Frank H. Lee Hat Company Frank H. Lee was born in Brookfield, Connecticut, and learned the hatting trade as a young man. He started his company in 1886 in his own hat shop in Bethel, CT. At the age of 20, he worked 16 to 18 hours per day to get his company going. His first factory was known as the “Willows” or the “Glen”. The business was very successful, and in 1909, he built a new hat manufacturing plant on seven acres in Danbury, CT at Shelter Rock Road and Lee Mac Avenue. Eventually, there were 10 buildings with 237, 000 square feet of floor space. During busy periods, the payroll exceeded 1500 workers. The Company prided itself as being the largest and lowest unit cost hat producer, making mostly medium priced hats sold to retail and chain stores and priced from $2.95 to $100 retail. Frank Lee was very concerned about the local economy, and disturbed by the fact that Danbury was only a one industry town (hatting). So, along with fellow hat manufacturer Harry McLachlan, he formed the Danbury Industrial Association in 1917 for the purpose of bringing new industries to Danbury. The association built factories for lease or sale to new industries. As a result, Frank Lee was considered the father of Danbury’s industrial diversification. The Lee Hat Company was considered the General Motors of the hat industry because of its dominance in the industry and its strong leadership driven by the senior Frank H. Lee and his three sons. James Lee was named president in 1948, concentrating on advertising and sales. Thomas Lee helped greatly with finance and accounting, and helped introduce new methods to improve the texture of brimmed hats. Frank Lee Jr. became president shortly after his father died in 1937. He ran the company for 19 years until 1956, when he was forced out of the company in a proxy fight. An article in the Danbury News Times dated June 17, 1942 reported that Frank H. Lee was elected the president of the Hat Institute at a meeting of the board of the directors in New York City. Frank Jr. was also elected president of the Connecticut Chamber of Commerce in June of 1946. Frank Lee Jr. passed away on September 20, 1958. The Lee Hat Company was recognized as a trend setter in the industry. Lee developed and owned exclusively the first automatic forming machine. One of the great accomplishments of the company was the sponsorship of research which led to the development of the non-mercuric carrot treatment of rabbit felts. In hat making, carroting is the process of intermingling fur from animals in the mixing process to create hat felt. The process Lee helped develop did not need mercury. The elimination of mercury compounds led to eventually wiping out what was known as “hatter’s shakes” (Mad Hatter’s Syndrome), caused by too much exposure to mercury. The company also set a new industry trend by developing the hat industry’s first merchandising coordinator – a display unit showing how to link colors and designs of all men’s apparel to hats. Each Lee style was available in the buyer’s choice of colors, brim widths, brim finishes, felt finishes, trimming details, sizes, oval crowns and extras. They introduced a new style line 3 times a year. An example of Lee’s variety in men’s hats was the $5 knockabout called the Casual Lee, an extremely lightweight hat with a suede band and buckle which was made of fine pliable fur felt. Lee developed a laboratory technique with DuPont Industries to make hats very waterproof, which was one of the best waterproofing treatments known at the time. They also pioneered the training of hat salesmen with their gold key Sales Training Course. It was a seminar for retail personnel in the principles and practice of profitable hat selling techniques. In 1953, US President-elect General Eisenhower decided to wear a black homburg hat at his inauguration instead of the usual top hat. That announcement sent ripples through the Lee Company. Within hours of the announcement, the company was ramping up advertising and sales ideas to its 3000 dealers throughout the country. The resulting publicity brought about a surge in sales, and once again put Lee ahead in the revitalized men’s hat industry. Lee sales in 1953 showed an increase of 21% over 1952, which was 20% over 1951. In 1950, Lee employed 1100, but that fell to 550 by 1960. Total sales reached a high of $13 million, but fell to below $5 million by the late 50’s. In June of 1960, Stetson bought the Lee Company from members of the Lee family. It was being continued separate from Stetson, not merged. Lee at the time of its sale to Stetson was still the largest industrial plant in Danbury. A month later, Lee laid off 125 employees and closed the back shop in Danbury, CT. Back shops produce rough hat bodies in which loose fur is bound onto a perforated crown. Hat bodies made at that back shop were purchased from other manufacturers, mainly from the Mallory plant also operated in Danbury by the John B. Stetson Company. Another change was the creation of a women’s hat division. The fur felt hats styled for town and country wear were to be sold under the Lady Lee and Lady Disney labels, prices ranged from $12.50 to $72, and sold through men’s and women’s department stores. The hats came in three brim styles (1) snap front, (2) up-all-around, (3) derby curls crowns having the derby shape. The company was also showing westerns for fall fashions. On September 9, 1968, the headline on the Danbury News Times read “Former Lee Hat plant burns. Loss is put in millions. 14 firemen injured at blaze.” On the next day, Tuesday, September 10, the article on the front page read “Cause of Conflagration Still Unknown” referring to the fire that destroyed the Frank Lee Hat Company plant in Danbury CT. The article stated the warehouse was insured for $325, 000 and would be rebuilt although the hat company at this point was long gone and the Lee hat manufacturing never returned to Danbury. References: The Frank H. Lee Company Story, reprinted from the Connecticut Industry, December 1953 Danbury Herald Tribune “Hats Off to a Danbury Era” 02.07.1964 Danbury Herald Tribune “F. H. Lee Co. opens Store at Factory in Danbury, Conn.” 04.18.1960 Danbury News-Times “Heads Hat Institute” 07.01.1942 Photos courtesy of The Danbury Museum & Historical Society Authority, Danbury, CT danburymuseum.org/danburymuseum/Home.html Hat Tales™info@hattalesC - See more at: hattales/discover/hat-nostalgia/frank-h-lee-hat-company/#sthash.iK3tAJA7.dpuf
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 13:45:56 +0000
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