Monday, 11 September 2017

From Hatter to Coremaker




I had found my great grandfather's brother on the 1921 Canada census for Montreal saying he was a hat maker. Wow, what an interesting trade!  I even found George King, owner of King Hat Company in the City Directory for Montreal. So I looked up everything I could on hatters and hat bleaching. 



Wrong!  I hadn't done much research on him as I have been busy with my direct lines. Yesterday I thought with all this info I have on hatters I can write a post, so I started delving more into his life. I hadn't found the 1881 census so I checked at LAC and there was George King, hat bleacher, 15 years older than my George and married to someone else. Not my George!  

I did my due diligence and discovered that my George H King was a coremaker for the Grand Trunk Railroad, making molds for the wheels. I did find out from a cousin that George, at the age of 12, delivered the very first edition of the Montreal Star in his neighbourhood. 

Oh well, you live and learn and hopefully pay better attention the next time. 
Here is the information I gathered on hatters and milliners, hats, caps and bonnets.



Relevant Links

Directory of the hat, cap, and fur trades, United States and Canada, 1880

History of the hatting trade in Danbury, Conn 1860

Victorian Association of Journeymen Felt Hatters minutes(PDF download)

Sanitary standards for the felt hatting industry, 1915

Ninth Congress of the International Federation of Hat Makers,1921

Straw hats, their history and manufacture, 1922

Lloyd's treatise on hats with twenty-four engravings, 1819

Lord & Taylor, Ladies Hats and Bonnets, 1895

Make Your Own Hats, 1921

A treatise on hat-making and felting, 1868

The American hatter (several issues)

United Hatters, Cap, and Millinery Workers International Union

Millinery trade review

The Canadian Millinery Review January-December 1910

Millinery Trade Review Vol 35, 1910 – Personal Mentions – pg 97





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2 comments:

  1. Anna Matthews13 September 2017 at 10:04

    Dianne, this is a wonderful resource! I can't wait to check these out; I had a 3rd great grandmother who went from Scotland to Montreal to the Townships who was a straw bonnet maker!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dianne Nolin13 September 2017 at 10:28

      I think it's a fascinating trade. I love all the old hats and bonnets in the photos of my ancestors.

      Delete

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