Akubras
You have never seen me wearing a hat. I do not wear them, but I have quite a number, mostly given to me as gifts. Once I preached the Gospel in a large open-air service in the main street of Armidale. The city had closed the street for the occasion, and those hardy New Englanders stood in freezing weather. Then some snow started to fall as I stood to speak. No-one moved, and I preached in overcoat, gloves and hat. I wore a Harris tweed cap I wear when in Great Britain during winter. An Irish friend gave me an Irish Tweed hat that is great for wearing when working in the rain.
Most times when I go the USA to teach my class of graduate students, I go in winter. After going to USA on a regular basis for thirty years, I have no trouble adapting to driving the faculty car on the other side of the road, but it always takes time to adapt to driving in snow and on black ice. On the interstate everybody is driving at 65 MPH with snow flurries blinding the windscreen. I want to drive more carefully, but the problem is semi-trailers going maximum speed coming over the top of you. I always have to wear a snow proof overcoat and a hat in that weather. I have a black leather cap that matches my leather winter coat for winters in USA.
So why not wear a hat in Australia? Because I feel like a poseur – someone who doesn’t have a right to wear one of my hats. Like the north shore resident who every Sunday puts on his R.M.Williams moleskins, checked shirt from Gloster, elastic sided boots and Akubra hat and drives his four wheel drive monster with its bull bars to the next suburb where he reads the Sunday newspaper while he sips his latte. I am reminded that in the outback they say the bigger the hat a man wears the smaller his acreage. And in my case that would be true.
I realize that men have covered their heads for thousands of years. Initially headwear offered protection from the elements and from injury from falling rocks, weapons or masonry. Later head coverings became symbols of status or authority. Soon after hats progressed to become not only a uniform, but also an art for men.
When I first started going to church regularly sixty years ago the place where you saw everyone wearing hats, men and women, was in church. Now the place where you see hats most frequently worn is at the horse races. They are worn most comfortably by mug punters, colourful racing identities and spivs. The uncomfortable ones are the fashion aficionados, the men who are dressing up with hats, sometimes toppers and bowlers, to accompany their half dressed women who are wearing feathers and fascinators with champagne glass in hand. Some of the women have more hats than trainer Gai Waterhouse.
In fashion terms, hats are a very noticeable accessory because the onlooker’s attention is first drawn to the face. A hat is the most noticeable fashion item anyone can wear. The old saying goes ‘if you want to get ahead and get noticed, then get a hat’. Indeed the word ‘ahead’ means just that one head further forward.
In terms of comfort and shelter about 85% of body heat is lost through the head, so in inclement conditions it is important to cover the head. Incidentally, you can swim in fairly cold winter weather so long as you a wear a tight fitting bathing cap which keeps the body heat higher. Babies in particular lose heat rapidly through the head thus we must ensure a baby or toddler has a warm covered head in winter. When the Second World War started, hats became less practical as people had to rush to air raid shelters and they would literally drop everything. Barriers of etiquette became broken down and hat wearing decreased.
Hats that were worn were generally practical and often homemade knitted warm hats, berets and hoods. Fast hats were formed as women tied headscarves into an instant hat such as a turban. Designers produced various new styles, but many only became universally popular after the war finished. It is often said that women can tell what kind of man you are by the shoes you wear. But, with so many men wearing sneakers and dirty shoes, hats take over this role. But not baseball caps with company logos and beer endorsements. Thus, a hat, a real hat, is part of many men’s wardrobe in winter and summer.
I think the magic of wearing an Akubra is it gives a man a connection with the land. For example, note the model names of my Akubras, including the ones given to me: Open Road, Snowy River, The Territory and The Pastoralist. The Akubra story starts in 1874 when Benjamin Dunkerley arrived in Tasmania from England and decided to start a hat making business in Hobart. His skills as a hatter were backed by his ability to invent machinery, and soon after his arrival he had developed a mechanical method of removing the hair tip from rabbit fur so the under-fur could be used in felt hat making. Previously this task had to be done by hand. In the 1880’s he moved the business to Crown Street, Surry Hills, an inner suburb of Sydney, setting up a small hat making factory.
In 1902 Stephen Keir I, who had also migrated from England, joined Dunkerley. Keir had hat making experience from England, and was seen as a valuable acquisition for the business. In 1905 he married Ada Dunkerley, Benjamin’s daughter and soon after was made General Manager. Since that time the hat making firm has been in the hands of succeeding generations of the Keir family. In 1911, the business became Dunkerley Hat Mills Ltd, and had a mere nineteen employees.
The trade name “Akubra” came into use in 1912. The increasing popularity resulted in the move to larger premises in Bourke Street, Waterloo and expanded production, especially of Slouch hats during World War I. Soon after all their hats were branded Akubra. When Dunkerley died in 1925, ownership of the business transferred to Stephen Keir I. The business continued to flourish and when Stephen Keir retired in 1952 he was succeeded as Managing Director by his eldest son, Herbert. His second son, Stephen Keir II, served as General Manager and became Managing Director in 1972. His son, Stephen Keir III, became Managing Director in 1980. Even before he had completed his education at Sydney Church of England Grammar School (Shore) Stephen III was familiar with how the company worked. He had worked at the Akubra Hat Mills, then in Waterloo in Sydney, during the school holidays. After leaving school in November 1954 Stephen became apprenticed to the trade and completed his apprenticeship five years later.
The board then sent Stephen to the Stetson company in the USA to gather knowledge about the hatting industry from other perspectives. This experience was gained by working on the bench with journeymen hatters, not always an easy task. After some months in the US Stephen went to England and Europe to make contact with other hatting enterprises and various suppliers. New Zealand was to be another journey away as Akubra had some customers there and Stephen needed to understand their particular needs in an effort to work more closely with them.
On returning to Australia, Stephen began to under-study his father who was the General Manager. He was drawn into the world of industrial relations together with the co-ordination of material supplies and production scheduling. Stephen Keir III, who took over as Managing Director in 1980, oversaw some of the most important changes in the history of Akubra and initiatives which put the brand name on the world map. The first came in 1973 when his father, also Stephen II, and himself decided the company should take advantage of the generous decentralisation incentives being offered by the state government and relocate from Sydney to the country. They eventually settled on Kempsey for several reasons. It was mid way between Sydney and Brisbane, on the coast where there was a plentiful work force, it had good rail, road and air services and good health facilities. It was the ideal location. But the company history says, “Unfortunately the state government has let a lot of these services deteriorate. Once we used to send all our hats, as parcels, on the passenger trains. We can’t do that anymore with the cut backs in passenger services and everything now goes by road.”
A bad drought swept Australia and sales plummeted. The company history continues, “We needed to find new markets and the obvious answer was in exports,” Stephen III said. “We decided to try the United States and I headed over there with nothing more than the names of a couple of agencies. It was hard work and eventually we got a break by selling direct to some warehouses. The markets then started to open up after that.” The final big challenge came when Australia’s wild rabbit population was brought under control by the Calici virus and the supply of skins started to dry up. “Again we had to look overseas to find an alternative supply source,” Stephen III said. Now Akubra hats are made from a blend of Australian skins and fur from rabbit farms in France and Belgium. Since 2007, a fourth generation of the Keir family continues the succession, and Stephen Keir IV, son of Stephen Keir III, is now General Manager.
Throughout all of the challenges of the past century, the four Stephens have always ensured that the values and principles of the family are reflected in the conduct of the company and its staff. Stephen III is an unassuming man, preferring to avoid the limelight, but always being a true Australian. His generosity often goes unmentioned, never needing recognition to do a good deed. Indeed it is no surprise that Stephen was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1989. His contributions to regional communities, the racing industry and charities in general are a measure of Stephen Keir III.
With the wealth of experience which his father has provided, Stephen IV will ensure that the company makes hats for the foreseeable future. It was always Stephen’s desire to continue Akubra as a family company and they have declined many offers to sell. Today they make over 100 different hats at Akubra, including the latest special releases, “Spirit of Australia” and the popular favourite with the tourists, the “Down Under”.
This Australian success story is a good one but it is still not enough to get me to wear a hat when in this country where people know me. What feeling won’t do, scientific evidence and a woman will. Mrs. Leslie McCawley, BS, MPH, my EA/Research Officer, is a trained public health researcher and most recently did research for the NSW Cancer Council. She has over 20 hats and will never venture outside without one. So do you think I now can use that old excuse?
Rev The Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes, A.C., M.L.C.