German & Austrian Hutmachers

[mikespens]

Nice Manfred, it looks comfy and right at home on you.

 

[mayserwegener]

Manfred, Looks fantastic! Great investigative work!

 

[Chepstow]

Thank you, Mike and Steve.
I am very happy with this Cap!
Now I Must Look how to wear the Cap right! Haha.
The whole package was three Cap's!
The First Luzena, the second a Herbert Johnson Cap and the third a unknown Cap ( englisch Style). All Caps are new and never worn.



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[ManofKent]

Looks good Manfred - and I think your detective work has led you in the right direction - the logos look remarkably similar

 

[Chepstow]

Thanks Richard! The only Information I found at google was an Army Cap with this name and that was a pre wwII Cap!

 

[ofcoursemyhorse]

What a great looking cap Manfred, it looks like it was made for you.

Mayser, i'm always in awe of the melones you post, from the quality of the materials used to make them to obvious care and precision that went into each one is just extraordinary.

 

[Chepstow]

Ofcourse, thank you Sir. Your compliment is much appreciated!



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[mayserwegener]

Ofcoursemyhorse, Thanks! I have a hard time not bidding when I see one.

 

[alanfgag]

Otto Matt Hutmacher

As Mario's original photos of this hat appear to be lost, adding a few additional.

 

[mayserwegener]

Alan, Thanks for the great photos! This is one of my all time favorites! By the way can you make out the hand writing at the rear of the sweat?

 

[alanfgag]

Steve, you are a super sleuth. I had not noticed the writing before. Very difficult to make out to the naked eye, but I will send to forensics and share some additional photos.

 

[mayserwegener]

I am looking forward to what you find!

 

[TheDane]

If it starts "Where have all the sweatbands gone", it may be the last and undescovered verse of Pete Seeger's old song

Oh, how I miss the high quality leather work on those old lids!

 

[Chepstow]

Alan, a beauty that Hat. Thumbs up for the German Flagship!

 

[mayserwegener]

"Process of Treating Felts Made From Animal Hairs" H. Haakh & H. Sabal, Luckenwalde, Germany (1926)

This patent relates to the shortening of the Velour process which was very labor extensive and time consuming (see 5, 10, 15). I have no idea if this process was implemented. I know the scratching / brushing process described (see 5, 10, 15) has very much been shortened / changed which accounts for the lack of very high quality Velour finishes (see pre WWII Austrian - German Velours) . Luckenwalde was a major hat producing area of Germany during this time period.

 

[mikespens]

Incredible hat Alan!

 

[alanfgag]

Thanks Mike. Here is another view of the rear of the sweatband... appears to be a handwritten name (Kranz) and an address.

Interesting document, Steve. Wouldn't it be great to have a video to see the original velour process. Such a labor of love to recreate the pelt finish from a felted body.

 

[TheDane]

I have no idea if this process was implemented

I'm not positive, but it's very likely the "chlorinating" (hmmmm ... would that be the word?) of the felt came into use. Several other patents with different approaches to reach the same goal were filed back then. Austrian Eric Böhm filed this on the same subject:

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[mayserwegener]

Thanks! I was going to post the Böhm patents too. Robert (RLK) had found these a few years ago (posted the URLs) but I never got around to posting them (the books on early 20th century American hat manufacturing jogged my memory). There was definitely major interest ($$$) in reducing the number steps required to produce high quality Velour finishes. Interesting that J. Hückel´s Söhne didn't issue any patents and they produced the finest finishes (a very secretive company). From what I see today the scratching, clipping and brushing is done after the dyeing and results are not comparable to what was produced in the first half of the 20th Century (pre or post patents).

This photo is from JHS (1902) and appears to verify that the Velour bodies were scratched and brushed prior to dyeing (according to the Haakh - Sabal patent a two week process).

 

[mayserwegener]

Here is another view of the rear of the sweatband... appears to be a handwritten name (Kranz) and an address.

Interesting document, Steve. Wouldn't it be great to have a video to see the original velour process. Such a labor of love to recreate the pelt finish from a felted body.

Alan, Thanks for taking a closer look! Very cool!

Not sure if you saw this when I first posted it.

http://germanaustrianhats.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/140-die-hutmacherkunst-ein-handbuch-fuer-den-klein-und-grossbetrieb-by-carl-bortfeldt-1902/

See "Top Quality Velour" and "Finishing Castor (Beaver) and Velour Hats".