habigman

I made a reverse image of the "Echter Mayser" Celluloid Label and translated the German text to English.

You Made The Right Choice With This Genuine Mayser.

It is the best German brand hat, made from the finest materials.

It preserves your personal touch and protects you from sun and rain.

You will enjoy it for a long time if you entrust its care to a specialist shop.

Mayser "Libelle", 58 cm, possibly later 1950s.  The Felt has a great color / finish and easily dry creases.  Also a really interesting Bow and Brim treatment.   This is my second "Libelle" so not a common Mark. 

Unique "Echter Mayser" Celluloid Label attached to the Sweatband.  I have never seen one of these before so a very pleasant surprise.

Natural Light

 

Anton Pichler Graz, 58cm, possibly a rebuild or new hat from the later 1950s.  There is no paper label and the Sweatband is from probably a later 1920s J. Hückel´s Söhne "Standard".  The Reed covering on the Sweatband is a similar color to Felt so it's possible this was later rebuild of old J. Hückel´s Söhne "Standard" or the old J. Hückel´s Söhne "Standard" Sweatband was installed in a new hat.  The Sweatband also has a Ludwig Skrivanek Graz Hat Fashion House mark.  This hat belonged to the owner of the Collins Wien "Luxus Prima Smoking Hat".  The Seller said her Great Grandfather, the owner, was born in the early 1900s.  The greenish gray Felt is of a heaver weight but still easily dry creases.  It has a really nice minimalistic Bow design. This is definitely unique / head scratching find which makes it all the better in my mind.

Open Crown

Natural Light

 

 

 

 

Collins Wien "Prima Smoking Hat", 58 cm, possibly late 1950s.  The black Felt has a nice Smooth Finish and is pliable so easily dry creases.  The under Brim is reinforced with binding material so a formal Camber form worn Brim Up.  The overall quality is high and the condition is excellent.  Definitely a unique find. 

Open Crown

 

Echter Rockel Velour, No Paper Label, measures ~ 58 cm, possibly late 1920s.  The the Gray Velour is very pliable with a great amount of gloss.  The Crown is ~ 6 inches Open with a ~ 2 1/2 inch Brim.  The black Bat Wing like Bow is really fantastic.  

Open Crown

 

J. Hückel´s Söhne "Extra" "Leicht", French Point 5 1/2, 110 grams, possibly late 1920s.  The Black Felt has a Smooth Finish and is light weight and very pliable.  The the Snap Brim with Binding is almost 3 inches in width.  Condition is very good with all original components including the Crown Patch. 

Open Crown

Natural Light

 

J. Hückel´s Söhne Wien, French Point 5 1/2, possibly WWI era or slightly older.  This rare find belongs to Panos on the FL.

Open Crown

 

Heinrich Balke Bremen "Velvet",  Wool, possibly early 1900s.  This hat belongs to Panos on the FL.

Open Crown

Brüder Böhm "Böhms Ultima", 58 cm, late 1930s and made for the Norwegian Market.  I made a trade with Panos on the FL for this fantastic Velour.  The following are Panos's photos.

The hat store "Hans H. Holm A/S." that sold this hat was located in this Oslo building. Photo from 1909.

Natural Outdoor Light (my photos)

Mayser Milz, 57cm possibly early to mid 1970s.  This hat belongs to Stefan on the FL.

Wehrmeier / Hückel Weilheim, 56 cm possibly late 1950s.  This hat belongs to Stefan on the FL.

Franz Gober München "Bayerland" "Solid", FP 5, possibly late 1920s. Based on the paper label information and small quality check stamp I believe this hat was made by JHS.  This Hat belongs to Stefan on FL. 

 

C. G. Wilke "Flieder", 56 cm possibly late 1920s. This Hat belongs Stefan on the FL. 

Original Color

 

 

Wegener "Luxor" "Manhattan", 58 cm, possibly very early 1960s very late 1950s.  I picked this up because it was NOS, an interesting model name and has major (over welt) brim flange. The felt has a great finish and color.  Also very pliable so easily dry creases.  

Open Crown

 

Mayser Hats Year 125 (1925)

I translated the "Mayser Hats Year 125" booklet from 1925.  You can click on the pages and images to enlarge.  Also click on the embedded links to see the associated images.  I still need to fix some minor translation issues.

Mayser Hats Year 125 (1925)

https://germanaustrianhats.invisionzone.com/topic/594-mayser-hats-year-125/[/URL]

 

 

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Fig. 22: Partial View of Garnishing - Ribbon / Bows 

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Fig. 23: Partial View Of Garnish (Installing Leather Sweatbands)

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Fig. 24: Partial View Of Packaging

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Fig. 25: Model - Carpentry

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Fig. 26: Metal Working Shop And Repair Workshop

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Fig. 27: Boiler House

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Fig. 28: Reserve - Power - Plant

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THE SALES AREA

Mayser's hat factory has worked on the development of German hat production for 125 years. In this long period of time, a wealth of experience has been gained in material testing, in purchasing, in the use of raw materials and semi-finished products, the end result of which is the prerequisite for the production of a high-quality finished product. All innovations in technology were always applied immediately. All of this helped establish and consolidate the reputation of the Mayser hats. The striving of the present management of the work is all focused on the production of quality products. In this way it has succeeded in expanding the company's sales area to all cultural countries and in getting the Mayser name to be respected all over the world. The fact that only the most careful work and the very best quality can bring honor back to German industrial products across national borders has been taken into account by the Mayser company with purposeful will and the best of success. Compared to the competition from abroad, which was not damaged by the World War, this does not mean an easy struggle. But diligence, tenacity and unwavering adherence to the principle of workmanship, the guiding stars that the Mayser company has followed for more than a century, will also show it a happy path into the future.  (English Translation By ErWeSa (Wolfgang))

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. MAYSER HAT PAGE 5

II. THE MAYSER SALES PAGE 9

1. THE STORY PAGE 9

2. THE FACTORY PAGE 17
 
3. THE HAIR HAT PAGE 18

4. THE VELOUR HAT PAGE 22

5. PICTURES OF THE FACTORY PAGE 25

III. THE SALES AREA PAGE 30

E.B.V.B. - Ecksteins Biographischer Verlag Berlin - Eckstein's Biographical Publishing House Berlin 

Back Cover

Click On Images To Enlarge!

Fig. 12: Color Dyeing 

Page 33

Fig. 13: Drying Apparatus

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Fig. 14: Finishing

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Fig. 15: Partial View Of Machine Finishing

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Fig. 16: Partial View Of Hat Forming

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Fig. 17: Partial View Of Hand Finishing

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Fig. 18: Hydraulic Press Systems

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Fig. 19: Shaping Brim and Sandbag Presses

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Fig. 20: Partial View of Brim Curling And Brim Binding

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Fig. 21: Partial View Of Garnishing - Brim Binding (Machines - Seamstresses) 

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Echter Borsalino, "Qualità Superiore" "Idorsca" "Argento" "C. Nero", FP 7, date stamped July 17, 1941.  Has separate size label + date stamp so confirms time period. This great find + rare large size for time period belongs to Matt on the FL.

 

 

Wegener "Cornet", 56 cm, possibly late 1950s. This dark blue Homburg belongs to Matt on the FL.  

J. A. Seidl München, possibly 1930s.  No other company mark but probably sourced.  This Wool Stiff Felt belongs to Matt on the FL.

 

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PICTORIAL REPRESENTATION
THE
FACTORY

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HISTORICAL PICTURES OF EARLY HATMAKING XVIII. (18th) CENTURY

Fachen, Dying, Felting and Fulling

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Fig. 4: PARTIAL VIEW OF THE HAIR - SORTING

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Fig. 5: PARTIAL VIEW OF BLOWING

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Fig. 6: FACHING 

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Fig. 7: HAND FELTING FOR HAIR HATS

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Fig. 8: PARTIAL VIEW OF FELTING MACHINES 

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Fig. 9: PARTIAL VIEW OF FELTING MACHINES 

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Fig. 10: PARTIAL VIEW OF MACHINE AND HAND FULLING AND VELOUR BRUSHING

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Fig. 11: MECHANICAL BUMPING AND FORMING

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OFFICIALS AND WORKSMEN 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

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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

Until August 1914 the factory was constantly well supplied with orders.

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 the return of the factory to peace work after the end of the Great War caused far fewer difficulties than was the case in many other industries.

A substantial expansion of the commercial foundations of the company arose when the limited company shares were transferred to the hat factory J. A. Seidl, Munich, in 1921 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 high quality work and good appearance as regards taste 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 work restlessly to again increase this production. (English Translation By ErWeSa (Wolfgang))

Page 16

THE PRODUCTION

CONTRARY to the first fifty years of the existence of the Mayser works during which the hat production was carried out entirely by manual work, machine technology gradually managed to adapt itself so completely also to this trade that it undisputedly stands its ground today. Pilzecker’s words quoted earlier here 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 becoming 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. Reception rooms (Fig. 3). wait for customers and suppliers. To get a better overview, we will first follow the development of the soft fur felt hat.  (English Translation By ErWeSa (Wolfgang))

Fig. 1: OVERALL VIEW OF THE FACTORY IN 1925

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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 hair cutting department. 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 spread. Now they are brought into the so-called “mixing wolves” (Fig. 4),  in the spacious box-shaped interiors of which the loosened hairs are now thoroughly whirled around. In order to free the thus mixed hair of foreign bodies and dirt and to separate the coarse hair from the fine hair only suitable for manufacture, the mixture is sent through large blowing machines (Fig. 5) in which fans separate the useful from the unusable. After the blowing process the hair is returned to the warehouse and the hair is weighed according to whether soft or stiff, heavy or light, large or small hats are to be produced. Now the actual fabrication (shaping) begins with the “Fachen” (creating a fleece). This process takes place in the forming machines (Fig. 6). The weighed quantum of hair is fed into the machine on a conveyor-belt;  (English Translation By ErWeSa (Wolfgang))

Fig. 2: Main Entrance to the Factory

Page 18

 

a fast turning picker barrel seizes the hair and throws it into 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. So that the hair sucked in by the cone is held in this position, a hot water shower which is located inside the funnel is activated as soon as the whole quantum of hair is settled. The pressure of this sharp spray causes a light binding of the hair. The nascent hat, called “Fache” (fur felt), has now reached its first fixed form, although it 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 “Fache” (fur felts) go to the hand felting department (Fig. 7), where female workers usually put three of them on top of each other and wrap them in a coarse cloth. By carefully rolling and kneading the “Fache” (fur felts), the felts become intertwined and become thicker. Now the hat felts are transferred to the various fulling machines. The Mayser factory, which employs a total of 150 people in its fulling mill (Fig. 8, 9, 10), also has a permanent staff of proven and tested workers at its disposal for hand-rolling the finest hats  (Fig. 10). The purpose of all fulling processes is to give to the felt the highest degree of solidness by a pushing pressure under dampness and heat.  (English Translation By ErWeSa (Wolfgang))

Fig. 3: Reception Rooms

Page 19

Thus the hat shape has to go through four different working stations, the “Anstoßen” (condensing, solidifying and reducing the size of the fleece) the “Vorwalken” (pre-fulling), “Kurzwalken” (fulling) and the “Nachwalken” (post-fulling). The first picture from the fulling mill of the factory ( Fig. 8 )  shows a whole series of “Anstoßmaschinen” (condensing machines) which consist of several rollers mounted one above the other and one next to the other, which rotate in one direction and at the same time make a pushing movement in the direction of their axes. As soon as the felts have passed through this machine, they are sent to the pre-fulling machines, which are similarly constructed and in which they are subjected to considerable, sharp pressure for a longer time, so that they shrink to almost half their size.

The completion of the fulling finally takes place on so-called three-roll milling machines  (Fig. 9) in which two to three felts are inserted. The finished fulled product, now called "Stumpen” (hat body), is stretched on a special machine  (Fig. 11) and then goes to the dye works  (Fig. 12) They are stirred evenly with long forks in spacious tubs filled with hot dye lot called “Flotte” (liquor) in order to be finally dried in powerful apparatuses fed by hot steam  (Fig. 13). 

When the drying is accomplished the hat bodies are “schariert” (shaved), i. e. the long hairs protruding from the felt are removed by a quickly moving blade. Now the hat bodies are “appretiert” (finished) and dried again. Hereunto they get to the tip stretching machine for hat bodies and then to the brim-breaking machine. On blocking machines  (Fig. 11). the hat body is shaped. This is followed by the pumicing of the hat bodies  (Fig. 14). For this purpose, the hat bodies are processed with fine pumice paper.

Thus the hat body has become the hat, the external perfection of which is now the subject of the last, still numerous, work processes.

The hat goes from the finishing machines  (Fig. 16) to the dressing (Fig. 17), a very important part of the manufacturing process. (Fig. 15) shows the Pumice Machine and (Fig. 18) the further treatment in the Hydraulic Press system. (English Translation By ErWeSa (Wolfgang))

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The shapers’ hands (Fig. 19 and 20) now take care of the hat to carefully trim the edge in order to then take it into the trimming room. Here (Fig. 21) motorized sewing machines hum; in the lining sewing department  (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 trimming room to the refurbishing room  (Fig. 20), where they are painstakingly reworked. They now leave the factory through the packing department (Fig. 24).

The factory has its own box-making shop; also a carpentry equipped with all facilities  (Fig. 25) , Other companion plants are: a lithographic and gold impressing facility in which the hat leathers and hat linings are printed with the brand and the trade name, a locksmith shop (Fig. 26), which carries out ongoing repairs and the maintenance of all the mechanical manufacturing equipment 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, the steam for the production is generated. Separate 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.  (English Translation By ErWeSa (Wolfgang))

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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 (Fig. 10). In order to achieve an even coat of hair, the hair protruding from the brushing must be shorn to an even length by a machine.  (English Translation By ErWeSa (Wolfgang))

PARTIAL VIEW OF THE MODEL ROOMS

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Mayser's Hat Factory Ulm A. Donau (1925)

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 conveys the abundance of shapes better than a walk through Mayser's showroom, which holds the collection of faithful replicas of historical hats. This is where the visitor will find headgear in proper style of all times which has enjoyed the greatest esteem among knowledgeable circles for decades. There you can find primitive "headpieces" from pre-Christian times, the Petasos and the Pilos of the ancient Greeks, the Phrygian cap, then the colorful diversity of the Middle Ages from berets and mortarboards (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 tricorne and later the bicorne 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 costumes that died away transitions to the active participation on the loom of the times and in service of fashion the Mayser company may now boast for 125 years. It was a restless, in every respect subversive time, in which master craftsman 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 fate. The year 1805 can be regarded as the point in time of the great change in fashion. (English Translation By ErWeSa (Wolfgang))

Photo center of page:
Old hatter's chest from 1694

Page 5

Historic Hats

No. 1 Hubertus cap from d. 14th year
No. 2 Shepherd’s hat from the 11th century
No. 3 Hubertus cap from d. 14th year
No.4. Hat of Emperor Joseph II 1785
No. 5 Hat of Frederick the Great 1770
No. 6 Hat of Emperor Napoleon I 1804
No.7 Hat from the 12th century
No. 8 Hat from the 12th century
No. 9 Hat of 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 of Herz. K. v. Württ. 1760 (= Duke K. of Württemberg)
No. 14. Hat of Karl der Kühne (= Charles the Bold) 15th century
No. 15 Hat of the Elector of Brandenburg 1675
No. 16 Hat from 1792
No. 17 Beret from the 16th century.
No. 18 Pilos of the Greeks B. C.
No. 19 Kynae of the Greeks B. C.
No. 20 Monk's hat from the 11th century.

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Historic Hats

No. 21 Phrygian cap from the 10th century
No. 22 Phrygian cap B. C.
No. 23 Phrygian cap from the 9th century
No. 24. Hecker Hat 1848
No. 25 Hat of Louis XV. 1750
No. 26 Hat from the French Revolution 1789
No. 27 Doctoral hat from the 16th century
No. 28 Hat from the 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 from the Greeks B. C.
No. 36 Hat from 1830
No. 37 First Silk hat 1820
No. 38 Hat from 1810
No. 39 Petasos from the Greeks, 400 B. C.
No. 40 Folding hat from 1815

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Leonhard Mayser still made the bicorne as a preferred fashion item when he first started his career, yet the production of this item soon receded more and more after the army in general had introduced the shako and the bicorne just was part of the uniform of the diplomats and the high national officials. Instead the production of round hats and of top hats was responsible for lots of work and success for the young company which, from the 1840s onwards, also applied to the soft felt hat. The latter was politically infamous at the beginning and was persecuted by the police but soon lost its danger for the state after even Bismarck had completely converted to it. During 125 years of purposeful striving the managers of the Mayser factory could participate in shaping the hat fashion practically.  (English Translation By ErWeSa (Wolfgang))

Photo: BOX WITH OLD HAT MODELS AND FIXED BOWSOLD HAT MAKERS FOUNDATIONS

Page 8

THE HISTORY

The hat makers guild of Ulm had its seat in the house of the Storchenwirt (“Stork’s inn”) Peter Mayser. The big guild chest was there together with the guild symbols and that's where the gatherings of the Masters took place, gatherings 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. Although the guild system as such was already in decline in Germany especially this professional association in Ulm enjoyed extraordinary prestige at that time. 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 affiliated him in 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. The oppressive regulations of the guild order which suppressed every development were to blame in the first place for this situation. These regulations stipulated i. a. that no master of the hat maker's guild was allowed to keep more than one journeyman if there was a master in town who happened to have none in the workshop. (English Translation By ErWeSa (Wolfgang))

Photo: Peter Mayser (1742-1827) Storchenwirt and hostess father  the guardian

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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 name “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 it not only uses the hands to work, but also the 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 is a weave, a fabric nor a braid, but then 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 of the coarse hair (English Translation By ErWeSa (Wolfgang))

Old family house in Sterngasse

Page 10

the mordanting of the furs which is necessary to increase the felting ability and the combing out of the fine hairs used in the production of hats the most important process of hat making began: The “Fachen” (i. e. creating a fleece). The amount of hair required for a hat was spread out on a table consisting of wickerwork and was “struck”, using an instrument hanging from the ceiling, the “Fachbogen” which looked like a giant fiddle bow. 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 a sturdy mixture. By pressing, rubbing and pushing using a sieve, the hatter made this fleece more and more solid. The next process, the "hitting together", united these separate fleeces 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 hollow cone that was thus created the necessary stability and at the same time the hat the desired shape and size, the felt then 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. (English Translation By ErWeSa (Wolfgang))

Bei Mayser Ulm Vor 100 Jahren, At Mayser Ulm 100 Years Ago

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After taking out the form, the coarse hair was removed by rubbing it with pumice stone, the hat was ironed, brushed, furnished with hatband, lining and leather, and then passed into the hands of the customers. Hat manufacturing was carried out in this purely handcrafted form up to the mid-fifties. (1850s) After the founder's death in 1839 the son continued to run the business under the name "Friedrich Mayser". In 1858 two adjacent Houses were bought and set up for manufacture. It was also in these times that the first machines were installed, machines that were not meant to replace manual work but merely to facilitate and accelerate manual operation in some places. As a clever businessman, Friedrich Mayser had immediately recognized the extraordinary benefits of mechanical support and had made use of it for his factory as one of the first in Germany. After his son Fritz - born in 1840 – had been admitted as a partner in the factory in 1867 the name was transformed into ,, F. Mayser & Sohn ". In 1872 already 200 workers were 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 hardship of these crisis years, Fritz Mayser, council of commerce, managed to keep his factory viable and to ensure the respect for the quality of this products at home and abroad.

In the years 1901-1905 a modern new building equipped with all technical and mechanical innovations was constructed. In 1906 Karl Mayser took over the management of the company and in 1921 his brother Alfred Mayser followed together with the long-time employee Mr. 0skar Schaefer. The increase in quality work and the reputation, which Mayser-hats could achieve among their buyers had the best advertising success for the company.  (English Translation By ErWeSa (Wolfgang))

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FRITZ MAYSER
Commerce Council
LEONHARD MAYSER
Founder of the factory
FRIEDRICH MAYSER
Son of the founder

KARL MAYSER
ANTON SEIDL
OSCAR SCIIAEPER
ALFRED MAYSER

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Mayser Hats Year 125

Mayser Hats Year 125

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.