Matt, just a thought, but why not let the dent be? It shows the Bowler's "battle scars" history and that it has been worn for purpose.
You're welcome, Matt. Hope you didn't think I was interfering. Looking forward to seeing you sporting it.
Thanks Matt. That was how it was meant [emoji145]
Super memorable photos, Steve. Great hats, what an occasion.Continued.
I am wearing a late 1930s J. Hückel ´s Söhne "Flexible" "Seal Velour" made for Huthase Dresden, Leipzig, Chemnitz.
With Radek Polách Deputy Director Museum of the Nový Jičín Region and author of "Tonak 1799, 220 Years".
With Tonak Majority Owner Mikael Ahlström.
With Jirí Tourek CEO of Tonak.
With Stanislav Kopecký Mayor of Nový Jičín.
With Ondřej Syrovátka Second Deputy Mayor Nový Jičín.
With František Holub contributor to the "Tonak 1799, 220 Years". Franta was wearing a fantastic 1950s Tonak "Velmia" Velour that belongs to his father.
With the Holub family.
Some background information on the Augustin Hückel
The Return of Augustin Hückel
In 1933 a bust with a commemorative plaque dedicated to Augustin Hückel was unveiled in a park in front of the factory of the Hückel family. The work of the sculptor Leopold Hückel, reminiscent of the founder of the industrial production of gargoyle in Nový Jičín, was removed in the early 1950s. Thanks to the Club of Natives and Friends of Nový Jičín, a copy of the bust was created, which will be unveiled on Friday 6 September on the occasion of the 220th anniversary of the establishment of today's TONAK company and on the eve of the City Celebration.
The natives of Nový Jičín rediscovered the missing bust of a significant native
11 July 2019, 11:55, Nový Jičín , Petra Dorazilová
The bust of one of the founders of the famous hat shop Augustin Hückel will return to Nový Jičín. It was removed from the park in front of the Tonak factory, which is the successor of this brand, in the 1950s.
The bronze bust of one of the founders of the world hat company, Augustin Hückel, was unveiled in the park in front of the Nový Jičín factory in 1933. It disappeared during the socialist era in the 1950s. Coincidence now led to the idea of her return. There is a copy in Germany.
"During last year's visit to Ludwigsburg, I discovered a model of the bust that the author's son, Leopold Hohel, provided to the compatriots archive that exists in Ludwigsburg," said Pavel Wessely, chairman of the Club of Natives and Friends of Nový Jičín.
Pavel Wessely expressed the wish that we lend the model to create a new bust. It was agreed to make a 3D scan of the model and the bust can be restored in Nový Jičín, ”confirmed Ruth Junkers, manager of the expatriate archive in Ludwigsburg (Germany).
The town of Nový Jičín paid the production of the copy, which cost 80 thousand crowns. The stone pedestal on which it will be placed will also be new.
This memorial should be built there during the holidays. Its construction will be taken care of by the Club of Natives and Friends of the City. It should be unveiled on the occasion of the town festival, ”said Ondřej Syrovátka (SZ), 2nd Vice-Mayor of Nový Jičín.
The face of the founder of the hat production will return to its original place in September, the year when the successor of the Hückel brand, today's Tonak, celebrates 220 years of its founding.
https://polar.cz/zpravy/novojicinsk...nsti-rodaci-chystaji-navrat-augustina-huckela
Can't wait to see them, Steve.Steve, Thank you! I have more to post.
Legend TONAK: The oldest millinery in the world is 220 years old!
Nový Jičín made an indelible history as a "city of hats". Its hatter's history was written by Prokop Hatter, mentioned in the archival sources from 1506. Later, in 1630, a separate hatter's guild came into being here. from Würtzburg, Bavaria, which first settled in Fulnek in 1638 and operated a hat shop for 160 years.In 1799 Johann Nepomuk Hückel became a hat maker in Nový Jičín and laid the foundations of the oldest factory of its kind in the world.
Deed of acceptance of Johann Nepomuk Hückel into the hatter's guild. Photo: State District Archives
With steam to the top Johann Nepomuk Hückel ran his trade at first at the then Courierring (today's General Hlaď Street) in house number 749. Later in 1811 his brother Augustin (1786-1848) came to the town and joined into the local hat production. Both brothers had adjacent workshops at the Lower Gate number 16 and 18, which in 1848 Augustine's son Johann (1814-1880) merged into one production complex. After the return of his sons from hat making studies abroad, in 1865 he mechanized the production of a 3 horsepower steam engine. His workshop was the first mechanized millinery in the then Austria. The contribution of new technologies to production immediately increased demand. Therefore, in 1867 it was decided to purchase land on the southern side of the city and build a modern hat factory. Soon after the construction of the new factory, Johann Hückel employed 300 workers. In 1868, the company was newly registered as a trading company J. Hückel's Sohne. At the same time the brothers Augustin (1848-1917) and Johann (1843-1917) Hückel used all possibilities and means to develop the whole enterprise a few years later, in 1874, their factory became the largest in the city, and the next year their youngest brother Karl (1850-1919) joined as a partner. and Hückel's extensive production was awarded at many world exhibitions at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Drawing by Johann Hückel at Lower Gate. Photo: State District Archive Nový Jičín
View of the factory Johann Hückel's Reaches from 1895. Photo: Museum of Novojidín
Tradition continues
Only the First World War halted further development of the millinery production. After its end, in addition to the Viennese branch, plants were also established in Racibórz, Germany and Skočov, Poland. During the boom before the next world war, the company employed about 3,000 workers, masters and clerks. Nearly 1,000 different machines were driven by four steam boilers and a turbine with almost three wagons of coal a day. During World War II the company gradually switched to arms production. In 1941, Hückel's factory purchased the former Brüder Böhm factory from the German state. Like many other Nový Jičín families, the Hückels left for Germany and Austria at the end of the war. Subsequent nationalization and merger of all then Czechoslovak hatter's factories gave rise to the firm TONAK, a national enterprise. Today's TONAK joint stock company continues in the tradition of Nový Jičín and ranks among the oldest factories in the world with amazing 220 years of history. It exports its products to more than fifty countries around the world. This year's anniversary will commemorate not only the September festivities of the city, but also the first large publication mapping the hatter's history in our city. Radek Polách, Museum Novojičkiska
Georg, When I visited in 2011 I took photos of the Novy Jicin City Museum collection that is on display. I believe they have many more hats in their archives.
Alden 403 Moc Toe Boot - Brown Chromexcel - $680 The classic "Indy" style Alden Boot in the classic Horween brown Chromexcel. 
Grant Stone Diesel Boot Dark Olive Chromexcel - #395 Goodyear welted, Horween Chromexcel, classic good looks. 
Himel Bros. - The Ross Mk. 1 Leather Jacket Classic D-pocket motorcycle/aviator style jacket.
Georg, Thanks!
An excellent historical record, Steve. Thank you so much for sharing.Continued.
Johann Hückel´s Söhne Neutitschein
The beginning of industrial hat production in Central Europe can be found in the town of Nový Jičín. Here in 1799 he was admitted to missions. trulio guild Fulnek hatter Johann Nepomuk Huckel and soon after his brother Augustin Huckel. After the merger of their workshops by Augustine's son Johann Hückel, the workshop in 1865 on today's Dolnobranská Street was the first hat mill in the whole of Austria to manufacture a steam engine. This year is considered the beginning of industrial hat production in our countries. Two years later, the construction of a new large hat factory on the outskirts of the city, which in 1867 already employed 300 workers. On January 1, 1868, Johann Hückel's Sóhne was founded. The Nový Jičín company at the end of the 19th century dominated the overseas markets and its products were world famous. Johann Hückel's Sóhne from Nový Jičín and P. & C. Habig from Vienna were Austrian-Hungarian hatter companies, whose production and quality exceeded all competition. Johann Hückel's Sóhne, however, has survived the times of war without any detriment by parts of its size and self - sufficiency. At the end of the 1930s, the company employed some 3,000 workers, masters and officials. With its 48,000 m2, the factory in Nový Jičín was one of the largest millinery in the world. The production had at its disposal a thousand different machines that powered four steam boilers and a 1600 kW turbine with a daily consumption of two to three wagons of coal. The production of the company Johann Hückel's Sóhne was mainly men's felt velour hats in exclusive design, especially in the qualities of Platinum and Superior Velour, as well as light hats of the quality Plume with hair Duret rauh. Ratina-quality products with goosebumps were also popular. In women's rust, these were more expensive products such as Rival, Sigma and Alpha or cheaper Corall quality products.
Rival, Sigma and Alpha or cheaper Corall products. In 1922, in addition to its older branch in Vienna, Johann Hückel's Sóhne established a branch plant in Silesian Racibórz (then Germany) and a year later in 1923 another plant in Silesian Skocov (then Poland). The global economic crisis, which began with the fall on the US stock exchange in 1929, caused Hückel a partial loss of the overseas markets and the associated reduction in production and staff. Work hours were also reduced to 40 hours per week (only one shift was worked). Nevertheless, the capital accounts of the four shareholders of Johann Hückel's Sóhne as of January 1, 1932 amounted to almost CZK 79 million. Johann Hückel's Sóhne experienced two major economic booms in 1918-1938. The second at the end of the thirties stopped the Second World War. In 1945 the factory was nationalized and the national company TONAK was established.
Johann Hückel's Sóhne Ratina
Tonak 1945 - 1989
The end of the Second World War brought not only a new composition of the management of the hat factory in Nový Jičiná, but also new intentions connected with the renewed Czechoslovak Republic. The October decree of the President of the Czechoslovak Republic, Edvard Beneš, meant the merger of three Nový Jičín hatter companies into one, including the Janyška factory in Walachia. On May 27, 1946, the National Administration of the Johann Hückel's Sóhne factory, a hat factory, requested that the company be deleted from the Commercial Register of the Regional Court in Nový Jičín. The change was to be made in connection with the presidential decree with the assets to the company: Hat factories, national enterprise. As of June 4, 1946, the erasure was carried out by Johann Hfickens Schhnetak officially ceased to exist. After the takeover of power in Czechoslovakia in February 1948 by the Communist Party headed by Klement Gottwald, the hatter's factories were linked to a dozen smaller factories in Bohemia and Moravia under the Act on Further Nationalization. Thus, a total of 24 plants were incorporated into the TONAK company. In 1949, the national hat production company Otavan, based in Katowice, was established. All factories in the Czech Republic were assigned to him from the national company TONAK. The race in Nový Jičín was named TONAK 1, the race in Valašské Meziria TONAK 2 and the Prague race was named TONAK 3. In NovýJičín, the individual races were also numbered. By these changes, the TONAK factory in Nový Jičín became the main pillar of the production of felt hats throughout Czechoslovakia. The national company TONAK has taken care of the training of new employees from the very beginning. After the war and the expulsion of the German population, there were very few specialists left in Nový Jičín and the management had to use the professional capacities of the former Czech factory Janyška in Valašské Menne. workers. In 1963, it grew into a corporate technical school of hat-making technology, which was led by the then-skilled employees of the hat factory.
Significant changes occurred in 1967. At that time, the reconstruction of the entire hat shop in Nový Jičín began. In the course of this, the factory was looked at by the Minister of Industry and Trade Božena Machačová-Dostálová, who supported further development of hat production. In 1969 the hat factory in Nový Jičín processed 19 million animal skins a year, with only one million being imported. Almost 74,510 production at that time was intended for export to know more than fifty countries around the world. During the normalization period, TONAK has been relatively stable during the normalization period. when production and employment made the hat factory one of the most important economic elements of the whole Nový Jičín region. However, this era brought with it a number of other factors, which meant particularly paralyzing direct contacts with the new fashion guilty of Western European countries. The main component of sales were still mass-produced hat products for the countries of the socialist sector. Further changes occurred after 1989.
Tonak 1989 - Present
The “Velvet Revolution” in 1989 meant not only major changes in the political organization of Czechoslovakia and the end of the communist government, but also new challenges for doing business in the public and private sectors. On December 31, 1990, TONAK «became a joint-stock company, with 40% of the hatter's property being the first to blame for coupon privatization. The dynamic development of the 1990s in the form of geopolitical and ownership changes influenced the economic results of the transformed TONAK company. Debt burden from the priority markets of the country of the former trade organization RVHP, associating socialist states of the Soviet bloc and the former Soviet Union, caused sales difficulties and overall stagnation of trade and production. Stabilization occurred only after 1996, when the balance of trade was increased and the operating results stabilized and a gradual increase in sales occurred. Japan, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Scandinavia, the United States of America and Switzerland ranked among the main markets at that time outside of Central and Eastern Europe. The steady-state shareholder structure with Pat's significant and decisive shareholding, together with the stabilization of economic indicators, enabled TONAK to take the path to a modern and prosperous future. As the main pillar of the revitalized strategy we can consider further building the position of the TONAK brand in terms of business and investment. Today, the focus is on productivity, new technologies, manufacturing patents and on increasing personnel qualifications. Stressful trade strategy is based on strong positioning of high quality felt and quality semi-finished products. It includes various phases of development for hat companies in the business relations between companies (B2B segment) and at the same time into the consumer environment of the end customers (B2C segment) with the goal of creating the brand TONAK. In the future, it should be the preferred supplier of quality and design of new headgear in modern in-time style. A key step towards a new emerging generation of consumers was the breakthrough through digital communication, new collaboration with leading designers and fashion icons, of course backed by the building of own network of flagship and flagship stores and e-commerce. TONAK today, we export almost all over the world - from Europe to North and South America, North and West Africa to the Near and Middle East. Wholesale customers include Australia, Bolivia, China, Ecuador, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Kuwait. Mongolia, Nigeria, Poland, Russia, Senegal. United States and United Kingdom.
Steve, Thank you!
