author
hatter John Thomson
A practical 19th-century hatter who turned workshop knowledge into a detailed guide for fellow craftsmen. His surviving book opens a rare window onto the materials, methods, and trade secrets of hat-making in the 1860s.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Very little biographical information about this author is easy to confirm today. Reliable catalog records identify him simply as John Thomson, hatter, and his best-known surviving work is A Treatise on Hat-Making and Felting, published in Philadelphia in 1868.
The book presents him as a practical hatter, suggesting he wrote from direct experience in the trade rather than from a purely academic point of view. It focuses on the properties of fur, wool, and hair, along with the processes used to make felt hats, making it both a technical manual and a snapshot of 19th-century manufacturing know-how.
Because so little else is clearly documented, Thomson is best understood through this one substantial work: a craftsman-author preserving specialized knowledge for readers interested in making, materials, and industrial history.