Transcript of Module 36 – Akubra & the Slouch Hat

So, I thought today we could talk about two kinds of hats in Australia, first and foremost (1), the brand Akubra (2), which is arguably Australia’s most famous hat-making company, Akubra, and then also the military slouch hat (3) that you will see our troops wearing. So, let’s first go through the history of Akubra. It’s got an interesting history.

In 1874, a man named Benjamin Dunkerley (4) made the voyage (5) from England to Tasmania in Australia, and he decided to open a hat-making company (6) in Hobart. Not only was he a talented hat maker, but he also had very good skills in inventing machinery (7), and soon after his arrival Down Under (8), in Australia, he had developed a machine for removing the hair tips from rabbit fur so that it could be used in felt hat (9) making. This facilitated the hat-making process, as previously it was a task that had to be done by hand (10).

In the early 1900s, Dunkerley relocated the company to Crown Street in Surry Hills, an inner suburb of Sydney, and he set up a small hat-making factory (11) there.

In 1984, a man named Stephen Keir (12), who was also fresh off the boat (13) from England, recently arriving Down Under, joined Dunkerley. Keir had experience hat-making (14) as well back in England and was quickly acquired by the business as a result.

In 1985, he married Dunkley’s daughter, Ada (15), and was soon after made the company’s General Manager (16). That’s definitely a quick way to get to the top. From that time on (17), the hat-making business (18) has been handed down (19) through five generations in the Keir family (20).

In 1911, the company was named Dunkerley Hat Mills Ltd (21), having a mere 19 employees at the time, and the following year, in 1912, the trade name Akubra came into use (22). Increasing popularity of the Akubra hats (23) meant the company had to move to larger premises on Bourke Street in Waterloo, and production expanded, particularly during World War I (24), as countless (25) slouch hats (26) were made for the Australian troops. And soon after this, all hats were branded Akubra.

So, side note (27): the slouch hat is a wide-brimmed (28) felt hat, often with a chin strap (29). It was first introduced into Australia in 1885, although it traces its military use back to Austrian skirmishers (30) who wore the black Korsehut (31) or ‘Corsican hat’ (32), historically used by the Austrian army during the Napoleonic Wars (33).

The Australian slouch hat, a.k.a. (34) Australian bush hat or Digger hat (35), has been standard issue (36) headwear for the Australian and New Zealand military since World War I. The Army refers to the slouch hat by its official designation Hat Khaki Fur Felt (HKFF) (37), but to everyone else, it’s the slouch hat. The word ‘slouch’ (38) refers to the slopping brim (39), the brim (40) that bends down, and it’s made from rabbit fur felt or wool felt and is always worn with a puggaree (41).

Australia’s take on the slouch hat is distinctive due to one side of the brim being turned up or pinned to the side of the hat with a Rising Sun badge (42) or General Service badge (43) pinned to the side that allows the wearer to sling a rifle over (44) his shoulder.

A seven-band puggaree (45) circles the outside of the hat where six bands represent Australia’s states and the seventh band represents its territories.

So, my earliest memory of these hats and seeing these hats was my grandfather wearing one that he had received as a boy when he was training in the Army Reserve (46) during World War II (47), and he still has this hat to this very day (48).

Anyway, back to Akubra.

When Dunkerley died in 1925, Stephen Keir the First (49) inherited the business, which continued to flourish (50) for many years afterwards. When Stephen retired in 1952, his eldest son Herbert (51) succeeded him as Managing Director (52). His second son Stephen Keir the Second (53) served as General Manager and eventually took over as Managing Director in 1972.

In 1980, Stephen Keir the Third (54) became Managing Director and then passed the baton (55) on to his son Stephen Keir the Fourth (56), who became Managing Director in 2007. So, the family tradition (57) continues, and it seems whoever is Managing Director in the future is likely to have the name Stephen.

And the Akubra hat factory (58) is now based on the mid-north coast of New South Wales in the town of Kempsey, having relocated from Sydney in 1974.

So, their hats are handcrafted (59), taking up to six weeks to make from start to finish, going through 162 steps, handled 200 times, and passing through at least 60 pairs of workers' hands.

You can pick up (60) a genuine Akubra hat online or at many stores around the country for one or two hundred dollars. They’re pretty good quality, and there are now many different styles, most of which are wide-brimmed hats (61) used for keeping the hot Aussie sun off the heads and necks of farmers and workers in rural (62) Australia.