Rabbit to Hat...How It Was Done in 1941

[Fletch]

Pulling Hats Out of Rabbits - Popular Science, November, 1941

This may or may not be Sticky-worthy - perhaps as instructive contrast to the thread on modern day felting at the Winchester factory.

Pop Sci visited the Hat Corp. of America (HCA) works at Norwalk, Conn. - whose products sold under a dozen different brand names - and explains the complete manufacturing chain from pelt shearing to trimming. The state of the industry in 1941 was a balance of technology and craftsmanship that distinguished so much of Golden Era manufacturing.

A few pix to puzzle you...what's going on here? Read and see.

 

[Atterbury Dodd]

I think that might be sticky worthy.

 

[rlk]

Its a good article. I posted quite a while ago, but they do disappear. Sticky-worthy.

 

[Fletch]

Thought I'd take a chance in case it hadn't been done.

 

[Mulceber]

Great article - some of this stuff I knew or had some inkling of, but most of it was all new. It was also amusing to hear WWII mentioned in the present tense, as well as having it be referred to as "the war in Europe." -M

 

[dhermann1]

"Hat embryos". LOL
Did you look at the rest of the magazine? Not one page that isn't totally fascinating.

 

[zetwal]

Interesting article. Thanks for posting ...

 

[Undertow]

Very nice, Fletch, thank you. I wonder what they mean by mixing the fur with "certain synthetics"? I liked some of the other articles, too.

 

[Fletch]

What synthetics there were in 1941 that weren't "priorities" (like nylon) were mostly cellulose derivatives like rayon. You would think a faux fur product was used, but there were no synthetic furs yet, only imitation fur made of alpaca pile.

 

[WesternHatWearer]

Totally worth bring back to the forefront.
Thank you for posting, albeit years after being posted.

 

[RJR]

IMO,should definitely be a sticky.

 

[WesternHatWearer]

IMO,should definitely be a sticky.

I am with you on making it a sticky, but I am guessing there is some process to doing such?

 

[Hat Dandy]

Thanks for the information. I concur with the others in making it a sticky.

 

[WesternHatWearer]

Thanks for the information. I concur with the others in making it a sticky.

No problem. I troll through old threads and see what I can find.

 

[ILB Frank]

Digging through the deeper pages of this forum I came across this interesting thread. The OP and the article mentions, "the Hat Corp. of America (HCA) works at Norwalk, Conn. - whose products sold under a dozen different brand names."

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know under what brand names this company made hats? (Like Akubra, did they help Stetson out?)

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Digging through the deeper pages of this forum I came across this interesting thread. The OP and the article mentions, "the Hat Corp. of America (HCA) works at Norwalk, Conn. - whose products sold under a dozen different brand names."

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know under what brand names this company made hats? (Like Akubra, did they help Stetson out?)

I don’t know all the brands, but Dobbs, Knox, And Cavanagh we’re among the big ones. They were not making hats for Stetson. Stetson was GM and HCA was Ford so they did not make hats for each other. Later, some (all?) of the HCA brands were acquired by the same owners who owned the Stetson name, but that was after the HCA time.

Some of the best hats ever made were part of the HCA stable and they were more than a match for Stetson.

 

[Frunobulax]

Good bump. I hadn't seen this article.