Czech Republicans: Tonak, Huckel, no name

[mayserwegener]

I thought I would post this on this thread too. Basically Hückel (now TONAK) was a Austrian - German company up to WWII. It (combined with other local hat companies) became Czech-Slovak state controlled TONAK after WWII. Neutitschein (now Novy Jicin) where TONAK is located was pat of the Austrian Hungarian Empire up to WWI.

http://www.radio.cz/de/artikel/33797


Babel Fish English Translation

http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_url?doit=done&tt=url&intl=1&fr=bf-home&trurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.radio.cz%2Fde%2Fartikel%2F33797&lp=de_en&btnTrUrl=Translate

 

[matei]

I had a dark blue, fur felt Tonak that I bought in Romania several years ago.

It was a very nice, thin, floppy felt - very easy to bash.

I trimmed the brim down somewhat and ended up giving it to a hatless friend. It benefited from the narrower brim.

 

[rlk]

Prague Post 2006 Article about Tonak

http://www.thepraguepost.com/articles/2006/03/01/hats-off.php

 

[J.T.Marcus]

rlk, That article is quite informative. Thanks for posting it!

 

[Rodkins]

Here's mine:

 

[mayserwegener]

Is this one you posted on the eBay thread? Is there any paper label behind the sweat band? Is the liner stiched or glued? It looks 1970s or later.

 

[Rodkins]

Is this one you posted on the eBay thread? Is there any paper label behind the sweat band? Is the liner stiched or glued? It looks 1970s or later.

It's 2005. The liner is stitched and says 100% fur felt. It says Huckel and Barcelona.

 

[mayserwegener]

Is there a paper label with the manufacturing date of 2005? That is very interesting about liner being stitched and not glued. You usually don't see that it in recent production hats. Is the there mention of the country of orgin? I assume Barcelona is the model name. As far as I know TONAK (Czech Republic) owns the rights for Hückel outside of Germany. If you have time I would like to see some photos of the inside and behind the sweatband (paper labels, liner stiching).

 

[sfend002]

Heading to Prague in June. I am going to have to pick up a hat!

Anyone know of a good place there?

 

[Rodkins]

Is there a paper label with the manufacturing date of 2005? That is very interesting about liner being stitched and not glued. You usually don't see that it in recent production hats. Is the there mention of the country of orgin? I assume Barcelona is the model name. As far as I know TONAK (Czech Republic) owns the rights for Hückel outside of Germany. If you have time I would like to see some photos of the inside and behind the sweatband (paper labels, liner stiching).

I'll try to get a picture when I get a chance. The sweat band is stitched and the liner is glued. Sorry for my errant description.

 

[Rodkins]

Here are the details:

 

[mayserwegener]

Ok that makes sense that the liner is glued. Have no idea if TONAK made it based on the paper label. Is there a mention of the Czech Republic (or some other country)? I have no idea of the current Hückel license situation. I am just assuming TONAK still holds the rights outside of Germany. I believe FWS (Stetson Europe) owns them for Germany but is not marketing hats under the name.

 

[Rodkins]

Here is my Tonak...

Open crown

As it came in the mail

 

[mayserwegener]

As I mentioned on the other thread this is an early TONAK so probably early 50s. TONAK just replaced Hückel on the liner label. At that time I believe TONAK did not have the rights to export under the Hückel brand. The reason being that the owner (Fritz Hückel)
was expelled after WWII (the hat companies in Novy Jicin (before WWI Neutitschein, Austria) were Austrian / German operations) and setup a factory in Weilheim, Germany. From what I can gaither TONAK eventually gained the Hückel name rights around the mid 50s for every where outside the German market. Fritz Hückel Weilheim had the Hückel name rights for Germany but exported to the US as Fritz Hückel Hutmacher.

 

[Rodkins]

As I mentioned on the other thread this is an early TONAK so probably early 50s. TONAK just replaced Hückel on the liner label. At that time I believe TONAK did not have the rights to export under the Hückel brand. The reason being that the owner (Fritz Hückel)
was expelled after WWII (the hat companies in Novy Jicin (before WWI Neutitschein, Austria) were Austrian / German operations) and setup a factory in Weilheim, Germany. From what I can gaither TONAK eventually gained the Hückel name rights around the mid 50s for every where outside the German market. Fritz Hückel Weilheim had the Hückel name rights for Germany but exported to the US as Fritz Hückel Hutmacher.

VERY cool information, mayserwegener. Thanks!

 

[mayserwegener]

Thanks! You can find more here.

http://germanaustrianhats.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/6-johann-huckel%c2%b4s-sohne-huckel-hutfabrik-weilheim/page__view__findpost__p__6

 

[Jedwbpm]

Mayserwegener is there a tread on the board talking about the hat makers in Europe now? If not maybe you could start one. I have enjoyed my Akubras and could be easily talked into ordering more hats from outside the US

Jeff

 

[monbla256]

Thanks! You can find more here.

http://germanaustrianhats.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/6-johann-huckel%c2%b4s-sohne-huckel-hutfabrik-weilheim/page__view__findpost__p__6

Mayserwegener,
Thanks for the link. Have bookmarked it for later reading. I find the hats you have aquired are really some of the most amazing examples of the hatters craft.
Onward thru the Fog

 

[danofarlington]

Mayserwegener is there a tread on the board talking about the hat makers in Europe now? If not maybe you could start one. I have enjoyed my Akubras and could be easily talked into ordering more hats from outside the US

Jeff

I would like to cruise more on the European E Bays, whatever they are, to see what they're selling. German E Bay would be good, but I don't speak German. For the new market, because of TFL I became interested to explore Mayser hats. A Google search led me to just one U.S store that seems to stock them, Hat Lounge in North Carolina (www.hatlounge.com). Their offerings look good. Maybe I'll be able to drive down there sometime to try them on.

 

[mayserwegener]

Mayserwegener is there a tread on the board talking about the hat makers in Europe now? If not maybe you could start one. I have enjoyed my Akubras and could be easily talked into ordering more hats from outside the US

Jeff

There isn't a specific list for Europe.

Here are the German, Czech and Polish factories still in operation.

Mayser Lindenberg, Germany

Still making city style dress hats but felt and straw hat production will move to their factory in Roznava,
Slovakia starting April 2011.

R. & M. Wegener Lauterbach, Germany http://wegener.org/

Still making some city style dress hats. Not sure where current production is taking place although the original factory is still in Lauterbach.

K. & R. Lembert Hutfabrik Augsburg, Germany http://www.hutfabrik-lembert.de/

Specializes in made to order traditional styles but can also make city style dress hats. They still have old blocks and flanges and can make old styles. I plan to visit Lembert in the beginning of April.

Faustmann Unteregg, Germany http://www.hut-faustmann.de/

They mostly make lower end Trachten style hats but have some city style hats.

TONAK Novy Jicin, Czech Republic http://www.tonak.cz/

Oldest felt and hat factory in the world. Was known as Johann Hückel´s Söhne up to the end of WWII. Still produce felt and make city style dress hats under the TONAK, Hückel and Selentino marks. I plan to visit TONAK the beginning of April.

PolkaP Skoczów, Poland http://test.polkap.pl/index.php/en.html

Also was Johann Hückel´s Söhne factory prior up to WWII. They are still producing city style dress hats and I think you can order direct from them. They also produce felt hoods like TONAK. They are close to Novy Jicin so I might go and check them out.