Old Hats.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XL, Issue 8, 22 February 1908, Page 67

Old Hats.

“Where do all the old hats go?” asks an American paper. Outside those in the hat trade it is probable that few people ever gave th? subject a thought. A new Derby, soft hat or a feminr.ts “dream” is purchased, worn, discard d, and finds its way “somewhere.” “Ash barrels,” is the obvious reply. While true in many eases, it is even tn ;i by no means final, for the hats do n ;t remain with ashes for long. The maj. .- ity of discarded hats are left at the better’s when a new head adornment is bought. The hatter does not turn them to the junk man, but saves them, an 1 realises during the year considerable money through their sale. Felt is felt from the time it is man ifactured until it is destroyed by fire or some other consuming element, and felt can be used again after rejuvenation by anyone of several processes which fozr.i a considerable industry in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Old felt hats, or in fact, any kind of old felt, is worth from one dollar to one dollar 10 cents a pound, and it is surprising to find how many hats, stripped of ribbons and leather bands, it takes to make a pound, according to a representative of one of the largest hat concerns in America. “However,” he continued, “we consider the old felt hat left with us as valuable, and there is a regular system of collecting, packing, and shipping them to the rejuvenators of felt. The ‘ash dump triir.mers’ of to-day, like the ‘rag pickers’ of years gone by, make a speciality of collecting old felt hats, for, no matter how dirty they become the dirt is easily boiled out, and the valuable felt is work?! into a condition for re-using. “This rejuvenation of old felt Imtj into new felt, fo be used for new hits, I should say, gives work to several thousand men, girls, and boys, and—well—certain particles of this hat in my hati.l may have helped keep President Roosevelt or even President Lincoln’s heal warm. “But to return to the real business; it is safe to state there is no felt wasted, save by accident. No one throws away old gold unless he is an idiot, and none throws away old felt hats unless he is an idiot, or has too much time and money. And when the ‘any old hats!’ man comes around and gets half a dozen discarded tiles for a five cent piece ho makes a good profit on his investment.''