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The Trimble Tavern
- Thread starter delectans
- Start date
mmbarnes
I'll Lock Up
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Awesome. My hat is it's twin.Here are some before and after photos of the Trimble I just got.
Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
Your choice of ribbon is right on.
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mmbarnes
I'll Lock Up
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From what I've read, Trimble's original factory was the Jersey one that opened in the late 1800s. The company later opened a second factory in Minneapolis. I'm not sure when that happened, though.
Mine was sold in Minneapolis, so I'm pretty sure it is from that factory, too. I've not yet checked the label.
mmbarnes
I'll Lock Up
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- A tad northwest of Richmond, VA
What follows is the first installment of my brief, three part history of the Trimble Hat Company.
I have had to break it up into two posts and have attached some relevant ads to the second.
This covers the first phase of Trimble's existence, 1900 to 1930.
I hope that folks find it interesting.
________
The Trimble Hat Company’s history can be conveniently broken up into three phases. The first phase began in 1900 when the company started operations in Orange, New Jersey. That phase (and Trimble Hat’s heyday) came to a close in 1930. Then, the company moved to Norwalk, CT where it operated out of space owned by another hat company. Little information is available during the time between 1930 and 1949. Trimble Hat’s final phase lasted from 1949 when the company was purchased by a Minneapolis, MN hatmaker who continued manufacturing in that city. Trimble Hat closed in the early 1960s.
Phase One: 1900 to 1930
The name “Trimble” in Trimble Hat belongs to Robert A. Trimble. He was born in 1861. The earliest mention of Trimble I located is an entry in the The Clothier & Furnisher, Vol. XXIII, No. 7, February 1894:
“Mr. Robert Trimble, the genial representative of the Volk Hat Company, recently returned from a trip in the West, through his usual territory. Mr. Trimble is a staunch advocate of the famous “Harrington” hat, for he knows a good thing when he sees it. Through the line he carries and through his own energy and push, he is rated one of the biggest hat salesmen that go out of New York. He will be out for Fall business with some special surprises for his trade.”
That Bob Trimble was a highly respected member of the fraternity of hat salesmen is abundantly clear. Even though Trimble had become the principal of Trimble Hat nearly a decade earlier, his popularity among salesmen had not lost its luster in 1908. The February 1908 American Hatter notes that at the first annual dinner of the Traveling Hat Salesmen’s Association in New York, Trimble was elected president of that organization.
William E. Cless was the second person who was integral to the formation of what would be the Trimble Hat Company. Cless was the owner of W.E. Cless & Co. of Des Moines, Iowa. He opened the shop September 6, 1886 and sold “hats, caps, furs and gents’ furnishing goods.” The shop was the exclusive agent for Dunlap Hats in Des Moines.
It is not clear when Trimble and Cless became acquainted. But, it is a fair assumption that the introduction was occasioned by their common connection to the hat business. Perhaps the two met as Trimble travelled his sales route. The two obviously became very good friends well before going into business together. In 1897, Trimble honored his relationship with Cless by giving his son, John, the middle name “Cless”.
As the twentieth century began, the two decided to open a hat manufacturing business. On April 22, 1900, the Des Moines Register reported that Cless had sold his business to “go east, where he will engage in a manufacturing enterprise.” Later that year, the two opened the Trimble-Cless Hat Company at 42 Freeman Street in hat factory rich Orange, New Jersey. As the company worked to develop a market, the August 1903 American Hatter noted that Trimble had recently visited retailers in San Francisco exhibiting both Trimble-Cless as well as Volk hats. An ad in that edition also noted that Volk was the exclusive selling agent for Trimble-Cless hats.
Cless’es active participation in the enterprise was short-lived. On August 6, 1905, the Des Moines Register reported that he was selling his interest in Trimble-Cless and intending to make Des Moines his permanent residence again. Cless and other investors were planning on acquiring the assets of a business called White’s Notion Company. The investors needed to raise about $150,000 for the acquisition. Part of that amount needed to come from the sale of Cless’es interest in the hat factory. After Cless’es departure, the business was renamed Trimble Hat Company.
On August 18, 1906, the company narrowly avoided catastrophe. The nearby hat factory Frederick Cummings Sons & Co. was the apparent victim of a nighttime arson started by an incendiary device in the factory’s trimming department. The Trimble factory was saved, but The Scranton Republican reported that, in total, the resulting explosion and fire caused an estimated $300,000 in damage to various businesses and left 500 workers unemployed. In today’s dollars, the loss was $7,775,000. Trimble Hat later sued Cummings to recover $3,000 for the loss of felt and furs that had been consigned to Cummings and destroyed in the fire. Cummings won the suit because Trimble Hat did not prove that Cummings failure to insure the felt and furs was contrary to established practice in the hat manufacturing industry.
However, it seems that Trimble Hat received a net benefit from the fire. The February 1907 American Hatter reported that Trimble Hat had purchased portions of the Cummings property with plans to build a new facility. The new brick factory located at 407 South Jefferson Street was completed in 1907 and cost $30,000 to build according to a quote from The Bureau of Industrial Statistics of New Jersey, 30th Annual Report, 1907. The facility was Trimble Hat’s home for the remainder of the its time in Orange.
Information about the employees who formed the backbone of Trimble Hat is difficult to find. However, when it completed its new factory in 1907, it planned to employ a workforce of 135 (100 men and 35 women). In January 1909, a strike of the approximately 18,000 member United Hatters of America affected the majority of the industry. The months long strike was aimed at companies that were members of the National Fur Felt Hat Manufacturer’s Association and in response to what started as a pay dispute at the Guyer Hat Company in Philadelphia. While smaller strikes affected the industry before, the 1909 walk-out was the largest to date. In Orange, 2,000 men and women left their jobs. However, because Trimble Hat was not a member of the Manufacturer’s Association, its workforce remained on the job.
If available published sources are any indication, Trimble Hat was largely free from major labor unrest. The sole mention I found of any strike dates from 1914. On August 20, 31 “girls” in the trimming department walked off of the job seeking a wage increase. The work stoppage was quickly resolved when the workers were given the raise they wanted.
End of post 1.
I have had to break it up into two posts and have attached some relevant ads to the second.
This covers the first phase of Trimble's existence, 1900 to 1930.
I hope that folks find it interesting.
________
The Trimble Hat Company’s history can be conveniently broken up into three phases. The first phase began in 1900 when the company started operations in Orange, New Jersey. That phase (and Trimble Hat’s heyday) came to a close in 1930. Then, the company moved to Norwalk, CT where it operated out of space owned by another hat company. Little information is available during the time between 1930 and 1949. Trimble Hat’s final phase lasted from 1949 when the company was purchased by a Minneapolis, MN hatmaker who continued manufacturing in that city. Trimble Hat closed in the early 1960s.
Phase One: 1900 to 1930
The name “Trimble” in Trimble Hat belongs to Robert A. Trimble. He was born in 1861. The earliest mention of Trimble I located is an entry in the The Clothier & Furnisher, Vol. XXIII, No. 7, February 1894:
“Mr. Robert Trimble, the genial representative of the Volk Hat Company, recently returned from a trip in the West, through his usual territory. Mr. Trimble is a staunch advocate of the famous “Harrington” hat, for he knows a good thing when he sees it. Through the line he carries and through his own energy and push, he is rated one of the biggest hat salesmen that go out of New York. He will be out for Fall business with some special surprises for his trade.”
That Bob Trimble was a highly respected member of the fraternity of hat salesmen is abundantly clear. Even though Trimble had become the principal of Trimble Hat nearly a decade earlier, his popularity among salesmen had not lost its luster in 1908. The February 1908 American Hatter notes that at the first annual dinner of the Traveling Hat Salesmen’s Association in New York, Trimble was elected president of that organization.
William E. Cless was the second person who was integral to the formation of what would be the Trimble Hat Company. Cless was the owner of W.E. Cless & Co. of Des Moines, Iowa. He opened the shop September 6, 1886 and sold “hats, caps, furs and gents’ furnishing goods.” The shop was the exclusive agent for Dunlap Hats in Des Moines.
It is not clear when Trimble and Cless became acquainted. But, it is a fair assumption that the introduction was occasioned by their common connection to the hat business. Perhaps the two met as Trimble travelled his sales route. The two obviously became very good friends well before going into business together. In 1897, Trimble honored his relationship with Cless by giving his son, John, the middle name “Cless”.
As the twentieth century began, the two decided to open a hat manufacturing business. On April 22, 1900, the Des Moines Register reported that Cless had sold his business to “go east, where he will engage in a manufacturing enterprise.” Later that year, the two opened the Trimble-Cless Hat Company at 42 Freeman Street in hat factory rich Orange, New Jersey. As the company worked to develop a market, the August 1903 American Hatter noted that Trimble had recently visited retailers in San Francisco exhibiting both Trimble-Cless as well as Volk hats. An ad in that edition also noted that Volk was the exclusive selling agent for Trimble-Cless hats.
Cless’es active participation in the enterprise was short-lived. On August 6, 1905, the Des Moines Register reported that he was selling his interest in Trimble-Cless and intending to make Des Moines his permanent residence again. Cless and other investors were planning on acquiring the assets of a business called White’s Notion Company. The investors needed to raise about $150,000 for the acquisition. Part of that amount needed to come from the sale of Cless’es interest in the hat factory. After Cless’es departure, the business was renamed Trimble Hat Company.
On August 18, 1906, the company narrowly avoided catastrophe. The nearby hat factory Frederick Cummings Sons & Co. was the apparent victim of a nighttime arson started by an incendiary device in the factory’s trimming department. The Trimble factory was saved, but The Scranton Republican reported that, in total, the resulting explosion and fire caused an estimated $300,000 in damage to various businesses and left 500 workers unemployed. In today’s dollars, the loss was $7,775,000. Trimble Hat later sued Cummings to recover $3,000 for the loss of felt and furs that had been consigned to Cummings and destroyed in the fire. Cummings won the suit because Trimble Hat did not prove that Cummings failure to insure the felt and furs was contrary to established practice in the hat manufacturing industry.
However, it seems that Trimble Hat received a net benefit from the fire. The February 1907 American Hatter reported that Trimble Hat had purchased portions of the Cummings property with plans to build a new facility. The new brick factory located at 407 South Jefferson Street was completed in 1907 and cost $30,000 to build according to a quote from The Bureau of Industrial Statistics of New Jersey, 30th Annual Report, 1907. The facility was Trimble Hat’s home for the remainder of the its time in Orange.
Information about the employees who formed the backbone of Trimble Hat is difficult to find. However, when it completed its new factory in 1907, it planned to employ a workforce of 135 (100 men and 35 women). In January 1909, a strike of the approximately 18,000 member United Hatters of America affected the majority of the industry. The months long strike was aimed at companies that were members of the National Fur Felt Hat Manufacturer’s Association and in response to what started as a pay dispute at the Guyer Hat Company in Philadelphia. While smaller strikes affected the industry before, the 1909 walk-out was the largest to date. In Orange, 2,000 men and women left their jobs. However, because Trimble Hat was not a member of the Manufacturer’s Association, its workforce remained on the job.
If available published sources are any indication, Trimble Hat was largely free from major labor unrest. The sole mention I found of any strike dates from 1914. On August 20, 31 “girls” in the trimming department walked off of the job seeking a wage increase. The work stoppage was quickly resolved when the workers were given the raise they wanted.
End of post 1.
Last edited:
mmbarnes
I'll Lock Up
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Post 2
_______
If we can infer anything from retail advertisements I found in newspapers, it seems that the development of Timble Hat’s market was geared towards less affluent, working-class customers in smaller markets. The vast majority of the ads appeared in cities and towns with large blue-collar populations. I found only two ads in San Francisco and one in Los Angeles. Likewise, no ads appear in New York City newspapers that I searched. I also note that from 1900 to until around 1950, none of the ads appear to have been placed by Trimble Hat. Rather, all were placed by the retailers who sold Trimble hats.
The first retail ad I found mentioning Trimble Hats is that of retailer Washer Brothers Co. in the March 14, 1908 San Antonio Express. Other newspapers from that time through 1920 containing ads featuring Trimble Hats (in chronological order of first appearance) were located in Anaconda, MT; Shiner, TX; Fort Wayne, IN; Pittsburgh, PA; Indianapolis, IN; El Paso, TX; Spokane, WA Tulsa, OK; Portland, OR; Independence, KS; New Orleans, LA; Asheville, NC; Carlisle, PA; Wilkes-Barre, PA; Atlanta, GA; Atchison, KS; Muskogee, OK; Great Falls, MT; Davenport, IA; Bloomington, IL; St. Louis, MO; Pittsburg, KS; Lincoln, NE; San Francisco, CA; Wichita Falls, TX; Omaha, NE; Salt Lake, City, UT; Butte, MT; Akron, OH; Sioux Falls, SD; Dunkirk, NY; Staunton, VA; Poughkeepsie, NY; Duluth, MN; Zanesville, OH; Corsicana, TX; Crowley, LA; Sandusky, OH; Muncie, IN; Greenville, SC; Louisville, KY; Winston-Salem, NC; Altoona, PA; Butler, PA; Richmond, IN; Seattle, WA; Lincoln, NE; Newport News, VA; Paris, TX; Harrisburg, PA; Emporia, KS; Nashville, TN; Marshall, TX; Los Angeles, CA; El Dorado, KS; Paris, TX; Alexandria, LA; Jackson, MS; Detroit, MI; Little Rock, AR; Shreveport, LA; Springfield, MO; Elizabeth City, NC; Parsons, KS; Springfield, MO; Greenwood, MS; Marshall, TX; Hartford, CT; Fitchburg, MA; Appleton, WI; Charleston, WV; Amarillo, TX; Waxahachie, TX; and Pine Bluff, AR.
Trimble Hat’s effort at growth during the 1910s is also suggested by reports of real estate transactions. During the period, it leased two spaces in New York City. The December 18, 1916 New York Herald reported that the company had leased “the parlor floor store” at 818 Broadway. The August 1917 Clothier & Furnisher reported that after having had it's New York “office” at 818 Broadway for “several” years, Trimble Hat had leased space in the “Fifth Avenue Building” which is located at 200 Fifth Avenue. The publication noted that the move to the new location was scheduled for January 1918. It is unclear whether the spaces were used as shops for retail sales or whether they were merely office locations which enabled the company to represent that their offices were at prestigious New York City locations. Presumably, using such impressive addresses (rather than Orange, New Jersey) would be beneficial for marketing to retailers in other parts of the country.
During the 1920s, the expansion of Trimble Hat into new markets slowed. Retailer advertisements appeared in the following additional locales: McKinney, TX; Binghamton, NY; Clarksdale, MS; Yazoo City, MS; Salem, OH; Cincinnati, OH; Abilene, TX; Norton, MS; Clarence, MO; and Old Bridge, NJ. The list is comparatively short and suggests that the company had reached the apex of its growth.
Trimble Hat’s first and most successful phase came to a close with the approach of Bob Trimble’s 1933 death. While his son, Robert Trimble, Jr. was president of Trimble Hat, with the senior Trimble’s decline, it appears that the business followed suit. On December 11, 1930, the Hartford Courant reported that Trimble Hat was leaving Orange, NJ for Norwalk, CT. The company was not moving into its own facilities. Rather, it was affiliating with the American Hat Company and would operate out of the same factory. The American Hat Company in Norwalk is not to be confused with the business that began operations in 1915 and continues to exist under the same name in Texas. Rather, the American Hat Company with which Trimble Hat became affiliated began as the Norwalk Hat Company.
___________
The next installment will cover 1930 until 1949.
_______
If we can infer anything from retail advertisements I found in newspapers, it seems that the development of Timble Hat’s market was geared towards less affluent, working-class customers in smaller markets. The vast majority of the ads appeared in cities and towns with large blue-collar populations. I found only two ads in San Francisco and one in Los Angeles. Likewise, no ads appear in New York City newspapers that I searched. I also note that from 1900 to until around 1950, none of the ads appear to have been placed by Trimble Hat. Rather, all were placed by the retailers who sold Trimble hats.
The first retail ad I found mentioning Trimble Hats is that of retailer Washer Brothers Co. in the March 14, 1908 San Antonio Express. Other newspapers from that time through 1920 containing ads featuring Trimble Hats (in chronological order of first appearance) were located in Anaconda, MT; Shiner, TX; Fort Wayne, IN; Pittsburgh, PA; Indianapolis, IN; El Paso, TX; Spokane, WA Tulsa, OK; Portland, OR; Independence, KS; New Orleans, LA; Asheville, NC; Carlisle, PA; Wilkes-Barre, PA; Atlanta, GA; Atchison, KS; Muskogee, OK; Great Falls, MT; Davenport, IA; Bloomington, IL; St. Louis, MO; Pittsburg, KS; Lincoln, NE; San Francisco, CA; Wichita Falls, TX; Omaha, NE; Salt Lake, City, UT; Butte, MT; Akron, OH; Sioux Falls, SD; Dunkirk, NY; Staunton, VA; Poughkeepsie, NY; Duluth, MN; Zanesville, OH; Corsicana, TX; Crowley, LA; Sandusky, OH; Muncie, IN; Greenville, SC; Louisville, KY; Winston-Salem, NC; Altoona, PA; Butler, PA; Richmond, IN; Seattle, WA; Lincoln, NE; Newport News, VA; Paris, TX; Harrisburg, PA; Emporia, KS; Nashville, TN; Marshall, TX; Los Angeles, CA; El Dorado, KS; Paris, TX; Alexandria, LA; Jackson, MS; Detroit, MI; Little Rock, AR; Shreveport, LA; Springfield, MO; Elizabeth City, NC; Parsons, KS; Springfield, MO; Greenwood, MS; Marshall, TX; Hartford, CT; Fitchburg, MA; Appleton, WI; Charleston, WV; Amarillo, TX; Waxahachie, TX; and Pine Bluff, AR.
Trimble Hat’s effort at growth during the 1910s is also suggested by reports of real estate transactions. During the period, it leased two spaces in New York City. The December 18, 1916 New York Herald reported that the company had leased “the parlor floor store” at 818 Broadway. The August 1917 Clothier & Furnisher reported that after having had it's New York “office” at 818 Broadway for “several” years, Trimble Hat had leased space in the “Fifth Avenue Building” which is located at 200 Fifth Avenue. The publication noted that the move to the new location was scheduled for January 1918. It is unclear whether the spaces were used as shops for retail sales or whether they were merely office locations which enabled the company to represent that their offices were at prestigious New York City locations. Presumably, using such impressive addresses (rather than Orange, New Jersey) would be beneficial for marketing to retailers in other parts of the country.
During the 1920s, the expansion of Trimble Hat into new markets slowed. Retailer advertisements appeared in the following additional locales: McKinney, TX; Binghamton, NY; Clarksdale, MS; Yazoo City, MS; Salem, OH; Cincinnati, OH; Abilene, TX; Norton, MS; Clarence, MO; and Old Bridge, NJ. The list is comparatively short and suggests that the company had reached the apex of its growth.
Trimble Hat’s first and most successful phase came to a close with the approach of Bob Trimble’s 1933 death. While his son, Robert Trimble, Jr. was president of Trimble Hat, with the senior Trimble’s decline, it appears that the business followed suit. On December 11, 1930, the Hartford Courant reported that Trimble Hat was leaving Orange, NJ for Norwalk, CT. The company was not moving into its own facilities. Rather, it was affiliating with the American Hat Company and would operate out of the same factory. The American Hat Company in Norwalk is not to be confused with the business that began operations in 1915 and continues to exist under the same name in Texas. Rather, the American Hat Company with which Trimble Hat became affiliated began as the Norwalk Hat Company.
___________
The next installment will cover 1930 until 1949.
Last edited:
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Nice detective work and write-up Matt!
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^^^Yes, great research Matt!
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Excellent wrote-up, Matt. Great detective work.
Sent directly from my mind to yours.
Sent directly from my mind to yours.
mmbarnes
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Thanks gentlemen. I look forward to completing the future parts. It has been a lot of fun to do.
I think that I'm going to try to discover info on other smaller old U.S. concerns. It's a hoot to piece together their stories. If you have any suggestions for future research, please let me know.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
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Desert dog
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Amazing that you found all of that information! Very interesting, it's nice to have the history of these hats. Don't forget to show some photos of your beautiful Trimble when you get to that part.Post 2
_______
If we can infer anything from retail advertisements I found in newspapers, it seems that the development of Timble Hat’s market was geared towards less affluent, working-class customers in smaller markets. The vast majority of the ads appeared in cities and towns with large blue-collar populations. I found only two ads in San Francisco and one in Los Angeles. Likewise, no ads appear in New York City newspapers that I searched. I also note that from 1900 to until around 1950, none of the ads appear to have been placed by Trimble Hat. Rather, all were placed by the retailers who sold Trimble hats.
The first retail ad I found mentioning Trimble Hats is that of retailer Washer Brothers Co. in the March 14, 1908 San Antonio Express. Other newspapers from that time through 1920 containing ads featuring Trimble Hats (in chronological order of first appearance) were located in Anaconda, MT; Shiner, TX; Fort Wayne, IN; Pittsburgh, PA; Indianapolis, IN; El Paso, TX; Spokane, WA Tulsa, OK; Portland, OR; Independence, KS; New Orleans, LA; Asheville, NC; Carlisle, PA; Wilkes-Barre, PA; Atlanta, GA; Atchison, KS; Muskogee, OK; Great Falls, MT; Davenport, IA; Bloomington, IL; St. Louis, MO; Pittsburg, KS; Lincoln, NE; San Francisco, CA; Wichita Falls, TX; Omaha, NE; Salt Lake, City, UT; Butte, MT; Akron, OH; Sioux Falls, SD; Dunkirk, NY; Staunton, VA; Poughkeepsie, NY; Duluth, MN; Zanesville, OH; Corsicana, TX; Crowley, LA; Sandusky, OH; Muncie, IN; Greenville, SC; Louisville, KY; Winston-Salem, NC; Altoona, PA; Butler, PA; Richmond, IN; Seattle, WA; Lincoln, NE; Newport News, VA; Paris, TX; Harrisburg, PA; Emporia, KS; Nashville, TN; Marshall, TX; Los Angeles, CA; El Dorado, KS; Paris, TX; Alexandria, LA; Jackson, MS; Detroit, MI; Little Rock, AR; Shreveport, LA; Springfield, MO; Elizabeth City, NC; Parsons, KS; Springfield, MO; Greenwood, MS; Marshall, TX; Hartford, CT; Fitchburg, MA; Appleton, WI; Charleston, WV; Amarillo, TX; Waxahachie, TX; and Pine Bluff, AR.
Trimble Hat’s effort at growth during the 1910s is also suggested by reports of real estate transactions. During the period, it leased two spaces in New York City. The December 18, 1916 New York Herald reported that the company had leased “the parlor floor store” at 818 Broadway. The August 1917 Clothier & Furnisher reported that after having had it's New York “office” at 818 Broadway for “several” years, Trimble Hat had leased space in the “Fifth Avenue Building” which is located at 200 Fifth Avenue. The publication noted that the move to the new location was scheduled for January 1918. It is unclear whether the spaces were used as shops for retail sales or whether they were merely office locations which enabled the company to represent that their offices were at prestigious New York City locations. Presumably, using such impressive addresses (rather than Orange, New Jersey) would be beneficial for marketing to retailers in other parts of the country.
During the 1920s, the expansion of Trimble Hat into new markets slowed. Retailer advertisements appeared in the following additional locales: McKinney, TX; Binghamton, NY; Clarksdale, MS; Yazoo City, MS; Salem, OH; Cincinnati, OH; Abilene, TX; Norton, MS; Clarence, MO; and Old Bridge, NJ. The list is comparatively short and suggests that the company had reached the apex of its growth.
Trimble Hat’s first and most successful phase came to a close with the approach of Bob Trimble’s 1933 death. While his son, Robert Trimble, Jr. was president of Trimble Hat, with the senior Trimble’s decline, it appears that the business followed suit. On December 11, 1930, the Hartford Courant reported that Trimble Hat was leaving Orange, NJ for Norwalk, CT. The company was not moving into its own facilities. Rather, it was affiliating with the American Hat Company and would operate out of the same factory. The American Hat Company in Norwalk is not to be confused with the business that began operations in 1915 and continues to exist under the same name in Texas. Rather, the American Hat Company with which Trimble Hat became affiliated began as the Norwalk Hat Company.
___________
The next installment will cover 1930 until 1949.
Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
MikeinRome
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A pre-1930 blue velour Trimble, 2 3/8 brim, 5 1/2 inch open crown. Just got it 30 minutes ago and haven't had time to narrow down the date any further, if it's even possible to do so. It was listed as a 1940's hat, which I knew immediately was way off.
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