GERMAN-MADE HATS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3802, 25 January 1927, Page 68

GERMAN-MADE HATS.

AUCKLAND, January 17. England’s partiality for hats made in Germany, 1,708,000 of which were, according to a recent cablegram, imported last year, is not shared by the people of "New Zealand. Various Auckland mercers and hatters stated that to whatever extent other German-made articles had rehabilitated themselves in public preference, there was an entire absence of men’s hats made in that country. “Judging by samples I have seen from time to time, it is improbable they will ever get a hold in New Zealand,” said a salesman in one of the leading shops. “They are dear, poor in quality, and put out in styles we discarded 10 years ago. That is enough to condemn them, if no other reason existed.” A firm dealing exclusively in hats and mercery has occasionally had catalogues from German manufacturers, and it has foun-' the quotations far from alluring. “At the same time we do get goods from English firms that have been made in Germany for those firms,” remarked the manager. “What the idea is I cannot say, but I have noticed it particularly in a well-known.line of gloves.” The man in control of another firm’s importations said he thought a mistake had been made, and that the message referred to a new style of felt hat popular among women,-made not in Germany, but in Czecho-Slovakia. “I agree that men’s hats made in Germany are right out of date,” he added, “and further, the English manufacturers are turning out an article that in quality, style, and price will defy competition anywhere in the world.”