Hat block
A hat block, also known as a hat form or bashing block, is a wooden block carved into the shape of a hat by a craftsman known as a block shaper. It is used by hat makers and milliners to produce a hat.
Today there are only a handful of block shapers left. In the United Kingdom, hat block making has been listed as an endangered craft by the Heritage Crafts Association, with three remaining hat block making businesses still in operation as of 2022.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Hat block”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Hat block being taken apart.jpg by CoraDara, CC0
- Hat-blocks-on-workbench.JPG by Aussie oz, CC BY-SA 3.0
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