On September 8, 2016, Bollman Hat Company hosted an Open House and Ribbon Cutting to celebrate our new knitting factory housing historic knitting machines brought to America.
Thank you to everyone who made our event on September 8 a success! Thanks to Dogfish Head Brewery for providing Kangol-inspired beer, Sir Hops-a-Lot, and for generously donating for the naming rights to our knit building, which is now called the Dogfish tHrEAD Knitting Mill. Thanks to all our Kickstarter backers.
The biggest thank you has to go to our employee-owners, who have been making Bollman Hat Company great for 150 years.
Here are some remarks from Don Rongione that convey the spirit of the event:
Five generations of women and men made hat making their life’s work here at Bollman Hat Company. For nearly 150 years, this is where people came to make great product, form bonds with their fellow employee-owners, and provide for themselves and their families. We and the thousands who came before us have built and preserved a legacy in our field and an institution in our community.
Today we honor these hard working, talented and dedicated hat makers of the Bollman Hat Company as well as those in England and China who worked on these knitting machines before they made their way here to America’s oldest hat maker.
May we be blessed with the strength and determination to make this endeavor a success and provide jobs and opportunities for the generations to follow us.
Our event was featured on Reading Eagle and WFMZ! Here’s a link to the article for the Reading Eagle: http://www.readingeagle.com/money/article/bollman-hat-co-begins-production-of-kangols
Below is the clip from WFMZ.