The Farmlett Hat Block Collection
Jun. 15th, 2013 12:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
labricoleuseI recently came into possession of a fairly sizable collection of hat blocks from an estate sale. The blocks have an interesting story behind them, as well as being interesting in and of themselves.
The original description of the lot mentioned some blocks from Empire Hat Block Company, a blockmaker based in NYC in the early part of the 20th century. Being not only a maker of hats but also a scholar of hatmaking history, I have come across references to Empire in many sources and seen their surviving blocks in many a hatmaking workshop. I don't have exact dates for them, but I have seen their advertisements in old hatters' publications as early as 1914 and as late as 1967.
They started out just after the turn of the century in a space up on W 111th, but by the 20s they operated from a workshop facility on E 22nd large enough to take up two street numbers (312-314). The business seems to have been a partnership between two blockmakers, Joseph Buxbaum and Samuel Gussoff, though how many block-carvers they might have employed in their heyday, i don't know. They manufactured loads of styles for both men's and ladies' hats.
So, anyhow, when i read about an estate sale lot of hat blocks which included styles made by Empire, i knew that if nothing else, those blocks would probably be worth having. I had no clear idea how many blocks were in the lot, or really what they all looked like. There were some photos so i could tell there were brims and crowns, and I knew they ranged from 22 to 22 1/2 in size, and that was about what i knew when i bought them.
The box that came was enormous, so big it took two of us to carry it from the reception area to my car. I couldn't wait, i unpacked it right in the back of my car, and this is what i found inside:
The age-patinated blocks in the foreground center/right are the Empire blocks, the round crown and the two trilby sets. Everything else you see there was made by a man named Harry Farmlett.
Harry Farmlett said he'd made these blocks for his wife, Joan, some time in the mid-1970s. Both Harry and Joan studied at Pratt, where he learned industrial design and she pursued fashion--clothing design, millinery, jewelry, you name it. Harry ran a design firm in NYC, making mostly children's toys and the packaging that contained them, but his firm also created album cover designs for vinyl records. When he made these blocks, he had a full woodworking shop at his disposal, and you can really see the craftsmanship and thought he put into their making.
Harry and Joan enjoyed 52 years of marriage. Sadly, Joan Farmlett passed away in February of this year, hence the sale of this lot of blocks. I didn't know her, but i will think about Joan every time i block on one of these beautiful creations, knowing that she was the first person to use them, and i have promised to share with Harry Farmlett images of hats I and my students make on his blocks.
One of the Farmlett crowns. (I have to write my name on all my hat blocks so they don't get mixed up with blocks owned by the university when i teach my millinery classes.) See those four indentations along the edges of the axes of this oval? Remember those...
Here i am with the largest brim block in the collection, appropriate to a glamorous sun hat, or a rakish cavalier! Mind you, the only place i have found that still sells hatbodies wide enough to block on this is Kopka in Germany. But, at least someone still is, so i may have to buy some and have them shipped over.
So, if you know anything about hat blocking, you will see what this innovation is. Rather than lift or lower the height of your crown using band blocks, you can raise or lower it by adjusting these four beefy bolts, which fit into those small indentations in the bottoms of the crowns mentioned above. By this means, you can control the depth of the crown with a high degree of accuracy without having to own and store many different thicknesses of band blocks.
Bottom view of one of the Farmlett brims showing the bolts adjusted for a lower crown position.
Since they came the day after my birthday, i opened some wine to celebrate while we explored how all the different crowns and brims interchanged. Cheers!
The original description of the lot mentioned some blocks from Empire Hat Block Company, a blockmaker based in NYC in the early part of the 20th century. Being not only a maker of hats but also a scholar of hatmaking history, I have come across references to Empire in many sources and seen their surviving blocks in many a hatmaking workshop. I don't have exact dates for them, but I have seen their advertisements in old hatters' publications as early as 1914 and as late as 1967.
They started out just after the turn of the century in a space up on W 111th, but by the 20s they operated from a workshop facility on E 22nd large enough to take up two street numbers (312-314). The business seems to have been a partnership between two blockmakers, Joseph Buxbaum and Samuel Gussoff, though how many block-carvers they might have employed in their heyday, i don't know. They manufactured loads of styles for both men's and ladies' hats.
So, anyhow, when i read about an estate sale lot of hat blocks which included styles made by Empire, i knew that if nothing else, those blocks would probably be worth having. I had no clear idea how many blocks were in the lot, or really what they all looked like. There were some photos so i could tell there were brims and crowns, and I knew they ranged from 22 to 22 1/2 in size, and that was about what i knew when i bought them.
The box that came was enormous, so big it took two of us to carry it from the reception area to my car. I couldn't wait, i unpacked it right in the back of my car, and this is what i found inside:
The age-patinated blocks in the foreground center/right are the Empire blocks, the round crown and the two trilby sets. Everything else you see there was made by a man named Harry Farmlett.
Harry Farmlett said he'd made these blocks for his wife, Joan, some time in the mid-1970s. Both Harry and Joan studied at Pratt, where he learned industrial design and she pursued fashion--clothing design, millinery, jewelry, you name it. Harry ran a design firm in NYC, making mostly children's toys and the packaging that contained them, but his firm also created album cover designs for vinyl records. When he made these blocks, he had a full woodworking shop at his disposal, and you can really see the craftsmanship and thought he put into their making.
Harry and Joan enjoyed 52 years of marriage. Sadly, Joan Farmlett passed away in February of this year, hence the sale of this lot of blocks. I didn't know her, but i will think about Joan every time i block on one of these beautiful creations, knowing that she was the first person to use them, and i have promised to share with Harry Farmlett images of hats I and my students make on his blocks.
One of the Farmlett crowns. (I have to write my name on all my hat blocks so they don't get mixed up with blocks owned by the university when i teach my millinery classes.) See those four indentations along the edges of the axes of this oval? Remember those...
Here i am with the largest brim block in the collection, appropriate to a glamorous sun hat, or a rakish cavalier! Mind you, the only place i have found that still sells hatbodies wide enough to block on this is Kopka in Germany. But, at least someone still is, so i may have to buy some and have them shipped over.
So, if you know anything about hat blocking, you will see what this innovation is. Rather than lift or lower the height of your crown using band blocks, you can raise or lower it by adjusting these four beefy bolts, which fit into those small indentations in the bottoms of the crowns mentioned above. By this means, you can control the depth of the crown with a high degree of accuracy without having to own and store many different thicknesses of band blocks.
Bottom view of one of the Farmlett brims showing the bolts adjusted for a lower crown position.
Since they came the day after my birthday, i opened some wine to celebrate while we explored how all the different crowns and brims interchanged. Cheers!
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no subject
Date: 2013-06-15 04:25 pm (UTC)I'm looking forward to seeing what you create.
no subject
Date: 2013-06-15 05:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-15 05:16 pm (UTC)I just got my copy of "From the Neck Up" and am studying buckram techniques gingerly. Wish me luck.
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Date: 2013-06-15 06:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-16 03:55 pm (UTC)