The Hatter, woodcut from "Little Jack of All Trades," published by Thomas Waite and Company and Charles Williams, Boston, Massachusetts, 1813. Courtesy of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association Library, Deerfield, Massachusetts.
The Hatter, woodcut from "Little Jack of All Trades," published by Thomas Waite and Company and Charles Williams, Boston, Massachusetts, 1813. Courtesy of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association Library, Deerfield, Massachusetts.
For centuries, rules of polite society required individuals to wear hats in public. This block print shows a hat shop in about 1813. At this time, small shops such as this created custom orders and made small quantities of hats for customers to purchase off the shelf.
Hats, in this period, were formed of felt made with animal hair, such as beaver, otter, or rabbit. In the summer, people wore straw or palm leaf braided hats to protect their heads from the sun.