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Click On Images To Enlarge! PICTORIAL REPRESENTATION THE FACTORY Page 23 HISTORICAL PICTURES OF EARLY HATMAKING XVIII. (18th) CENTURY Fachen, Dying, Felting and Fulling Page 24 Fig. 4: PARTIAL VIEW OF THE HAIR - SORTING Page 25 Fig. 5: PARTIAL VIEW OF BLOWING Page 26 Fig. 6: FACHING Page 27 Fig. 7: HAND FELTING FOR HAIR HATS Page 28 Fig. 8: PARTIAL VIEW OF FELTING MACHINES Page 29 Fig. 9: PARTIAL VIEW OF FELTING MACHINES Page 30 Fig. 10: PARTIAL VIEW OF MACHINE AND HAND FULLING AND VELOUR BRUSHING Page 31 Fig. 11: MECHANICAL BUMPING AND FORMING Page 32

Click On Images To Enlarge! OFFICIALS AND WORKSMAN OF THE COMPANY WITH AN ACTIVITY BETWEEN 50 AND 60 YEARS Xaver Waitzenbök, joined on May 12, 1867, Works Foreman Johannes Wolf. joined on September 15, 1869, Works Foreman Anton Fröhlich, joined on August 1, 1874, Master Dyer WITH AN ACTIVITY BETWEEN 40 AND 50 YEARS Max Ackermann, joined on September 15, 1876, Works Foreman Rosine Sick, joined on September 21, 1878, Head of the Department Oscar Schäfer, joined May 1, 1882, Director Joseph Paissa, joined January 15, 1884, Works Foreman Adam Wagner, joined August 1884, Works Foreman WITH AN ACTIVITY BETWEEN 25 AND 40 YEARS Heinrich Peterler, joined on April 17, 1887, Clerk Wilhelmine Schmid, joined May 18, 1889, Head of the Department Karl Hungerbühler, joined on May 9, 1892, Works Foreman August Brechtel, joined on g. February 1896, Warehouse Manager Karl Jäger, joined on October 4, 1898, Authorized Signatory FURTHER EMPLOYEES OF THE COMPANY WITH AN ACTIVITY BETWEEN 50 AND 60 YEARS Dorothea Botzenhardt, joined on February 1, 1870, Decorator Wilhelm Lohrmann, joined October 1, 1870, Hat Maker Ludwig Mack, joined May 1, 1871, Appreteur (skilled worker who finishes fabrics, textiles) Johannes Schüle, joined on August 15, 1874, Hat Maker WITH AN ACTIVITY BETWEEN 40 AND 50 YEARS Anna Blessing, joined on August 2, 1878, Decorator Georg Blessing, joined on August 12, 1878, Hat Maker Anton Leutermann, joined on February 1, 1880, Hat Maker Joseph Röttner, joined April 5, 1880, Hat Maker Anna Schöllhammer, joined on July 1, 1880,Decorator Marie Röcker, joined on July 7, 1880, Hair Blower Page 14 WITH AN ACTIVITY BETWEEN 40 AND 50 YEARS Johannes Gerst, joined September 15, 1880, Hat Maker Martin Paulus, joined September 15, 1880, Hat Maker Georg Rudhardt, joined October 16, 1880, Hat Maker Friederike Hartmann, joined April 15, 1881, Decorator Julius Mühlberges, joined September 1, 1881, Hat Maker Karl Freudigmann, joined October 15, 1881, Hat Maker Pauline Schmid, joined April 16, 1882, Decorator Jakob Kimmerle, joined on August 25, 1882, Hat Maker Angelika Paulus, joined on April 10, 1885, Decorator Matthäus Schäfer, joined on July 5, 1883, Hat Maker Vincenz Heid, joined on September 1, 1883, Handler Adelheid Krapf, joined on October 1, 1885, Initiator Heinrich Goll, joined April 1, 1884, Hat Maker Eugen Hiller, joined April 1, 1884, Hat Maker Georg Späth, joined April 10, 1884, Hat Maker Joseph Saum, joined April 22, 1884, Hat Maker Louis Petersen, joined on August 10, 1884, Hat Maker Karl Rothschuh, joined April 17, 1885, Hat Maker Johannes Werner, joined April 17, 1885, Hat Maker Eugen Goll, joined April 27, 1885, Hat Maker Katharina Benz, joined on July 15, 1885, Decorator WITH AN ACTIVITY BETWEEN 25 AND 40 YEARS Margarete Woifinger, joined December 1, 1886, Decorator Lucas Braun, joined March 10, 1887, Hat Maker Anna Stöckle, joined October 30, 1887, Initiator Matthias Wolfinger, joined the Presser on September 10, 1888 Julius Ott, joined July 1, 1890, Bichoneur Rosine Haygold, joined September 10, 1890, Decorator Anna Petersen, joined July 18, 1892, Decorator Eduard Schneider, joined on December 5, 1893, Hat Maker Julie Braun, joined January 2, 1895, Decorator Rosa Hungerbühler, joined January 22, 1897, Decorator Joseph Maile, joined November 1, 1897, Presser Richard Gall, joined January 13, 1899, Packer Page 15 The war initially shut down the entire plant, but operations could be resumed at the end of 1914. The business world had calmed down again. The army administration issued important orders for felt helmets. Since the raw material required for the hair hat production, unlike the confiscated wool, was always available, the Mayser factory was able to work successfully until the end of the war. thus, even after the end of the Great War, the return of the factory to peace work caused far fewer difficulties than was the case in many other industries. A substantial expansion of the commercial fundamentals of the Company arose when G. m.b.H. Shares were transferred to the hat factory J. A. Seidl, Munich, and its owner, Mr. Seidl, who had already taken an interest in the Mayser factory in 1908, was now entrusted with the management of the factory, which ensured the meritorious cooperation of Mr. Seidl for the Mayser factory. The excellent quality work and the good taste presentation increased the demand for the Mayser brand hat to such an extent that an extraordinarily strong increase in the machine park was made in 1923 and 1924. The success was not lacking. Double the number of hats compared to 1913 leaves the factory today. Over 500 employees and Workers restlessly manage to increase this production. Page 16 THE FACTORY DURING the first half of the century of the Mayser works the hat production entirely by way of the Manual work, the machine technology has gradually learned to adapt itself so completely to this trade that it is undisputedly asserting the field today. The words Pilzecker quoted earlier about the art of hat making still retain their value even today, after a hundred years. We want to try to convey a vivid impression of the development of a Mayser hat through words and images. The elongated, mighty factory building (Fig. 1), which we enter through a wide driveway (Fig. 2), is already shining towards us from afar. The total built-up area of the factory has a size of around 9000 square meters. Customers and suppliers expect reception rooms (Fig. 3). To get a better overview, we will first consider the Follow the development of the soft fur felt hat. Fig. 1: OVERALL VIEW OF THE FACTORY IN 1925 Page 17 The Manufacture of the Fur Felt Hat The raw materials that are processed in the Mayser factory have already undergone a lengthy pretreatment in the hairdressing shop. Since the fresh, so-called "green" hair cannot be used immediately for production, it is first stored for some time. The mighty shelves, on which the stocks of hair are arranged according to quality, reach up to the ceiling. The actual production begins with the mixing of the hair. Similar to the cigarette industry, the art of mixing also plays an important role here. The hair is first placed in a mixing wheel, where it is loosened and distributed. Now they are brought into the so-called mixed wolves (Fig. 4), in whose spacious box the loosened hairs are now thoroughly swirled around each other. In order to free the thus mixed hair of foreign bodies and dirt and to separate the coarse hair from the fine hair suitable only for manufacture, the mixture is allowed to pass through large ones multi-speed blow molding machines (Fig. 5) are running, in which fans separate the useful from the unusable. After the blowing process, the hair is returned to the warehouse and the hair, which has been coarse, is weighed according to whether it is soft or stiff, heavy or light, large or small. Now the actual fabrication (shaping) begins with the specialist shop. This process takes place in the specialist machines (Fig. 6). The weighed quantum of hair is fed into the machine on a carpet: a large funnel into which a cone made of perforated copper sheet is inserted and placed over an air shaft. After closing the doors, the hair falling from above is sucked onto the cone by a fan. Fig. 2: Main Entrance to the Factory Page 18 After the doors have been closed, the Hair falling from above sucked onto the cone. So that the hair sucked in by the cone is held in this position, one leaves one as soon as the whole amount of hair is stored The hot water shower inside the funnel starts to work. The pressure of this sharp spray causes a easy binding of the hair. The hat-to-be, called Fache, has now reached its first fixed form, although it is even more so resembles a funnel-shaped sack than a human head covering. The numerous felting and fulling procedures that now follow make it shorter and more resistant. First of all, the subjects go to the hand felting department (Fig. 7), where workers usually put three of them on top of each other and wrapped them in a coarse cloth. By carefully rolling and kneading the sheds, the felts become intertwined and become thicker. Now the hat mushrooms are transferred to the various fulling machines. The Mayser factory, which employs a total of 150 people in its fulling mill (Fig. 8-10), also has a trunk of tried and tested workers at its disposal for hand-rolling the finest hats (Fig. 10). The purpose of all flexing processes is to push the felt through Pressure in moisture and heat to give the highest degree of strength. Fig. 3: Reception Rooms Page 19 The first picture from the fulling mill of the factory ( Fig. 8 ) shows a whole series of lumbering machines which consist of several rollers mounted one above the other, which rotate in one direction and at the same time a pushing movement run in the direction of their axes. As soon as the felts have passed through this machine, they are sent to the pre-boiled machines, which are similarly constructed and in which they are subjected to considerable, sharp pressure for a long time, so that they shrink to almost half their size. The finish milling finally takes place on so-called three-roll milling machines (Fig. 9) in which two to three felts are inserted become. The finished fulled product, now called "stump", is stretched on a special machine (Fig. 11) and then goes to the dye works (Fig. 12) The forks are stirred evenly in order to finally be dried in powerful apparatuses fed by hot steam (Fig. 13). After drying is complete, the blunt ones are "pearled", i.e. the Long hair protruding from the felt is removed by a rapidly moving knife. Now the dull Vappretierta are dried and dried again. Then they come to the head ejecting machine and then to the edge stretching machine. The butt is formed on molding machines (Fig. 11). This is followed by the pumcing of the stump (Fig. 14). For this purpose, the blunt ones are processed with fine pumice paper. The dumb hat has thus become the hat, the external perfection of which is now the subject of the last, still numerous, work processes. The hat goes from the skin pass machines (Fig. 16) to the dressing (Photo 17), a very important part of the manufacturing process. Figure 15 shows the Machine pumice and Fig. 18 the further treatment in the hydraulic press system. The bridier's hands (Fig. 19 and 20) now take on the hat to carefully trim the edge in order to then bring it into the garnishing room. Page 20 Here (Fig. 21) motorized sewing machines hum in the Lining sewing (Fig. 22) ingeniously constructed machines enable the production of the finest linings, and hard-working, skilled hands provide the hats with ribbon and leather (Fig. 23). The hats come from the garnishing room to the bichoning room (Fig. 20), where they are painstakingly reworked. They now leave the factory through the packing department (Fig. 24). The factory has its own paperboard making shop; also a carpentry with all facilities (Fig. 25) In secondary operations there are also: a lithographic and gold minting facility in which the hat leather and hat lining are printed with the brand and company, a metalworking shop (Fig. 26), which carries out ongoing repairs and the maintenance of all the mechanical equipment Manufacturing facility and finally a special power and lighting system In a modern boiler house (Fig. 27), in three steam boilers with a heating surface of 400 square meters that generate steam for production. Our own dynamo machines provide the electrical current for power and light. A mighty two-cylinder steam engine (Fig. 28) with 250 HP is available as a reserve in the event of a malfunction. Page 21 The Manufacture of the Velour Hat The difference between the Velour Hat and the smooth hats lies less in the manufacture than in the raw material, for which only the finest Wild Hare hair is used. The deviations in the development are mainly due to the frequent brushing of the felt that begins during the fulling process and is repeated at other stations. In order to achieve an even coat of hair, the hair protruding from the brushing must be cut to an even length be sheared on a machine. PARTIAL VIEW OF THE MODEL ROOMS Page 22

Mayser's Hat Factory Ulm A. Donau MAYSER HATS At all times the hat has been one of the most important parts of the human costume and no less preferential favored child of fashion. Nothing is better at a concept to convey from the abundance of forms, as a corridor through Mayser's showroom, which has the collection of faithful replicas of historical hats. This is where the Sucher stylish headgear of all times, which has enjoyed the greatest esteem among knowledgeable circles for decades. There you can find primitive "claims" from pre-Christian times, the Petasos and Pilos of the ancient Greeks, the Phrygian cap, then the colorful diversity of the Middle Ages from berets and doctoral hats to shepherds' and hunters' hats, the wild forms from the time of the Thirty Years' War , fur- and lace-trimmed fashion creations of the French kings Louis XIV. and XV., all variants of the three-pointed hat and later the two-pointed hat and finally the constantly changing shapes of the high and the round hat with which the 19th century began its rule in hat fashion . Here gradually the replication of faded costumes goes into active participation on the loom of the times and in service of fashion, which the Mayser company has now been Can boast for 125 years It was a restless, in all subversive time, in which master Leonhard Mayser opened his business. Everywhere the old was in a bitter battle with the new. Revolution and reaction fought against each other with changing skill. The year 1805 can be regarded as the time of the great change in fashion. Photo center of page: Old hatter's chest from 1694 Page 5 Historic Hats No. 1 Hubertus cap from d. 14th year No. 2 Islamic hat from the 11th century. No. 3 Hubertus cap from d. 14th year No.4. Hat of Emperor Joseph H. 1785 No. 5 Hat Friedrich the Elder Grolzen 1770 No. 6 Hat Emperor Napoleon I 1804 No.7 Hat from the 12th century. No. 8 Hat from d. 12th century No. 9 Hat Wallenstein 1630 No. 10 Hat from the 16th century. No. 11 Hat from the 15th century. No. 12 Hat from the 16th century. No. 13 Hat heart. K.v.Wiirtt. 1760 No. 14. Karl Kühn hat. 15th century No. 15 Hat of the elector v. Brandenburg 1675 No. 16 Hat from 1792 No. 17 Beret from the 16th century. No. 18 Pilos of the Greeks v. Christ No. 19 Kynae of the Greeks v. Christ No. 20 Monk's hat from the 11th century. Page 6 Historic Hats No. 21 Phrygian hat a.d. 10th century No. 22 Phrygian cap v. Christ No. 23 Phrygian cap a. d. G. 9th century No. 24. Hecker Hat 1848 No. 25 Hat of Louis XV. 1750 No. 26 Hat a. d. Franz Revolution 1789 No. 27 Doctoral hat from the 16th century No. 28 Hat a.d. French Revolution 1789 No. 29 Hat Ludwig XIV. 1690 No. 30 Hat from 1805 No. 31 Hat from 1650 No. 32 Hat from 1830 No. 33 Incroyable 1790-1800 No. 34 Hat from 1825 No. 35 Thessalian d. Greeks v. Chr. No. 36 Hat from 1830 No. 37 First Silk hat 1820 No. 38 Hat from 1810 No. 39 Petasos d. Greeks 400 years before Christ No. 40 Collapsible Top hat from 1815 Page 7 If Leonhard Mayser still made the bicorn as a preferred fashion item when he first started his career, then that was the case the manufacture of this article soon withdrew more and more, after which the army in general had introduced the shako and the two-pointed only to the uniform of the diplomats and high national officials belonged. For this brought the production of round hats and from cylinder hats to the young company a lot of work and followed, and the soft felt hat from the 1840s onwards Had part that was initially politically offensive and persecuted by the police, soon his danger to the state died after himself a Bismarck had completely converted to him. In 125 years of purposeful striving the managers of the Mayser factory helped create the hat fashion knew how to design a table. Photo: BOX WITH OLD HAT MODELS AND FIXED BOWS OLD HAT MAKERS FOUNDATIONS Page 8 THE HISTORY In the house of the Storchenwirt (guest house) Peter Mayser, the Ulmer Hat makers guild their seat. The big guild drawer stood there and the guild signs, that's where the gatherings of the Masters, in which all questions relating to the hat-making trade were dealt with, and above the gate the finely forged guild sign greeted the hiker. If also the guild system as such in Germany was already in decline, so this professional association in Ulm was delighted that time of special prestige. Not everyone could Become a hatter's apprentice. But since Leonhard Mayser, the son of the storchenwirt, born in 1775, met all requirements, the guild issued him a training certificate and then took it 1800 as a master in their ranks. With modest means, he opened a hat shop with an adjoining workshop in Sterngasse and ran this business under his name (Compare the picture). In spite of all the hard work, things did not go well in the first year. were to blame in the first place Line the oppressive and any development suppressing regulations of the guild order, including stipulated that no master of the hat maker's guild was allowed to keep more than one journeyman in town if there was a master locally who happened to have none in the workshop. Photo: Peter Mayser (1742-1827) Storchenwirt and hostess father the guardian Page 9 That only changed when Leonhard Mayser was elected chief guild master in 1830 and used all his influence to remove this stipulation that hindered any progress. With the help of his son Friedrich, born in 1808, whom he had taken on as a journeyman in the business in 1827, he has now succeeded in significantly developing production and continuously increasing sales. From 1833 onwards, Mayser ran the business with his son, who had meanwhile made his masterpiece, together under the company “Leonhard Mayser & Son”. In those years the hat was made by hand and without any machine help. “It is by no means unjust presumption to call hat making an art; because she not only uses her hands to work, but also her head to think ". These proud words, which Pilzecker wrote down in his work on hat making in 1828, rightly assign hat making a place of honor in commercial creation. The basis of the art of hat making is the production of the felt, the material that "At first neither a web, a fabric nor a braid, then but nevertheless it forms a whole, as emphasized by Pilzecker and "for which neither needle nor thread is used, but which owes its existence to a strange separation, interdependence and reunification of the original material". After the pretreatment of the raw materials, the plucking and cutting off the coarse hair, the one necessary to increase the felting ability. Old family house in Sterngasse Page 10 The most important process of hat making began: "felting". The amount of hair required for a hat was spread out on the wicker tray and using an instrument hanging from the ceiling , of the specialized bow, which looked like a giant fiddle bow, "struck." This activity required a considerable degree of manual skill. By snapping the gut string of the bow, the hair was swirled so vigorously that it finally formed an intimate mixture. By pressing, rubbing and pushing using a sieve, the hatter made this "compartment" more and more solid. The next process, the "knocking together", brought the union of these individual subjects to the hat. By continually rolling and turning the felt, the hat maker pressed and kneaded the felt more and more tightly To give the hat a certain shape and size at the same time, the felt had to be worked on for hours on a fulling table with a rolling pin and then dipped into hot water again and again to promote the felting process. After the hat had been milled to the desired size, the long hair protruding from the felt had to be singed off over a flame of burning straw. This was followed by dyeing and drying, followed by the shaping of the hats by mounting the felts on wooden molds. Page 11 After taking out the form, the coarse hair was removed in rows with pumice stone, the hat was ironed, brushed, tied with ribbon, lining and leather, and then passed into the hands of the customers. In this purely handcrafted form, hat manufacturing was carried out until operated in the mid-fifties. After the 1839 After the founder's death, the son continued to run the business under the Company "Friedrich Mayser". In 1858 two adjacent Houses bought and set up for manufacture. In these It is also time to set up the first machines that are not going to Elimination of the manual labor served, but only to the to facilitate and to facilitate manual operation in some places accelerate. As a clever businessman, Friedrich Mayser had it They immediately recognized the extraordinary benefits of machine help as one of the first in Germany to make use of his work. After his son Fritz - born in 1840 - became a partner in the Factory was incorporated, the company was transformed into ,, F. Mayser & son "changed. In 1872 200 workers were already working in the plant, the number of hats sold was 110,000. Sales continued to develop favorably, despite the general overproduction of goods caused by the many reorganizations in the post-war years of 1870. In severe economic struggles against the government's customs policy, which was seriously damaging the German hat-making trade, against broad competition and against the general note of these crisis years, Commerce Council Fritz Mayser managed to keep his work viable and the quality of his Products to ensure respect at home and abroad. In the years 1901-1905 a modern one, with all technical ones and new machines equipped. From In 1906 Karl Mayser took over the management of the company and from 1921 his brother Alfred Mayser as well as the long-time employee Mr. 0skar Schaefer The increase in quality work and the reputation, which Mayser knew how to achieve in the customer base had the best advertising success for the company. Until August 1914 the factory was constantly well supplied with orders. Page 12 FRITZ MAYSER Commerce Council LEONHARD MAYSER Founder of the factory FRIEDRICH MAYSER Son of the founder KARL MAYSER ANTON SEIDL OSCAR SCIIAEPER ALFRED MAYSER Page 13

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J. Hückel´s Söhne "Nova Velour", F.P. 5 1/2, possibly late 1920s early 1930s. Made for the French Market. Belongs to Stefan on the FL.

Rehfus "Oberländer", 61 cm possibly mid 1950s. This hat belongs to Brent on the FL.

J. A. Seidl München, Fur Felt, possibly 1950s. No Paper Label and probably sourced. This Stiff Felt belongs to Matt on the FL.

" Colonia", 54 cm possibly early 1930s. Made of Wool with Back Bow, moderate Brim curl with Binding. The Sweatband type and Paper Label type point to Hutfabrik J. A. Seidl München. Not sure of Hutfabrik J. A. Seidl München production at this time and doesn't look like Mayser Ulm so could be sourced. This hat belongs to Panos from the FL. Photos by Matt from the FL.

Brüder Böhm "Bristol", 54cm / 55 cm possible mid to later 1930s. This hat belongs to Panos on the FL.

Austrian Master Hat Maker Examination Regulations, Version as of June 30, 1997 https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10006799&FassungVom=1997-06-30

P. & C. Habig Wien "Special / Spezial Qualität" possibly late 1920s. This hat belongs to Matt on the FL.

Wilke, H.J.H. Copenhagen, 59 cm, possibly 1950s. I don't have any current information H.J.H. Copenhagen. The unmarked size label is similar Wegener and Rockel hats from the same time period. Also I have never seen this type of sweatband before. I know that F.W. Schneider Köln owned the Wilke for Germany but I have no information for outside of Germany. This hat belongs to Panos on the FL.

Vereinigte Hutwerke Guben / VHG, 57 cm, possibly 1950s. This hat belongs to Stefan on the FL.

Vereinigte Hutwerke Guben / VHG, 58 cm, possibly 1950s. This hat belongs Matt on FL.

J. Hückel´s Söhne "Extra", measures 56cm possibly 1930s. This hat belongs to Stefan on the FL.