Hat Making - The Astro Home Page

Hat Making
(slide - animal fur and felt making)
(image of plant layout)
every aspect of hat production was done at plant
contrast to contemporary)
Felt as Hat material
• 2000 years older than woven fabric
• made from animal fur
(will show factory plans and diagram of
production process)
“carroting”
chemical applied to fur
before removal from skin
After removal from skins,
fur is shrunk through
repeated immersion in hot
water, then air dried and
rolled into mats ready for
“sizing”
(distribution of labor
force and gender roles
in factory)
Life at The Stetson factory
(image of Stetson hospital)
Stetson goes bust
Decline of the Stetson Factory
1915-1920 - Stetson at peak production
Factory expands to 25 buildings on 9 acres,
employs 5000, produces 3,000,000 hats a year
1930’s - Great Depression
1940 - 45 WWII (industrial production to war effort)
1950’s hat wearing becomes an option
1960 - President Kennedy elected
(Truman and Eisenhower wore hats)
(JFK did not wear a hat)
(Stetson closes 1971,
demolished 1979)
(Will have outlines of factory are
(Will have outlines of factory area
and walking root for field exercise)
(Will have outlines of factory area
and walking root for field exercise)
(Next few slides will juxtapose contemporary images of
[mostly vacant] site, with historic photographs of factory
complex)