The development from cottage industry to factory-based mass production came with the introduction of mechanisation in the second half of the 19th century. Blocking machines which shaped the hats were introduced in the 1860s and straw hat sewing machines came in during the 1870s, which greatly increased the output of hats. The making of felt hats in Luton also began in the 1870s.

One of the difficulties involved in developing a sewing machine suitable for sewing straw hats was that of producing a machine capable of concealing the stitching as a skilled hand sewer could do. In 1878 Edmund Wiseman invented a machine capable of doing this and was able to sell his machine at a more affordable price than similar ones which had been produced in France. Once a sewer was used to using the machine they could produce six times as many hats as a hand sewer.

The work was divided up between men and women so that women sewed the hats and men blocked them. Specialist trades allied to hat making also grew up at the same time as hat making expanded. The introduction of aniline dyes in the late 1850s led to an increase in independent bleachers and dyers. The blockmaking industry also expanded during the 1860s.

The setting up of larger factories employing between 100 and 500 people did not kill off the smaller units which continued to produce hats and sell them on to the larger factories, which was the practice which Edmund Waller had developed at the beginning of the nineteenth century. It was not uncommon for local women to sew hats at home during the hat trade's busiest period as a way of supplementing their household's income.

The coming of the railway in the second half of the nineteenth century gave a further boost to the industry as it enabled raw materials and completed hats to be transported much more easily. Two lines opened to serve Luton. The first to open was the Dunstable to Welwyn line, the first section of which opened in 1858. The rest of the line to Welwyn opened in 1860 and gave Luton a link to London via Hatfield. A more direct link was opened in 1867 when the Midland Railway extended its line from Bedford to London through Luton. It was in the interests of the manufacturers to be near to the railway station and for this reason many of them concentrated in the area around Bute Street.

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Last updated 16th April 2007

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