Baltimore Hats Part 1

Baltimore Hats.

by William T. Brigham.

PREFACE.

It is not impossible that some useful information may be conveyed by this book. Should these pages prove of such service, their cost in labor is most cheerfully donated.

This volume is composed of a series of articles which appeared in a Trade Journal, covering a period of two years from 1887 to 1889. It must be accepted as but a brief history of an industry long identified with Baltimore.

Thanks are due the Librarian of the Maryland Historical Society and Mr. B. R. Sheriff for favors in lending rare and valuable old City directories; also to the many citizens who kindly aided and a.s.sisted in the search for needed information.

THE AUTHOR.

BALTIMORE, 1890.

INTRODUCTORY.

No. 1.

Past and present have each their independent significance. The past gives freely to us the experiences of others, the present a suitable opportunity to improve upon what has already occurred. With our observation and acceptance of these privileges so easily obtained, we reap the benefit of their advantages and unconsciously find ourselves the gainers both in capacity and intelligence. A history of the past, giving the record of events and circ.u.mstances existing before our own day, bringing to our knowledge the accomplishments, business enterprises and undertakings of our predecessors, is a profitable study, and the reader gratifies his curiosity in observing how differently things were conducted and managed a century ago as compared with the processes of the present day, exciting a sense of wonder at the rapid progress that has been made in a comparatively short period of time. Think of it! quite within the lifetime of many of us have been the most wonderful of inventions--the steam engine, steam vessels, the telegraph and other wonders and triumphs of electricity. The wildest fancy may not be styled visionary in antic.i.p.ating the appearance of things still more surprising.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THEN.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: NOW.]

Continued familiarity with the present system of making hats has the tendency in a great degree to prevent a recognition, until brought to our notice by comparison of the wide difference existing between the old and new methods, and this common every-day experience a.s.sists in making us unappreciative of the remarkable improvements that have been made in this branch of business.

Only a half a century ago the time required to make a single fur hat from the prepared material was fully a week, and the average production was two hats per day per man. With the bowing of the fur, the forming and shrinking of the bodies, and the handwork of finishing and tr.i.m.m.i.n.g, all of which by the aid of modern science and invention is to-day done by machinery more perfectly and completely at the rate in production of twenty times that of fifty years ago, while the sewing of a straw hat, which could hardly be done in an hour by the plodding work of the hand, st.i.tch by st.i.tch, is, by the rapid sewing-machine, made in a minute. When we think of the largest number of st.i.tches our mothers and sisters could take in their needlework by hand and contrast it with the result of the sewing-machine that spins its twenty-two hundred st.i.tches a minute, we are able to gain some adequate idea of the saving of labor, and while we complacently accept these marvellous accomplishments, the question whether it be to the poor and needy a loss or gain is still an undecided problem. With all the advantages now at our command, it appears to us a matter of surprise how our forefathers, with their apparently indifferent methods, could profitably succeed in their labors. With steam engines, sewing-machines and electricity, the quick accomplishments of the present compared with the slow movements of the past tend to make one think we are living in an age of wonders amounting almost to miracles.

What would be the exclamation of the ghosts of our great-grandfathers who, with the rapid trot of an ox-team, drove to church miles away through the storms of winter to exemplify their devotion to the truth of their faith, if suddenly they could rise and observe the luxury of the present modes of transportation in convenient palace cars and palatial steamships, our comfortable and gaudy churches, and our easy ways of communicating instantly with those thousands of miles away from us? Aladdin's wonderful experiences, or the magical change by Cinderella's fairy G.o.d-mother, would appear tame to their intense surprise.

[Ill.u.s.tration: RAPID TRANSIT IN OLDEN TIMES.]

In a series of articles it is proposed to give an account of the growth of the hat manufacturing business, one of the most interesting of Baltimore's industries; how at an early period it was raised into conspicuous prominence in common with other enterprises undertaken in the active spirit which has always characterized Baltimore merchants as among the foremost of their time. They will also treat of its gradual growth and development, followed by a temporary decline of progress caused by the Civil War and its consequences, and finally of its triumphant stride to place itself again in line with other leading industries of this enterprising metropolis, for without doubt it holds to-day an enviable position among the different trades, a position acquired by the thoroughness, determination and perseverance of those engaged in its development.

[Ill.u.s.tration: AN OLD TIMER.]

EARLY DAYS.

No. 2.

The spirit of ambition and independence const.i.tuting the fundamental principles of manhood, and inspiring a n.o.bleness of character which in time of the country's struggle for liberty helped to give her the benefits of wise counsel, n.o.ble patriotism and manly service, was early manifested by the neighboring colony of Virginia, as in the year 1662 she ventured upon a practical plan to encourage the manufacture of hats by offering a premium of ten pounds of tobacco for every domestic hat made of fur or wool. What resulted from this generous act we are not informed, but there is no evidence that it in any degree stimulated the production of hats in that colony, and it is a noted fact that hat-making to any extent has never flourished south of Baltimore. This city seems to have been the southern boundary line--the geographical limit in that direction--of hat-manufacturing.

As an offset to this enterprising manifesto of Virginia is a pet.i.tion in the year 1731 of the hat-makers of London to the "Lords of Trade,"

to enact a law forbidding the American colonists to wear hats not made in Great Britain. This law was pa.s.sed, attaching a penalty of five hundred pounds sterling (twenty-five hundred dollars) for its violation.

The archives of the New Jersey Historical Society for the year 1731 show that there was one hatter in that colony, and from a history of Boston we learn that sixteen hat-makers of that town were affected by the edict of these despotic English law-makers.

In this manner were the enterprises of the new continent checked and the attempt made to crush out that spirit of progress so manifest in the brightest of the English colonies. It was the continuation of such injustice and oppression that eventually inspired a rebellious spirit to take the place of patience and submission, ending in a revolt, the termination of which secured us liberty and justice and the announcement of our complete independence on the 4th of July, 1776.

The style of hat of this period (1731) had the sides of the brim turned up, with a front of an easy curl, which, nearly resembling a cap-visor, made it in shape somewhat between a hat and cap; this seems to have been the first approach toward the "c.o.c.ked" or three-cornered hat afterwards so extensively used, and to Americans the most familiar of past styles, from its being a fashion of the period of the Revolution, by which it became the prominent part of an historical costume. The arbitrary law before alluded to was afterwards modified, but an uncomfortable restriction continued to be enforced upon all manufactures, for in the year 1750 the English Parliament, among other unjust acts, enacted a law forbidding exportation of hats from one colony to another and allowing no hatter to have more than two apprentices at one time, "because the colonists, if let alone, would soon supply the whole world with hats."

[Ill.u.s.tration: 1731]

The French fashion of this time had the brazen characteristic of its brim rising erect from the forehead, a style seemingly in keeping with the then irritable condition and reckless agitation of the French people.

Planche, in his "Cyclopaedia of Costumes" (vol. 1, page 261), quotes a humorous description, evidently referring to this particular style, as follows: "Some wear their hats with the corners that should cover the forehead high in the air, these are called Gawkies; others do not half cover their heads, which, indeed, is owing to the shallowness of their crowns, but between beaver and eyebrows exposes a blank forehead, which looks like a sandy road in a surveyor's plan."

[Ill.u.s.tration: 1750]

From the year 1750 until after the Revolution there was but little change in the general character of style in men's hats: the custom of erecting the brims by tying or looping them up prevailed. Soon the elevation of the brim of 1750 was abandoned and a change made by looping it at the points of a triangle, producing the three-cornered or "c.o.c.ked" hat. This was a becoming style we must admit, and one seemingly well suited to the independent, fearless and patriotic characteristics of our forefathers' traits, the possession of which at that time gave us all the comforts that are ours now. The "c.o.c.ked" hat enjoyed a long popularity, continuing in fashion until near the close of the century, when the "steeple top" and "chimney pot" styles--slang terms for the high beavers--came into vogue, a style which Ashton, an English writer, designates as "the hideous head-covering that has martyrized at least three generations."

[Ill.u.s.tration: 1760]

Departure from settled and accustomed styles created the same furore and astonishment, and subjected the venturesome individual whose inclinations led an advance in fashion to the same exposure to ridicule as affects the "swell" of the present day, and the reporters of "society doings" then were as close observers, as keen in wit, and as unmerciful in criticism as any of their kin to-day. Planche, quoting from the _London Chronicle_ for 1762, refers to fashion of hats at that time as follows: "Hats," says the writer, "are now worn on the average six and three-fifths inches broad in the brim and c.o.c.ked. Some have their hats open like a church spout or like the scales they weigh their coffee in; some wear them rather sharp like the nose of the greyhound, and we can designate by the taste of the hat the mood of the wearer's mind. There is a military c.o.c.k and a mercantile c.o.c.k, and while the beaux of St. James wear their hats under their arms, the beaux of Moorfields-Mall wear theirs diagonally over the left or right eye; sailors wear their hats uniformly tucked down to the crown, and look as if they carried a triangular apple pasty upon their heads."

That "there is nothing new under the sun" is a maxim the truth of which is often verified within the limits of fashionable manners; thus the counterpart of the present captivating custom of carrying in the public ball-room or at the private party the collapsed "opera" hat under the arm is seen in the fashion of 1762, the only difference being, not as now, to doff the hat in the house, but when promenading the street the beau was to be seen with

"A pretty black beaver tucked under his arm, If placed on his head it might keep him too warm."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Folded Hat, 1762.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: The 'Opera', 1887.]

The folded hat of 1762 differed from the opera hat of the present day also in the softness of the crown, permitting its being flattened, and the brim, as if hinged front and rear, folded at the sides like the corners of a book, while the present opera hat, constructed with jointed springs, allows its cylindrical crown to be flattened down to a level with the brim, which keeps its fixed shape.

Scharf's "Chronicles of Baltimore" give the copy of an inventory made in the year 1779 of the personal effects of one Thos. Edgerton, a citizen of the Province of Maryland, and among them is his hat, described as having a gold band and feathers. This hat evidently was the celebrated cavalier style that appears in many of the portraits of Rubens, Vandycke and Rembrandt, of all styles the prettiest and most picturesque ever introduced.

The wide brim of the cavalier hat was arranged as suited the fancy of the wearer, some of whom allowed it to take its natural shape, some would wear it looped up on the side, and by others it was caught up and attached to the crown at different angles; in fact, it was modeled very much as the ladies now-a-days do the "Gainsborough," exercising their own individual fancy as to the treatment of the brim.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The 'Cavalier', 1689]

Identical with the interests of Baltimore were the industries of other towns of the colony of Maryland, and among the earliest records referring to the hat business are several advertis.e.m.e.nts found in the _Maryland Gazette_, published at Annapolis. In February, 1760, Chas.

Diggs advertises "men's and boys' castor and felt hats." In 1761 Barnet West advertises "gold and silver band hats, just imported from London," and in April, 1761, appears the advertis.e.m.e.nt of Nathaniel Waters, of Annapolis, who announces that he has for sale "silver and gold b.u.t.tons and loops for hats, and that he carries on the hat-making as usual."

About this time Annapolis, being in her palmy days, was the center of gentility and fashionable life; here was congregated the blue blood of English aristocracy, who strove to foster and cultivate the same courtly splendor and etiquette existing in old England, which brought to the venerable place the enviable fame of being considered the most fashionable of our colonial towns.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE BEAU OF 1762.]