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Article: HATS OFF TO HANDMADE ; Penrose craftsman uses century-old tools to make custom cowboy lids
- Article from:
- The Gazette
- Article date:
- July 12, 2008
- Author:
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Copyright informationCopyright 2008 The Gazette. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Tom Hirt of Penrose knows he's a dying breed.
He makes cowboy hats by hand.
Most hats today are mass produced, made of cheap materials and
often manufactured overseas by machine.
But in the shop behind his home, Hirt carries on the old
tradition -- using 100-year-old hat blocks to mold Western hats out
of felted beaver fur.
"My only equipment are my two hands and a lot of time to do it
right," he says. Steam nearly hides his face as he works to get the
right shape on a custom order.
A customer stops to leave a hat. It's not one of Hirt's designs,
but the hatmaker does reshaping and repairs, too. They shoot the
bull about barrel racing and the chuck wagon cooking Hirt does
occasionally ...
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