Hatter Dina Tangan Mrs.Wilson January 8,2013

Women begin the process by:  Dehairing the pelts  Shaving and sorting the pelts by color  Felting (taking raw fleece and matting it together) and fulling (fluffing up already woven or knitted piece of woolen cloth) the batts into hats  Carding (cleaning, separating and straightening wool fibers) and weighing the fur

Men stepped in to:  Bow the fur (remove dirt and tangles)  Block dyes  Stiffen and waterproof a hat

Women took over the final finish by working, trimming and adding hat bands.  They immersed the hat several times in a kettle in a hot mixture of sulfuric acid, wine sediment and beer- grounds.  The moist felt was then placed on sloping planks.  It was worked with a rolling pin until it shrank.

 Beaver skin, wool, cotton, and straw  Napping comb- used to raise the nap on a new hat  Brim tolliker- wooden tool used to smooth the brim  Batt- flat oval shape of fur used to make one hat  Block- wooden mold to shape the crown

 Half of the tradesmen made hats for men.  The other tradesmen made ladies hats.  They made such hats as a knitted cap, a pilgrim hat, or an upturned- brim tricone.

 Hatters were one of the earliest tradesmen to take business away from the British merchants because beaver skins were so easy to get in the colonies.  To be a Colonial hatter you had to be patient, good with your hands, and know about animal fur.

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