CHAPTER XI BLOCKING BY HAND

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The process of “Blocking,” as the next operation in the making of a straw hat is termed, consists of some method, either by hand or machinery, to place the somewhat uncouth looking article, exhibited by the dried stiffened hat, into its ultimate form.

Naturally, the thoroughly softened shape, saturated with hot gelatine and hung to the rod by a thread, assumes during drying an appearance totally at variance with the proper shape, and in order to achieve the correct outline some means has to be employed that will at the same time render the gelatine amenable and also fix the contours. Ever since hats have been made, whether in the oldest woven form, or in the more recent plait sewn way, this process has been a necessity. In fact the smoothing for wear of the finished hat is a process considerably older than that of giving some extra firmness. In the account of the making of the Panama mention has been made of the use of wooden mallets to obliterate the ridges caused by the “setts” and to give a general outline of conformity to the hood, and even so in the case of British made hats, even before the stiffening methods of wicker, wire or buckram, hats were given a smoothening finish by means of some similar instrument. It is probable that in the earlier times wooden tools were used here, but of these there are no records clearly indicating their nature. The earliest instrument used in the trade of which there are existing examples were termed “Slicken Stones.” Of these there are two fine specimens in the Luton Free Library, and they are of different sizes, one about 4 ins. diameter and one about 6 ins. They are circular, but flattened with a rounded bevel edge something like the shape of a muffin, but with very smooth surfaces. Their mission was to remove all inequalities from the hat after weaving or sewing, contributing at the same time a smoothness which could not be obtained from wood. They were probably used from the earliest hat making times, and certainly played a part in the smoothing of hats made on wicker. Whether they were needed for the wire foundationed shapes is uncertain, as this medium was so easily adjusted by the fingers, but they undoubtedly were extensively employed in the shaping of the buckram supports, as this article, slightly damp, could be easily moulded. They were used cold, and the probability is that in the wicker and the buckram methods, a slight steaming over boiling water, immediately followed by the application and use of these cold “Slicken” stones, would result in the possibility of shaping and at the same time “setting” the material. About the commencement of the nineteenth century they were in common use around the South Bedfordshire hat making centres, and there is no doubt they were successful in their operations on hats both woven and sewn that were sufficiently firm in their straw nature. From what can be gleaned they were still in use when the first gelatine was used, but as the necessary steaming or softening of the hat was another process, the old established method was soon superseded by the use of irons, for it was found that with a damp cloth over the hat, the iron at one time could produce its own steam and soften the stiffened material, and also make the hat conform to the shape of the block. At the time of the gelatine introduction, shapes were all of variations of the “Poke,” “Coalscuttle,” or “Granny” bonnet styles, and the smoothing or ironing of them was done on a “block,”[1] something the shape of a vaulting horse, and nearly as large, for it had legs long enough to make it sufficiently high to work at without stooping. The ends were made to take the crown, or rather the portion which hung at the back of the head or nape of the neck of the wearer, into which was set the voluminous “poke” or side brims of the “petasus” or coalscuttle type that completely obliterated the side views of the wearer’s face. The poke could be blocked on any part of the “horse” except the ends, and its curves and outlines varied as occasion might require. On the introduction of irons and the use of a damp cloth, known in the trade as a “strainer,” the wooden horse was the only apparatus for blocking until the advent of other shapes necessitated further and more complicated outlines. When the “iron” in present use first made its appearance in the trade it has been impossible to find out. It is what is now universally known as a “box iron,” consisting of a wedge shaped shell of metal with flat top and bottom, but with curved sides, into which a red hot “pad,” or block of iron to fit the interior, could be put to impart to the “box” the necessary heat. That this style of iron was known long before the beginning of the nineteenth century is certain. Quaint forms for ironing the Elizabethan ruffs embodying the hot pad principle are still in existence, but the early nineteenth century accounts of the instruments used in the straw trade are something like the History of England between A.D. 500 and A.D. 800, extremely hazy! Therefore, it is impossible to fix the exact date of its introduction to the trade; one may conjecture that, like “Topsy” in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, “it growed.” Its trade birth was probably accidental, but its existence has been phenomenal in duration, for although machinery for blocking is now doing a lot of work formerly done by hand, still in most factories hand ironing occupies a very prominent place, and even where hats are blocked by machine in many cases they need roughly shaping first by hand. Hand blocking is done in the following manner: the hat to be ironed is first put through some process to make the hardness of the gelatine sufficiently soft to fit the blocks. In the early days of the trade this was always done by lightly passing the hot iron over a damp cloth in which the hat was enveloped, thus producing enough steam to render the hat pliable, the crown was then carefully adjusted on the block, special attention being given to the spacing and direction of the rows of plait.

About 1880 straw hat manufacturers, having also started the making of felt hats, for which a small steam jet in an enclosed box or vessel was necessary, found that this same “steam pot” (trade term) provided an easy means of softening the hat, for placing on the wooden block, and since that time the old method of softening has practically died out, with the exception of such plaits as would be injured by steam action. When the crown of the hat is in proper position on the block, it is covered with the “strainer.” This should be in a well wrung-out damp condition, and is held in its place by the left hand of the “blocker,” the ironing operative. With the box iron in his right hand, he evenly and with a slightly circular motion, keeping the iron on the hat, presses out any inequalities that may be left, but with such discretion as not to injure the design of the plait. This process continues until the “strainer” is dry, which indicates that all superfluous moisture is evaporated and that the material will stay permanently in the required form. Some plaits with prominent heads or fancy embellishments require two or more “strainers” or even a thickness of flannel between the iron and the hat to prevent bruising, but plaits such as these are generally “blocked” by being “steamed” (trade term), that is the shaping on the block is entirely done by the hand of the operator after the material has been softened in the “steampot.” When hats are, as they always were till about 1885, of “one piece” make, the crown having been finished, is taken off the wooden block and placed head downward in the “curler” or “brimmer” of wood. Either name sufficiently designates its form and use, and the “one piece” hat is carefully adjusted in the head entry, due regard being made to the contour of the base of the crown, and the arrangement of the first gores of the brim, so as to ensure a perfectly clean line of junction between the crown and the brim. The brim is then adjusted to the exact outline of the edge, and when true is “blocked” in a similar way to the crown. The two piece hats are done in the same way with, of course, the exception that the crown and the brim are blocked apart. It is, of course, obvious that only quite a small portion of some parts of the hats can be ironed at a time, the surface of the iron can only, at most, impinge on that amount which is parallel, and, therefore, the blocking of a crown with rounding top, bevelled edges and perhaps almost “O. G.” sides, is an operation needing considerable skill, for no lines must show, nor must there be any bruise marks, and yet at the same time there must be enough pressure to cause the material to assume and retain the required shape.

Fig. 17
HAND BLOCKING
With Iron Heated by Electricity

The irons are made with various kinds of faces, some are perfectly flat, others with convex sweeps or curves, these are called “grecian” irons, and are intended to be used in recessed curves of crown or brim, which curves are known as “grecians,” but the skilful operative can adapt the curved sides of a flat-faced box iron to most of the concave places, so that except for extreme undulations, no recourse to the curved faced iron is necessary. There are many modifications of these general rules and methods, and it may be necessary in certain cases, such as the ironing of braids stiffened with media other than gelatine or water soluble materials, to employ other methods, but they are generally peculiar to the plait used and of a purely ephemeral nature. In some factories box irons are used, heated by patent fuel, others are warmed by gas and electricity, but the general convenience of the fire-heated pad causes the old fashioned iron to retain an almost universal supremacy. In work it is just as convenient as any other, and in cost it must of necessity be lower, for every factory must have fire for steam production and general warmth, and the coke burning furnaces in use in the smaller factories are usually constructed to achieve these two objects, and at the same time heat the blocker’s pads. In the larger establishments steam for heating and working is generally raised in separate adequately large boilers, with a specially constructed and economical furnace for pad heating. This is made with a shallow bed, a broad iron lip, on which pads can be changed, and a guillotine-like construction in front, with a “blower” which can be made to rise or fall, as occasion may demand for the regulation of the draught.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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