Straw Hats: Their history and manufacture — Background and Themes

The Block as Central Object

The block emerges as the pivotal tool in straw hat manufacture. Inwards devotes considerable space to its construction, noting that alder is preferred for its resistance to dry and damp heat, while poplar and chestnut serve for specialized shapes. The brim block, often made in two parts with a hinge and lock, allows the head entry to fit closely against the crown. The spindle hole—a square aperture in the block's base—receives an iron spindle whose upper portion is square and tapered, enabling quick adjustment. This mechanical vocabulary recurs throughout, grounding the narrative in tangible objects.

Movement Between Hand and Machine

The text repeatedly contrasts hand blocking with machine blocking. Wood blocks serve as patterns for metal casts in iron, aluminium, or spelter, and plaster of Paris copies are made for temporary use by sewers. Inwards describes how the same wooden model can generate both a permanent metal block and a disposable plaster version, illustrating a production chain that moves from artisan to factory. The description of the 'Tipper'—a metal scoop attached to a wooden spindle—shows how tools evolved to meet specific shapes, such as the close brim of the 1860s Pork Pie turban. The advent of two-piece hats, where crown and brim are blocked separately, rendered such instruments nearly obsolete.

Advertisements as Historical Evidence

Interspersed with technical chapters are full-page advertisements from suppliers like the Hat Manufacturers’ Supply Co., Ltd., and E. T. Raban & Sons. These ads name specific products—'Ivy' and 'Marvel' leathers, the 'Bon-Ton Ivy'—and claim that over twenty million have been sold for straw hats alone. Inwards does not comment on these claims, but their inclusion provides a contemporary record of marketing language and industrial networks. The ads also reveal the global reach of the trade, with agents in various parts of the world and telegrams addressed to Florence and London.

The Role of Diagrams and Visuals

The text frequently references figures and diagrams, such as Fig. 9 'Tipper,' which are not reproduced in the digital edition but are clearly essential to understanding the tools described. Inwards writes as if the reader has the illustrations before them, using phrases like 'see John Leech’s drawings in Punch' to evoke a visual reference. This reliance on images shapes the reading experience: the prose becomes a caption to absent pictures, and the technical descriptions demand a mental reconstruction of the machinery. The interplay between word and image is a structural feature of the work.

Readers will benefit from approaching this book as a technical manual embedded in a commercial context. The advertisements are not mere appendages but integral to understanding the industry's self-presentation. Pay attention to the verbs of making—blocking, stiffening, sewing—and the materials that constrain each process. The absence of diagrams in this edition means that careful reading of the verbal descriptions is essential to visualize the tools and their operations.

That book about straw hats—the patient way it lingers over molds and blocking machines, how a single curve of a brim holds an entire craft—stayed with me long after. It reminded me of another quiet obsession. There's a particular gentleness in The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America — Background and Themes, the way it treats wood and hide as almost living things, shaped by hands that understood them deeply.