Museum of the hat

The tour of the museum begins with the founding articles of the Panizza company displayed on the wall (further information on the foundation of the company is available on request) Old photographs illustrate the various phases of the company’s development, beginning with a view of the area in 1895 when nine felt hat workshops were in operation in Intra. In order to understand the process needed to produce a perfect felt hat, it would be useful to watch the two videos which are available for viewing to visitors in the museum. The first, from 1934, shows the various stages of the older form of manual hat production in an important hat factory in Czechoslovakia before the introduction of machinery. The second is a short film, illustrating the most important stages of manufacture at the Panizza factory in 1951. In the first room, a showcase houses a display of handicraft tools discovered in the loft of a house in a street in Intra formerly known as the “Via dei Capelari “. Among the documents displayed: historical information about St. James, patron saint of hatters, documents concerning the activities of two societies of workers, each of which dealt with a distinct aspect of hat production - the “operai in bianco” (workers in white) who dealt with the preparation of felt, and the “operai in nero” (workers in black) who modelled the felt into the shape of a hat. Also displayed is a flag belonging to the Mutual Benefit Society of Hatters in Intra, founded in 1817, together with portraits of Diderot and D’Alembert wearing examples of hand-made headgear. Address: Corso Belvedere 279 - 28823 GHIFFA Tel. +39 0323 59209 / +39 0323 840809; / +39 348/7340347 Email: museotattile [at] tiscali.it