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Le Chapelier | The Hatter 

A chapelier, or hatter, designed, manufactured and/or sold hats and head-wear. A hatter can also be called a milliner.

As early as the mid-17th century, hats were being made in New France. Given the extreme popularity of hats made of beaver fur, the industry flourished. Hats were even exported to back to France in large quantities. Then, seeing the effects of a declining hat-making industry at home, the French king ordered a stop to all Canadian production in 1736, marking the end of the industry in New France. Hat-making slowly started back up again under the English regime, but never quite regained its once-booming status.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the hat-making process itself involved about 30 steps, seven hours of work and multiple artisans. One hat could require anywhere from one to five beaver pelts.

When the hatter received a beaver pelt in his workshop, it would be greasy and covered with long guard hairs, under which the fine beaver wool, or duvet, was found. The guard hairs were removed with a knife or pliers, then the skin would be sprayed with a chemical solution of mercury nitrate to lift the scales off every wool fibre. This caused them to untangle and take on a reddish colour. This also made hat-making a very dangerous profession, as the constant exposure to mercury vapours was harmful to the nervous system. In fact, the expression "mad as a hatter" is associated with erethism, a neurological disorder derived from mercury poisoning. Erethism is characterized by behavioural changes such as irritability, depression, apathy, shyness and timidity, and in some extreme cases with prolonged exposure to mercury vapours, delirium, personality changes and memory loss.  Historically, erethism was common among felt hat-makers.

After the mercury process, the skin would be dried and the undercoat shorn. Once the duvet was removed from the skin, it was formed into three or four triangular pieces called “capades”. Each capade was then wrapped in a piece of leather and placed on a wooden table with a hot iron in the middle. These triangles became stronger and tighter, and the hatter could fold them one over the other to give them the shape of a large wizard’s cap.

At this stage, the body of the hat remained very large, so it was necessary to tread it and make it firmer. It was placed in a pail filled with a hot mixture of water, sulfuric acid,a s well as beer and wine lees. The body of the hat was dipped several times in this solution and was then flattened by hand or with a roller. Under the effect of pressure, heat and humidity, the surface of the felt was reduced by half. This continued until a fairly firm tissue was obtained, ready for shaping. The hat was then rolled on itself in order to obtain a flat piece which was pressed on a wooden model of the desired shape.

For the next stage, the hat was placed in a copper container filled with dye. It remained in this boiling mixture for about 45 minutes before being allowed to cool. The operation was repeated several times until the desired colour was obtained. The hat was then dried and coated with a mixture of shellac and glue to make it waterproof and rigid. For finishing, hatters used steam to be able to make minor corrections or modifications. Finally, the hat was trimmed with ribbons, buttons or other decorations.

Known persons who had this occupation: Philippe Basquin/Bastien, Étienne Bedut, François Boulardier, Jean-Baptiste Chauffour, Bartélémy Cotton, Holthom, Joachim Jacques, Joseph Huppé Lagrois, Jean-Baptiste Laliberté, Guillaume Laserre dit Laforme, Pierre Lefebvre, Jean Létourneau dit Lespérance, Hubert Noël, David Pauperet, Jean Quenet, Pierre Richard, Pierre Rivault, Laurent Tirant 

Meet Pauline Brosset, a modern-day hat maker in Paris

Sources:

• Hélène Gagnon & Linda Lapointe, “Les modistes sorties de l’ombre”, 1984, Continuité, (25), 29–30. Digitized by Érudit (https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/continuite/1984-n25-continuite1052276/18501ac.pdf).

• Michèle Jean, “La fourrure sous toutes ses coutures!”, 2004, Cap-aux-Diamants, (76), 10–14. Digitized by Érudit (https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/cd/2004-n76-cd1046045/7298ac.pdf).

• ScienceDirect, “Erethism,” Elsevier B.V., https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/erethism.

• “Le Castor et autres pelleteries” (author unknown), http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/nwc/french/history/01.htm.