

 

[RBH]

What does "sad" represent in the name "sad iron"?

http://historymyths.wordpress.com/2...ed-chore-that-any-woman-would-be-sad-to-iron/

 

[T Jones]

That's pretty cool stuff John.

 

[bloc]

Really enjoying the photos of these beautiful old tools. Thanks everyone.

 

[Landman]

Thanks for the info on a sad iron!

 

[John Galt]

Yep. Apparently, this was called the New Eureka cordless electric iron because in 1906, this guy came out - the original Eureka electric sad iron.

I know, there are two different cord configurations, but both drawings were taken from (two different) 1906 magazines, I believe, and the other from a collector's page.