Fisher, Leonard Everett "The Hatters |
According to local folklore,
in town there lived a man named Zadoc Benedict, who had plugged a hole
in his shoe with some fur and subsequently discovered that friction and
sweat had transformed it into felt. Applying his Yankee ingenuity,
Benedict used his bedpost to mold felt into hats. After opening a shop
on Main Street around 1780, his initial output was a mere three hats a
day.
Whatever the truth behind this story, hatting
developed in Danbury partly because of a ready supply of natural
resources, most notably water, and by 1800, Danbury was producing more
hats than any place else in the United States. By 1887, some 30
factories which had sprung up in the city were manufacturing five
million hats a year. "The Hat Capital of the World," as it was called,
was indisputably living by the words of its motto: "Danbury crowns them
all."
Costly labor disputes and financial reversals resulted
in many factories ceasing operations or moving elsewhere. By 1923, only
six hat manufacturers were left in Danbury. Changing fashions
contributed to the ongoing decline in the hatting industry. By 1965,
Stetson Co. stopped operations at the Mallory Back Shop.
Today, the hatting industry has vanished from "The Hat
Capital," but its impact upon the entire region is captured by the
exhibit periodically open to the public in the Dodd shop. This exhibit
features in detail the processes used in hat production and the variety
of straw, silk, and wool hats manufactured.
Originally, hats were formed by using hand tools. a
huge tub of hot water, and a plank bench. Subsequently, forming machines
were developed for shaping the hoods or cones, which were then sent to
the backshop for shrinking, blocking, and sizing. The finishing touches
(including the trim) were added in the frontshop. |
