A millinery and hat-making tool used for stretching, sizing, and maintaining the form of hats.
1900–1920: VINTAGE WOODEN HAT STRETCHER / HAT BLOCK
275,00 €
Product no. 13-1637
1 in stock
1 in stock
Category:
Civilian Items 1933–1945 / Non-Market Items
14-day return policy
Smooth reversal
A hat stretcher is a hatter's or milliner's tool for enlarging a felt or fabric hat that has become too tight, and for holding a hat's size between wearings. It is not a hat block. Blocks are fixed wooden forms used to shape the crown and brim during manufacture. A stretcher is made in two parts that are pushed apart by a screw or crank mechanism, so the hat's head opening widens gradually, usually with steam or moisture to make the material pliable. Hat-making forms of this kind were in common use across Europe and North America from the nineteenth century into the early twentieth century. Trade versions are often larger floor or bench models. They stand on a wooden base, are turned by a hand crank, and carry a metal scale, in centimetres or inches, so the operator can set a customer's head size. Smaller portable versions use a simple wooden screw, and later models expand in four directions. Collectors identify them by the construction of the wooden body, the type of crank or screw mechanism, the form of the sizing scale and any maker's plate. Unmarked examples are difficult to date precisely.
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