At the time that George Bollman set up his hat factory in Adamstown, Pennsylvania, in 1868, the area was home to many hat makers, due to access to plentiful water. Hat manufacturing required a great deal of fresh water to both operate the machinery and to felt wool. Today, manufacturers use other means to power machinery and mills and use water reclamation technology to minimize water usage. This has enabled felt-making and other textile manufacturing to move to sites that would otherwise be less suitable.
Hatmaking was, for many years, a major industry in Lancaster and Berks County where Adamstown is located. Bollman Hat Company became one of the best-known hat makers in the region, supplying hat bodies (the unshaped felted wool cones) to hat makers up and down the east coast. Over time they bought out the majority of the other hat makers in Adamstown. Hatmaking is still the major manufacturing employer in Adamstown. Bollman is one of only two hat makers remaining in this area.
The hat-making history is evident in the region, with many street names reflecting hat companies, or processing. In addition the many antique shops (Adamstown is quite renowned for its antique shops) have names reflecting the local hat-making history, and are often located in former hat buildings and other factories.
Bollman is the only hat maker still working start (wool) to finish (hats) in Adamstown. As Bollman Hat Company acquired other brands including Bailey, Betmar, Country Gentleman, Helen Kaminski and Ignite, as well as, global rights to Kangol Headwear, Bollman become a global company. Bollman Hat Company is also a private label hat maker for other fashion designers, including Marc Jacobs and Samuel L. Jackson and companies, including Cabela’s sporting goods.
According to en.wikipedia.org; the Source of photos: internet
