Straw Hats II

Travelling in Ontario, for the wedding of our niece Meghan, I came across the Biltmore Hat factory and store in the city of Guelph. What a wonderful place.  The Biltmore Hat Company started that name in 1919 after being bought from the original start-up entrepreneur of two years earlier. The company has been in continuous production since then, although under different ownerships. Early in the life of the company, Italian immigrant women made up the work force to sew the hats in a piece-work fashion. Over the years, the nationalities of the immigrants changed but the industry primarily employed women. The main reason for this is that men just didn't have the capability to gossip with any natural ability. They soon left to work in the mines and forests or descended into a coma.

They make both straw and felt hats there on machines some of which date to the turn of the last century. There are two showrooms in the store that are filled with racks of hats of all sizes and shapes. There are the old western 10 gallon hats. The well known Mountie or Smokey the Bear hat. There are Homburgs and Bowlers ( or Derby after the Duke of Derby). There are straw stetsons, pork pie hats, fedoras, panamas, and milans.

 I had to buy a hat, firstly, because this was THE factory and, secondly, it was a great deal at the factory store. As my wife knows, decision making is not my strong suit and here were two show rooms full of hats for every possible occasion and style. But I persevered and with the help of the store lady bought a Panama Excello.

The Excello is made with Toquilla straw sourced from Equador and from the Andes Mountains. It is a creamy colour fedora style with a flat, indented crown and a 2.75" brim. A brown hatband with the Biltmore crest at the left-side bow sets off that creamy colour. Yowser!

Unfortunately, the Biltmore factory may be ending its days for good. The property on which the factory has stood since 1919, is slated to be turned into 64 condominiums.

The company, according to its website, is presently owned by an American accountant turned hat seller in Louisville, Kentucky, Eric Lynes. Interestingly enough, Mr. Lynes originally found the Biltmore company because he was searching for a particular hat for himself. The thinking in Guelph is that production may move to Mexico or China. Too bad for Canadian industry - again.