The item looked like the metal plate that medieval torturers would put on the heads of their victims before electrifying them. But on first glance, I surprisingly knew what it was.
A hat block.
It’s not a common everyday object, and I’m certain I knew what it was because I’d seen one at auction before. I’ve been going to auctions for so long that I’m familiar with or have passing knowledge of a lot of things.
When the item came up for sale, though, I learned that my passing knowledge was wrong. It was a hat stretcher, the auctioneer said, as he tried to prod buyers into paying way too much for it. A stretcher was used for enlarging a hat that was too small for a man’s head. A hat block was a wooden form or shape of an actual hat.
The hat stretcher had a wooden hand crank extending from its belly. It was set on a wooden base with a metal plate showing measurements and the name of its maker: Garve DeLuxe, written in stylish letters, a stark contrast to the debased look of the device now. It was dirty and marred with nicks and scrapes, and it could use a good scrubbing. Two retail websites (that were selling versions with a metal crank) identified it as French made in 1926.
The plate included instructions on how to use the tool. “Place hat on dome as far down as possible” was inscribed on one side. “Use for stretching hats only” was on the opposite side.
This was a hand-crank model, and had not been electrified like some that I found on the web.
The measurements ran from 6 ½” to 7 7/8″ on one side and 19 ½ cm to 26 cm on the other. I assumed the milliner could turn the crank to open up the stretcher to the right fit of the customer’s head, using a metal bar under the arm of the crank as a guide.
When I think of hats, I think primarily of women’s hats because they are so fantastically stylish. Female milliners are artistic in their hat-making, and the look of the hat oftentimes seem more important than the process.
But as for the history, women’s hats have to take a back seat. Men’s hats date back to the very early centuries (B.C.) and held their own through the ages. Theirs were more conservative, their styles reserved, their makers seemingly not going for the flamboyance you might see in women’s hats.
But their names have left a greater impression: the top hat, bowler, fedora, Stetson, porkpie.
According to one account, this country of ours got into the hat-making business at the encouragement of the British in 1662. The American Hatter trade journal in 1902 noted in an article that the colonists were paid a bounty in tobacco by the British government to make hats. The Americans got so good at it that English hat-makers balked, forcing their Parliament in 1732 to enact a law restricting production of American-made hats both abroad and inside the country.
“This was one of the unjust laws which led up to the War of the Revolution,” the article said, taking its information from a brochure on hats. “Right after the war hat manufacturing rapidly grew in America and we gradually extended our trade to foreign markets, To-day America leads the world in the quality and price of its hats.”
There was also an article about a new Universal Hat Stretcher that had been tested and deemed a success. It was selling for $5 to hat-makers.
I found other tools of the hat-making trade, along with the stretcher and hat block (watch a hat block being made). There were the 18th-century conformateur and formillion, which were used together to measure a person’s head size and shape for a hat.
At the auction, I made sure I was around when the hat stretcher was open for bids, because I was curious about how much it would sell for.
“It’s early 20th century,” the auctioneer said. “We sold one for $400. This one is better than that.”
That’s what they always say to pump up the bids. He didn’t even get close to that amount, but the hat stretcher did better than most items that day.
It went for $110 – less than what I found on the web. A Garve with a metal crank sold recently on eBay for $152, and two retail sites were asking $495 and $529.
