The Hatmakers

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Cavanagh-Dobbs, Inc. formed in 1928 to merge Dobbs and Cavanagh. Cavanagh-Dobbs acquired Sunfast Hats, of Danbury, CT in 1928, Crofut & Knapp in 1929 and F. Berg & Company of Norwalk, CT in 1929. Hat Corporation of America bought the company in 1932.

The hatting trade flourished and the Company grew strongly in the early part of the 20th century. Between 1914 and 1918, 27 Mayors and ex-Mayors were elected. In 1927 there were 9 Knights on the Feltmakers’ Court. However, during the second half of the 20th century, the trade declined to its present level. There are now some 170 Feltmakers and members are drawn from the higher ranks of many professions, businesses and trades as well as the hatting industry. The Feltmakers have produced two Lord Mayors, Sir Louis Newton in 1923 and Sir Hugh Wontner in 1973. A third, Sir Thomas White, Lord Mayor in 1876, transferred to the Vintners, as was the custom in those days, after serving as Sheriff. In the 1950s Champ used celebrities in advertising, such as Guy Williams. They also sponsored fights and had radio ads with Walter Winchell. Herbert Louis Johnson was apprenticed in 1872 for seven years to hat-makers Lincoln Bennett, to learn the trade. He obviously did well and in 1889 on the somewhat unlikely advice of the Prince of Wales (later to become King Edward VII), he went into business with one Edward John Glazier at 45 New Bond Street, London. Fabhatrix makes hats for every kind of hat lover. We specialise in quality materials and design that can’t be found on the high street. Our hats are handmade in our workshop downstairs, so we will definitely be able to find something that is perfect for you. We offer specialist knowledge of sizing, styles and materials and encourage customers to come in try our various hats on and have fun! We sell just about every hat you can think of! A mixture of traditional designs and designs unique to Fabhatrix. For women we sell hats for everyday wear made from warm wools, soft felts, formed felts, beautiful Scottish tweeds, waxed cotton, velvets and some unique vintage fabrics. The first known reference to Feltmakers as a distinct craft association is in London in 1180, although it is not known how long this lasted. In 1269 the Cappers became officially established. Hurers made shaggy and bristly caps at that time and in 1311 the Hatters are found carrying out an examination of hats at the Guildhall. Faced with the need to combat imports, obey the new Act of 1488 restricting sales prices and enforce the ordinances controlling the trade, the Hurers and the Cappers amalgamated with the Hatters and then merged with the powerful Haberdashers in 1502. Many of the feltmakers were already members of the Haberdashers and, as the Haberdashers controlled the retail outlets and the raw materials, this unification of the hatting trade, no doubt, seemed a sensible step. The Feltmakers were the only group to survive in name and became synonymous with hatters and is today the Livery Company of the hatters.The Pilgrim brand had a long and successful life as a brand of Sears clothing for men, first appearing in 1905, and hitting its high point in the 1940s. Most Pilgrim brand hats were made by Lee for Sears, and the product line continued until 1964. The story is about Cordelia Hatmaker, and begins with her father supposedly drowning at sea, but the main story is about the king going mad and the princess having to take over negotiations with France to stop a war, while it appears that the maker families are being robbed. Founded in 1885 in New York City, during the 1930s and 1940s the Disney Hat Co. was a known for excellent quality and styles that appealed to the younger man, with different colors and ribbon combinations. The second are the hats worn by the Wardens. These are copies of those worn by Gentlemen at the time the Company obtained its Livery. Cervo is fine Italian hatter, and has from time to time been contracted by Borsalino to make their felts and hats.

This type 23 Frigate has a displacement of 4000 tons, is 133m long and has a Ship’s Company of 185. The Company entertains the Officers and Ship’s Company when possible and many Liverymen have been on board. The Company dines three times a year. The Installation Dinner – on the occasion of the installation of the new Master – is in October. In April there is a Spring Dinner and the Summer Banquet is in June, normally at the Mansion House with the Lord Mayor, the Sheriffs and their Consorts. Many eminent Company and private guests attend these functions. A most popular Carol Service is held in December. Masters often introduce other functions during the year and The Master uniquely entertains the Sheriffs and the Court on Plough Monday. Founded in 1862, Barbisio was a classic Italian manufacturer in the Cervo Valley, and a competitor of Borsalino. The company began exporting worldwide in the 1930s and continued to produce quality hats today. The Frank Lee Hat Company, located in the hat-making center at Danbury, CT, Lee was probably the most prolific producer of hats for private labelling . . . such as the economic JC Penney‚Äôs Marathon line and Brent for Montgomery Wards; their own brand ran from mid-grade to fine quality. A small family-owned firm, the Stevens Hat Company was located in St. Joseph, Missouri. The company merged with HatCo‚Äôs Stetson division in 1984, and took over the production of Stetson Hats, most of which were still made in St. Joseph until HatCo moved all of its production to a new factory in Garland, Texas.

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Founded in 1916 as the Mid-West Cap Works Company, undergoing several name changes, ultimately becoming Imperial Headwear, Inc. The Mossant factory was in Bourg-de-Péage, France, and manufactured some of the finest hats in the early decades of the 20th century. The brand was considered the pinaacle in France and but was also well-known in the United States for most of the twentieth century. The company was founded by Charles Mossant in the nineteenth century, and by 1929 more than 2,000 hats a day were being produced; half of them were directly shipped to the U.S. Hat production ended in 1998. Cavanagh Hats was started by John Cavanagh in 1928, with an exclusive store at 247 Park Avenue in NYC.

The magical elements, which should have really made the book come alive, instead felt shoe-horned in, because there was never any real purpose to them. The central conflict was that of the Maker families decades long quarrel, and the magic wasn’t actually necessary to the story. Instead, crazy magic materials were rattled off in each chapter, creating a laundry list of magical items, that were never fully explored and never came into their own. They were there for the sake of being there, rather than for a specific purpose. A classic Italian manufacturer, still doing business today. The company began in 1857, in Alessandria Italy; when Giuseppe Borsalino set up the first artisan workshop for the production of felt hats.Cavanagh introduced the Cavanagh Edge patented 25 February 1913. A second patent, for an improved version of the Cavanagh Edge was granted on May 19, 1931. Located in Orange, New Jersey, the Trimble Hat Company was a popular hat manufacturing company during the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. The company apparently produced a number of house brands for individual retailers, including the Stafford Club line of hats. The J.T. Hardeman Hat Company was established in the early 1900s and was located at 700 Republican Street in Seattle, Washington. Well-known for its fur felt hats. When Cordelia's father Prospero and his ship, the Jolly Bonnet, are lost at sea during a mission to collect hat ingredients, Cordelia is determined to find him. But Uncle Tiberius and Aunt Ariadne have no time to help the littlest Hatmaker, for an ancient rivalry between the Maker families is threatening to surface. Worse, someone seems to be using Maker magic to start a war. Enter a spellbinding world in this soaring magical adventure, perfect for fans of Nevermoor, A Pinch of Magic and Rooftoppers.

Dobbs and Cavanagh Hats merged in 1928 to form Cavanagh-Dobbs Inc., and added Crofut & Knapp to the fold in 1929. Hat Corporation of America took over the company in 1932. Forgotten magic is like a flower in winter. It disappears down into the depths of the person, and anyone looking could be forgiven for thinking it had gone away completely. But it hasn't gone - it just has to be woken up again." (P.67) Dobbs Hats started in 1908 by John Cavanagh. Unable to get Crofut & Knapp products sold in towns around the country due to franchise restrictions, Cavanagh created the Dobbs brand and hired H. Dewitt Dobbs, manager of the Dunlap store, who lent his name to the new line of hats. A big thing about Ronald Dahl and Diana Wynne Jones is that their books are character driven. They always had wonderful, fully realised characters who made difficult choices and drove the story through their actions. The Hatmakers was 100% plot driven. And while there’s nothing theoretically wrong with a plot-driven story, in this case it meant that the characters had no agency of their own, and were very two-dimensional. They were pushed along by what was happening in the story and didn’t actually need to make any choices of their own, as the story pushed them in the direction it needed them to go. For example, the main character’s best friend, Goose, only actually did one thing in the entire book - he put up a sail at the end. The main character, Cordelia, is something of a Mary-Sue character - she is pretty perfect, has no flaws, is the hero of the day, helps everyone she meets to perfect their lives, and everyone loves her. It doesn’t make for a very interesting main character. A gorgeous adventure from exceptional new storytelling talent, Tamzin Merchant, featuring beautiful illustrations by Paola Escobar.

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Imaginative . . . entertaining, comical and breezy, and the settings are conjured in transporting detail' The Times Stephen L. Stetson was a grandnephew of John B. Stetson, and an independent hatter in New York City, during the first half of the 20th century.