Stefan, Another great find. The Velour Felt looks really fantastic. I think you are probably correct on the dating. My guess would be WWII era maybe a bit later. I have no idea who made it but it reminds me of some of my mystery hats like this one.
Stefan, Thanks! I think it would reshape but there might be some wear at the crease lines because of the finish so I will keep it as is. It's a little tight but the felt is very soft so it will conform over time.
Steve, thanks. I was looking for that other Halali hat but couldn't find it in a hurry.
Steve, thanks. All we can do is keep looking for more hats to get a better picture of the hat histories. So it's all in the name of history and science
Great finds, Steve. It does make me wonder if that was the size of their staff at that date. Seems to be a relatively small number of men.J. Hückel ´s Söhne Neutitschein, 1901
(About the same time period as the "Eureka - Plume" Stiff Felt posted above. The Stiff Felts are on left side of of the first photo.)
Steve, thanks. That makes a lot more sense. The other pictures were just a selected few for some sort of special occasion then probably.Stefan, They had 1200 workers in 1898 and 2000 employees in 1909. The first photo is production oriented and the second appears to administrative. The executives are in the center surrounded by workers. I would guess the men nearest to the center are department heads and masters. This was the largest Fur Felt factory in Europe and one of the largest in the world (see photos below). They produced both finished hats and felt hoods / stumps (especially Velour).
1913 JHS ad from the American Hatter (2500 Workmen). They eventually added two additional factories (Silesia Germany and Poland) 1920s. There are more details on my site.
http://germanaustrianhats.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/6-johann-hückel´s-söhne-hückel-hutfabrik-weilheim/
Stefan, I believe they eventually had around 3000 workers at this main factory location (Tonak today) in Neutitschein / Nový Jičín.
