By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Earlier this month, the Medfield Historical Society (MHS) hosted one of their informative public programs at the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church. This is one of five programs that MHS holds throughout the year that happen on the first Monday evening of October, November, February, March, and April.
Attendees gathered in the basement of the Church to hear MHS President PeggySue Werthessen delve into the fascinating history of the hat industry within Medfield. This industry ultimately played a pivotal role in driving the development of the local economy which started in the mid 1800’s and continued for the next 100 years.
Werthessen started her presentation discussing the industry’s beginnings, tracing all the way back to Betsy Metcalf. She explained that while Betsy may not have made the first straw hat in America, she did make a straw bonnet back in 1798 at the age of twelve. This bonnet is believed to be the first documented straw hat made in the USA.
Betsy went on to share her talent and creation with others, thus allowing the industry to quickly gain popularity. What had begun as a cottage industry eventually grew into a bustling business that drove Medfield’s economy for over 150 years. According the MHS website, “At its peak in the early 1900s Medfield became the second largest straw and felt hat operation in the United States, second only to Foxborough, employing more than 1,200 people – larger than the population of the town at that time– and turning out over two and one half million hats that year.”
To help put that in perspective, Werthessen mentioned that the small agrarian community of Medfield went from 745 residents in 1800 to nearly 3,000 in 1900. Furthermore, she went into great detail about how the straw and braiding were prepared. Both of these processes were extremely time consuming and somewhat tedious. Due to the extreme popularity of hats, it was all hands on deck to create them which meant that children were helping out with these processes as well.
Werthessen explained that the more children a family had, the bigger the straw business they could create. It was even common for parents to hire other people’s children to further help along with the business.
Throughout her presentation, Werthessen answered questions from the audience and provided some samples that were passed around throughout the crowd. It can be said with ease that all in attendance walked away with some new found knowledge about the booming hat industry that helped create a flourishing Medfield community.
