Type
stampTranscription
Merrimac Hat Co.
100% wool
ExcelloMaterial/Technique
InkNotes
The Merrimac Hat Corp. introduced the Excello line of hats, which according to an advertisement in WWD (Apr. 8, 1941) was "designed to fill their fur felt price gap" by being made with high quality wool to imitate the quality of fur felt hats. Originally, the hats were included casein fiber, made from milk proteins. Whether this hat incorporated casein without including it in the fiber content is unknown. Casein fiber, or Aralac, loss popularity after the war because it reportedly smelled of sour milk when wet. The lack of shortages rendered the fiber obsolete, and it stopped being widely used in the 1950's.