USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Norwalk > The romance of Norwalk > Part 22
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GROFUT &KNAPP
HAT MANUFACTORY.
EARLY CROFUT AND KNAPP FACTORY
The great hat industry of the Crofut and Knapp Co. was housed in this little building in the "Hollow," North Main and Webster streets, sixty years ago.
FIRST OYSTER STEAMBOAT
To Norwalk goes credit for the introduction of steam in the oyster industry. Captain Peter Decker of this city having set the world an example in 1874 in his boat the "Early Bird" pictured above.
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in 1858, he needed an expert hat stiffener and so chose Andrew J. Crofut as partner. Though one would expect the firm name to be Knapp and Crofut, Mr. Knapp was of a retiring nature and so put his own name last. In the lat- ter part of the year 1860, the C. and K. made and put on the market the first derby hat made in America. Early in the year, J. H. Knapp had recognized the value and im- portance of the "hard hats" made in England and the first samples to be sent to this country were dispatched to him. In 1908, straw hats were added to the list of C. and K. manufactures. In 1913, the Cavanagh Edge came into being, invented by John Cavanagh, now president of the Crofut and Knapp and Cavanagh-Dobbs, and one of the most beloved citizens in Norwalk.
Mr. Cavanagh started in the hat business as a boy under James H. Knapp and worked his way to the top of his pro- fession, mastering every phase of the business from begin- ning to end. He invented and perfected his new process of that manufacturing, now known as the Cavanagh Edge process in the year 1913. To explain the process, we quote from the C. and K. publication of 1924: "Even though the felted edge which is the characteristic mark of the process, were covered with a binding, which is frequently done, or the edge cut off entirely, the benefit of the process of manu- facturing remains." The advantage is said to lie in the increased tightness of the felt and "the inimitable hand-made character of the product." It is also said that the process doubles the life of the hat.
Another advance in hat manufacture was made a little later by P. N. Knapp who invented the reverse lap brim in straw hats, for yachting. Silk hats were added to the list of C. and K. products in 1917. Caps and cloth hats became part of the manufacturing list in 1919. At this time a new department for the making of sport and tailored hats for women, was inaugurated. In 1923, the new Crofut and Knapp Co. factory on Van Zant st. was opened. This
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new building, four stories high with a five story "L" in rear, in 1924 turned out 1,500,000 hats a year or nearly Io hats every working moment, the work of 1,000 skilled hands. Today, with about 1,500 people employed, the com- pany turns out nearly double that number of hats or close to 3,000,000, averaging a value of more than $10,000,000 a year. Soft hats, derbies, straw hats, cloth hats, caps, silk hats for men, sport hats, tailored hats, straw hats and silk hats for women are made at the C. and K. plant.
MAKING THE HAT
Perhaps the most fascinating work in the factory is the making of felt hats, and those who have had the good fortune to witness the transformation of "a double handful of light, fluffy fur which a breath might blow away, to the tightly felted fabric that successfully resists the efforts of a strong man to tear apart," cannot help but wonder at the "magic" of the industry. "The generally accepted idea is that a hat is made from felt which comes in rolls from which a piece is cut and in some mysterious way pressed or ironed into shape, somewhat as a shoe is made from flat leather, or clothing manufactured from cloth," to quote from the C. and K. organ. "It will surprise many to know that the felting is only an incidental process of hat manufacture and furthermore, that hat making is one of the rare industries in which absolutely raw material is transformed under one roof into an entirely different article having no resemblance to the stuff from which it originates ..
"Nearly 40 distinct and separate operations are required to produce a C. and K. hat. The basic material is the fur of such animals as the rabbit or Coney, as it is called in Europe, the hare, the beaver, the nutria and to a lesser extent the otter and the muskrat. Every fur bearing animal is provided with a protective outer coating of coarse hair which is useless in hat manufacturing and which must be removed by plucking it from the pelt, leaving the fine soft
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fur that is next to the skin. Dame Nature, in her wise care for her little creatures, provides them with an oily substance that repels water and thus keeps their fur coats dry and warm. This oil is exuded through a microscopic scale on each fibre of the fur and it is this scale which makes hat manufacturing possible, because the process of felting is simply bringing the fibres closer together where the scales will tangle or lock so tightly that a closely knit fabric is formed.
"The first thing that is done after the hair is plucked out is to treat the fur to a bath of mercury dissolved in nitric acid, which opens the scales of the fur fibres and makes them effective in felting. This process is called 'carroting.' After the solution has been thoroughly removed and the skin dried, it is laid pelt side down in a fur cutting machine where the skin is cut away from the fur by whirling knives that cut the pelt off in fine strips that somewhat resemble shredded wheat .... The fur is then packed in five pound bags and is ready for actual hat making. Fur, as well as the hat bodies that are made from it, is rarely used in the manu- facture of C. and K. hats until it is at least six months old." After the particular mixture of fur which is to be used, has been selected, it is thoroughly mixed in a 'devil' or picker and then run through a blowing machine where it is properly cleaned.
"The quantity of fur required to make one hat varies according to the shape, weight and dimensions of the finished article and averages about three ounces. An amount suf- ficient only to make one hat is fed into the forming machine where the magical transformation from a bunch of fluffy fur to the first semblance of a hat takes place. The curious minded will be interested in a description of this forming machine. The modern forming machine takes enough fur to make one hat and by expertly controlled currents of air forms it into a cone shaped bag about 36 inches high and 32 inches wide at the bottom, terminating in a rounded point
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at the top. The operator seated at one end of the machine feeds the fur on to a moving belt that conveys it to a cham- ber where it is met by a blast of air that sends it whirling to fill the chamber with floating fibres of fur.
"On the floor of this chamber is a slowly revolving table upon which has been placed a dampened copper cone per- forated with little holes. In the center of the turn table an exhaust fan operates to draw the air inward through these holes. As the cone revolves the floating fibres of fur are gradually drawn on to the cone by the suction of the air until it is covered with a thin film held together by the damp- ness of the cone. The process takes about one minute. When all the fibres have been drawn on to the cone, the doors of the chamber are opened and wet cloths carefully laid on the newly formed body. A tin cover is placed on the cone and the whole thing is placed on a platform and automatically immersed in a vat of hot water. The cover and wet cloths are then removed, the cone turned bottom side up and the hat body carefully peeled off. The object of the immersion in hot water is to enable the operator to handle the delicate film, as otherwise it would fall apart. This whole process requires the most expert workmanship, as the least slip would result in disaster."
The next operation in the hat making is the "sizing," whereby the cone shaped body, which is two and one half times as large as necessary for the hat, is reduced to its proper size. Following this, the hat body, still in cone shape, is dyed. If derby hats are to be made, the hat body is stiffened with a solution of shellac in alcohol, before dye- ing. After the hat bodies are dyed and dried, they go through the process of blocking where they assume the first recognizable resemblance to a hat. After being sandpapered to remove any hairs which may still be sticking to the felted body, the hat body is ready for the final processes of finish- ing, shaping, and trimming. Thus ends the biography of a Crofut and Knapp felt hat.
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STRIKE OF 1884-1885
The Norwalk hat factories, including of course, the C. and K., have lived through two great strikes, one in the fall of 1884 and the spring of 1885 and the other during the year 1909. The strike of 1884, which commenced in the month of November, was precipitated by a wage cut of 25 per cent ordered by the Crofut and Knapp Co. during a dull season, when business was very poor. The company felt that it could not pay full wages in such bad times and it believed that the hatters would prefer a 25 per cent cut to no work at all. On the contrary, the hatters decided that the wage cut was not necessary and that they would starve before they would take it. Close to a thousand men had left their benches by December I, announcing that they were prepared to stay out six months before they would work for what they termed "starvation wages."
John S. Seymour, of counsel for the Hatters' association, in a three column letter in the local papers explained some of the grievances of the strikers. He addressed his com- munication to Messrs. Crofut and Knapp, A. Solmans, Coffin, Hurlbut and Co., and Edwin Adams, all of local hat companies. His letter, bitter and sarcastic, accused the hat companies, among other things: Of being banded to- gether to reduce wages; of forcing the men to abandon their labor organization before they could be re-employed ; of trying to get a bill through the legislature banning labor associations; of getting the police and the mayor to pro- tect the "scabs" who went to work in the "open shop" after the strike commenced; of reducing wages 25 per cent (this had particular reference to the C. and K.) and of selecting the lull between the fall and spring trade to do this when to shut down for a couple of months "would benefit the company."
The Crofut and Knapp company in response maintained that it had to choose between a 25 per cent wage cut and a complete shutdown and felt the former would be prefer- able to the latter; that it had no objection to the strikers
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talking to the so-called "scabs," if violence was omitted, but that it had a perfect right to institute an open shop if the union men did not care to come to work for the wages of- fered. In the meantime, A. Solman's hat factory was filling all orders: E. Adams had reorganized his factory and the C. and K. was running Factory No. 2 full blast.
Just five minutes before II on a Friday night, January 22, 1885, the Crofut and Knapp Co., Factory No. 2, on the corner of Water and Tolles sts., was blown up with dynamite. Seventy-five panes of glass were shattered, a blue stone sill, four inches thick, on which the explosive had rested, was blown into thousands of pieces, great holes were torn in the walls, the ceilings riddled, and a number of men sleeping in the building were hurled from their beds by the force of the explosion. The ear splitting noise was heard in Stamford. Blame for the explosion immediately was attached to the strikers, who promptly denied any part in the affair. They in turn laid the blame on the hat manu- facturers who, they said, had attempted to blow up their own factory, so as to gain sympathy for their cause and to turn it from the strikers on whom they planned suspicion for the deed should fall. The account of the explosion which was characterized by the Sentinel as "a dastardly at- tempt which for hellish wickedness has scarcely a parallel in the evil deeds of men, rather fiends," was given in the local paper as follows :
"The explosive was probably placed on the sill of the window in the southeast corner of the building, corner of Water and Tolles sts. This part of the building was used as the tip room and in it were several sewing machines, the safe and tables. In the other end of the building were sleeping Messrs. Howard Knapp and John Scott. The engineer and watchman were in the engine room about 30 feet distant and on the second floor 13 workmen were asleep in an apartment fitted up for their accommodation. The explosion tore out the window, breaking in pieces the win- dow sill four inches in thickness, shattered the windows in
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that part of the building and several things in the room. Portions of the flying debris tore great holes in the wall. On the outside the effects are seen on the fence across the street, where the terrific power of the destructive agency spent a great part of its force. Messrs. Knapp and Scott were thrown out of their cots and the men in the other part of the building were considerably shocked, but no one re- ceived any injuries other than the shock.
"The explosion was felt throughout the city but as it was after most people had retired, but few were aware of its cause. Portions of the cartridge were found, one piece having been imbedded in a fence post on the opposite side of the street. A sewing machine standing near the window was flattened down on the table. Had the infernal material exploded in the interior of the building, it undoubtedly would have been torn to pieces and lives sacrificed. The cartridge was a piece of two inch iron pipe with a cap screwed on each end and was unquestionably made by novices and prob- ably at home or hereabouts.
"The damage has in the main been repaired and the factory has continued in operation without interruption. Rewards amounting to $1,200 have been offered. Mayor Taylor called a special session of the council Saturday after- noon and $500 reward was offered by the city. In addition to this $500 has been offered by the employers and $200 by the Hatters' association. The mayor has put on extra po- lice to guard the factories and men patrol each of them every night. A. Solmans has had lanterns placed on the outside of his factory and has them lighted at night."
This last precaution on the part of Mr. Solmans who is now president of the South Norwalk Savings Bank, was felt not only to be a very wise precaution but to be indicative of the rapid strides being made in outside factory illumina- tion. Papers all over the country commented on the ex- plosion in Crofut and Knapp's. The Hartford Courant roundly denounced the hat workers here for using dynamite to bring their employers to terms, and congratulated Hart-
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ford on the fact that it harbored no dynamiters. The Dan- bury News laid the blame on some "malcontent." The Hart- ford Post spoke scathingly of the abuse of dynamite in Norwalk. The Bridgeport Leader saw in the explosion an extremely bad effect on Norwalk's reputation which might end in the city's losing all manufacturing establishments which would not care to settle in such a lawless neighbor- hood. The New York Herald Tribune, concluded its edi- torial comment with the following piece of advice :
"South Norwalk boasts only three constables who are not on duty at night. If the residents of the town wish it to retain its reputation as a good place for manufacturers to establish themselves, they would do well to protect the capital now invested there, even if they have to double the strength of the constabulary."
By this time, the tenth week of the strike, many of the old-time hatters commenced to complain that they wished they had never listened to the "big union leaders." It ap- pears that in the beginning, the leaders gave the strikers the idea that the strike would only last a few days since "the bosses couldn't hold out any longer." By the beginning of the tenth week, the strikers were beginning to get a little bit skeptical.
Just before 5 on the morning of February 12, 1885, the C. E. Doty factory on lower Main st., occupied by the Co- operative Hat Co. and the South Norwalk Hat Co., burst into flames and was totally destroyed with all its contents. The building adjoining, owned by O. E. Wilson and A. E. Austin and used as a hat box factory by A. E. Reed was also destroyed. A number believed the fire to be incendiary as two suspicious characters were noted on the scene a short time before the fire. Others held to the opinion that the fire broke out near the flue for heating irons.
The date of February 25, 1885, foretold the near end of the strike for at that time the Crofut and Knapp Co. reopened with a full organization, Factory No. I which had been closed for fourteen weeks. Up to this date the com-
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pany had concentrated its efforts in Factory No. 2. The entire factory was now running as in normal times, the work- ers being a combination of union men who felt that they had better work in an open shop than starve, and hatters who came to Norwalk from elsewhere. The middle of March, after the strike had been in progress four months, found: A. Solmans reopening his factory; an open shop in the former Coffin Hurlbut and Co. building, now taken over by John W. Green of Danbury; Crofut and Knapp Co. augmenting its force; Adams Brothers working along in good shape. The employers and employees came to terms the beginning of April, the following announcement appear- ing in The Sentinel under date of April 16, 1885 :
"By an arrangement made between Messrs. Crofut and Knapp and A. Solmans and the Hatters Societies, the diffi- culties between them have been settled, after a contest of nearly five months, by a recognition of the union by the man- ufacturers, and now but one of the five factories, Adams Brothers, remains independent. Concessions have been made by both parties to the contest. The struggle has been a long and costly one to both employers and employees, in- volving a direct loss of at least $250,000 with indirect det- riment to the city of a much larger amount, as well as considerable suffering and sacrifice. At present the hatting business is dull and it will probably be some time before full work will be obtained in the factories, but when trade does revive, may it be brisk enough to enable all to repair, to a large extent, their losses." And so ended the strike of 1884.
In the fall of 1885 eleven men from this city, hat manu- facturers, took part in a move fostered by the National As- sociation of Fur Hat Finishers and Makers, "to establish and maintain harmonious relations between the manufactur- ers and their employes and promote the best interests of both parties." It was planned to form some sort of association which would look out for the interests of both employers and employes. Hat manufacturers in the states of Massa- chusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Pennsyl-
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vania were asked to join. At a convention called in New York city, October 28, 1885, 63 manufacturers were present, representing the greater part of the capital invested in the fur hat business in this country. Eleven manufacturers from this town were present. Unfortunately there was a strong note of opposition to the movement in New Jersey among the hat makers. The impetus of the movement lagged and finally died.
For many years after the trouble in 1884 and 1885 in Norwalk, the hatting industry prospered. Manufacturers made a good profit; the workers earned good wages. Dur- ing the first years of the 20th century, business was un- usually brisk.
STRIKE OF 1909
In the year 1909, Norwalk suffered a second big hat strike, a very serious one which threatened to cripple the industry, and which lasted almost a year. The Guyer Hat Co. of Boston started the trouble; the union hatters finished it. The main bone of contention was the refusal of the hat manufacturers, following certain actions of the union, to recognize the union label. Although the strike dragged on for nearly 12 months, it never came to a definite end, but rather "petered out," some of the hatters going out of town; others remaining in the union and taking work in open shops. As a result of the strike, the Crofut and Knapp Hat Co., became an open shop and has so remained to this day, al- though the majority of the other local hat factories are union shops.
It seems that the Guyer Hat Company of Boston was granted a lower scale of wages by the union for a little branch hat factory which it contemplated opening on Ca- therine st., Philadelphia. Shortly after the opening of this shop which employed only six men, the Guyer Hat Co. de- cided to open a large factory in Philadelphia, just a few streets from the little branch. So far so good. But after the opening, it was discovered that the Guyer Hat Co. in-
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tended paying wages in its new factory equal in amount to the low wages granted the company by the union for the establishment of its small branch factory. The Union an- nounced that the Guyer Hat Co. had violated its existing contract in Boston and forthwith the use of the union label was denied it. At that time the use of the union label in hats was more or less of a necessity to the hat manufactur- ers.
Following this action, all the union hatters walked out of the Philadelphia shops, without waiting for a settlement of the trouble or even bothering to give notice, although it had been previously agreed that the union would never call out its men without warning the manufacturers, ten days in advance. The manufacturers retaliated at a meeting held in New York city at the Hotel Knickerbocker, Janu- ary 15, 1909, when they banded together, defied the union to take away the use of its label and announced that hence- forth, they wouldn't use the union label.
As a result, the hat industry immediately found itself in the worst tie-up in years. Seventy-five factories employing no less than 25,000 workers were affected, and in the Crofut and Knapp Co. in this city, 700 hatters ceased work. Janu- ary 16, 1909, 75 men employed in the John H. Wolthausen
In Dan- plant on Woodward ave., this city, walked out. bury, 4,000 workers were already at home, waiting with idle hands for a settlement agreeable to themselves. Two days later the Hat Manufacturing association meeting in New York announced that most of the employers through- out the country would institute open shops; that there were some 20,000 strikers out, but that there were plenty of "scabs." At the time it was said that the union had set aside $400,000 to fight the strike, which it was estimated would cost the country more than $1,000,000.
Many of the hatters who walked out when told to do so, did not know the reason of the strike. Their wages and hours remained untouched and they could not see why they should not go to work. However, they belonged to
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the union and their loyalty forced them out. Local em- ployers announced they would wait two weeks for the union m'en to return and if they had not done so by that time, open shop would be declared. February 9, finding the union still obdurate, the Crofut and Knapp Co. decided upon the open shop as previously warned.
When the C. and K. threw open its doors on that event- ful morning, to the accompaniment of catcalls and mutter- ings from the crowds of strikers gathered in the streets, John Cavanagh, who was then general manager of the com- pany and mayor of the city of Norwalk, was discovered at his old bench, curling hats. With him were Philip Knapp, then vice president and Superintendent Joseph L. O'Brien. All three of them, expert hat curlers, were taking the places of certain of the strikers who had left the plant with their tools a few days before. The C. and K. company, which was at the time in the midst of its spring trade, announced that it intended to fill all orders in keeping with promises made in a big advertising campaign upon which thousands of dollars had already been spent. Efforts were then being made by the company to obtain outside help. Trimmers and binders were needed badly, for the rest of the factory was some 600 hats ahead of the trimming and binding de- partment. John Cavanagh was instrumental in securing twelve women experts in this phase of the work from Phil- adelphia, Pa. They were scheduled to arrive in Norwalk, February 16, 1909. An interesting story is connected with their entrance to our city.
Previous to their arrival, Mr. Cavanagh had made ar- rangements with a couple in Union Park to house the girls and the woman had made all the necessary plans. How- ever, the night before the delegation arrived, a group of union trimmers called on the good lady, and threatened to burn her home and the loss of a job to her husband, should she dare to take in the girls. Meantime, Mr. Cavanagh was engineering the arrival of the girls. It was not thought safe for them to come into Norwalk by train. As a con-
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