One of the premiere hat-makers in the 1930s and 1940s, and still around today. The company was located in Norwalk, CT, where many of the the high end hatters were located, including Knox, Crofut & Knapp, and Cavanagh. Stetson found the eastern hat market difficult, and so turned his attention to the Westerners . . . marketing hats based upon styles he had seen and developed during his own travels. By 1872, he was also marketing dress hats in his own catalog, and by the turn of the twentieth century he had the world's largest hat factory. The Company promotes and runs our own Industry leading Design Awards, where we mentor young designers and apprentices through Universities and Colleges, with entries from across the globe with substantial cash prizes and recognition. This provides opportunity and exposure to up and coming designers, craftsmen and women to showcase their talents and to get guidance, help and advice from world leading Manufacturers and Designers with real world knowledge and experience. The Livery also showcase their work at Charitable events in London often at events with the wider Livery movement. I would say that I've always in my career liked to do my own things. Being an actor is an amazing adventure. It's so much fun, but at the same time there was a lot of spare time especially when you sign onto a show, a big show that has multiple seasons like Carnival Row, those contracts can be quite restrictive. You have lots of time between seasons where you're actually not really allowed to do a tonne of stuff so this is a way of fulfilling other creative parts of my soul, which actually acting doesn't necessarily fulfil. Actually right now I'm studying herbalism. You are studying herbalism! What has that been like?

The Hatmakers is set in a fictional country where the king has appointed 5 “maker” families to make gloves, hats, boots, cloaks and watches. These families each specialize in one item and have done so for hundreds of years, and no one else in the kingdom is allowed to make those items. Additionally, the families make the items using magical materials. A gorgeous adventure from exceptional new storytelling talent, Tamzin Merchant, featuring beautiful illustrations by Paola Escobar. I have also incorporated the new information supplied in the last couple of days, and tried to make sense of the cases where we have conflicting info . . .

New Era

Considered a budget to mid-quality brand by many, Champ made a really nice quality hat, and though they were certainly not top-of-the-line, they had a lot of style! Champ was bought out by Hat Corp. in 1956. What a fun book! The cover of this is colorful and drew me in, then the start of the book dives right in and keeps a great pace with plenty of action. I thought the characters were entertaining and the plot was interesting. I flew through this in one sitting and I hope there will be more! Adam Hats of Fifth Avenue were produced by Miller Brothers as the budget brand of the day. None-the-less, the brand was very popular in the 1940s and 50s. One reason for that popularity was that Adam made a dependable hat afor considerably less the the “big name” makers. They also made sure that they copied the styles of the most popular hat makers . . . and the “elite” models of the company, the Executive and the Aristocrat, were of a quality that could compete with Stetson, Knox and company.. I have been adding to my little database all year, so there are a number of minor additions to the original post from a year ago . . . Particularly I noteced that I have more info on Adam, Champ, Meyser, Habig, Portis and Stephen Stetson, to name a few.

I also adored this quote: "Everybody has their own unique magic, littlest hatmaker. But it's up to you to discover what it is. You've got to adventure into your own heart and head and belly to find out just what your own special magic is made of." (P.65)Now the question is, can any of our Hat Aficionados help fill in the details and correct any errors on this myriad of manufacturers? When were they in business? Where did they operate? What kind of quality did they produce? What styles or innovations were they famous for? . . . Are they still making hats!?!?!

The Mallory Factory in Danbury, Conneticut, was in production from 1860 until 1969, when it was sold to the Danbury Hat Company which filed for bankruptcy in 1987. 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. Founded in 1897, Cappellificio Cervo is fine Italian hatter, located in Sagliano Micca, Italy, at the foot of the Alps. During the late nineteenth century, the Cervo valley was home to more than 30 hat factories. Founded in the 1930s by John Cavanagh, whose Park Avenue hat shop was among the most prestigious in the United States. 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.Johnson continued to work in the business personally until his retirement in 1928. He had made the name synonymous with quality "a man with a Herbert Johnson hat is a man apart".

When Giuseppe Borsalino died in 1900, his business employed almost a thousand workers and boasted an annual production of one million hats. By 1913 the company employed more than 2500 workers and reached an annual production of more than 2 million hats with its products reaching every corner of the world. Fun, enjoyable with lots of good stuff. I loved the imagination about clothes and hats giving qualities to people. I was a bit annoyed that in some portions Cordelia thinks out loud and tells us what to understand instead of showing it in the story. But this was a nice, fun read nevertheless. The Knox factory was originally located in Brooklyn, NY, with a store on Fifth Avenue. The company later relocated to Norwalk, CT, where many of the the high end hatters were located, including Cavanagh, Crofut & Knapp, and Dobbs.Founded as the General Hat Company in the early 1930s by John Cavanagh, whose Park Avenue hat shop was among the most prestigious in the United States. Enter a spellbinding world in this soaring magical adventure, perfect for fans of Nevermoor, A Pinch of Magic and Rooftoppers. The Henschel Hat Company of Saint Louis, MO, USA has founded in 1947. At first, Henschel's niche was the leather hat business, but have since expanded their line to include many varieties including felt, clothe, and straw. The company merged with Cavanagh-Dobbs in 1929, which was, in turn, taken over by Hat Corporation of America in 1932.