JaneLutton@aol.com wrote: >Lila >There is a website (probably several) about straw plaiting and its history but I can't think of the address. I went to google.co.uk and put in straw plaiting as, like you, I too have many plaiters, along with ag labs, in my family. It would seem it was most prominent around the Beds Herts part of England in the 18th to mid 19th century but died out as new styles of hat making came into being. Straw plaiting could sometimes bring in more money than the >labouring, I suppose it would depend on how good you were. >But do check it out as my memory can play tricks! > > Thanks (and to the others who've given me information). I'm pretty sure my mother told me her relations had a hat factory in Luton (she was born in 1905 in London) that made panama hats. I doubt if these would have been made with the plaited straw, so perhaps they had 'moved with the times'. Panama hats were worn by schoolgirls, even when I was at high school in the 1950s-'60s (and very unflattering they were, too!). Lila. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * An Fhirinne in aghaidh an tSaoil - The Truth Against the World

>> >Thanks (and to the others who've given me information). I'm pretty sure my >mother told me her relations had a hat factory in Luton (she was born in 1905 in >London) that made panama hats. I doubt if these would have been made with the >plaited straw, so perhaps they had 'moved with the times' But panamas ARE made with plaited straw - plaits could be fine or chunky, according to intended purpose, but if you look at a panama, you will see the delicate lines of plait. -- Eve McLaughlin Author of the McLaughlin Guides for family historians Secretary Bucks Genealogical Society