Bollman Hat Company

Bollman Hat Company is a hat manufacturer and retailer based at 110 E Main St in Adamstown, Pennsylvania, in the northern corner of Lancaster County. The company designs, produces and distributes headwear for men and women, and it operates a retail outlet at its longtime Adamstown location where visitors can shop directly from the company's own brands. Customers can also reach the business by phone at +1 800-959-4287.

The business occupies an unusual position in American retail. It is both a working manufacturer with a factory presence in a small borough of roughly 2,000 residents and a brand house whose hats are sold through department stores, western wear shops, boutiques and online retailers across the country and abroad. For shoppers who visit Adamstown, that combination means buying hats at the place where a good number of them have been made for generations.

History and Background

Bollman Hat Company traces its origins to 1868, when George Bollman began making hats in Adamstown. That founding date makes it one of the oldest continuously operating hat manufacturers in the United States, and the company has remained headquartered in the same small Pennsylvania town for more than a century and a half. The original mill buildings along Main Street have been expanded and adapted over the decades, but the address has stayed constant while much of the American hat industry consolidated, moved overseas or disappeared entirely.

The company survived the mid twentieth century decline in hat wearing by diversifying, acquiring established headwear labels and adapting to shifts in fashion rather than depending on any single style. Along the way Bollman became employee owned, a structure that gives the workforce a direct stake in the business. The company has also pursued third party certification of its social and environmental practices, and it has been recognized as a certified B Corporation, a designation held by relatively few manufacturers in the apparel and accessories sector.

Brands and Product Range

Rather than selling under a single name, Bollman operates a portfolio of headwear brands, each with its own history and customer base. Depending on the season and what is in production, the lineup has included labels such as:

• Bailey, a western and dress hat brand with deep roots in the American cowboy hat trade, known for fur felt and straw styles in a wide range of crown heights and brim shapes
• Kangol, the British originated cap brand recognized for its knit and wool berets, 504 caps and bucket hats
• Country Gentleman, a men's dress and casual line covering fedoras, ivy caps and porkpies
• Betmar, a women's line spanning cloches, floppy brims, packable straws and cold weather knits
• Helen Kaminski, an Australian founded brand associated with handwoven raffia and natural fiber resort hats
• Pantropic, a line focused on lightweight travel and warm weather headwear
• Eddy Brothers, a western brand with a long history in felt and straw cowboy hats

Across these labels, the product range covers wool and fur felt fedoras, western hats in varying felt grades, straw and raffia summer styles, flat caps and newsboy caps, berets, bucket hats, packable travel hats, sun hats, knit beanies and winter styles with ear protection. Sizing typically runs from small through extra large, with many styles available in standard fitted sizes and adjustable interiors.

Materials and Construction

Traditional hat making is a long process, and Bollman's felt hats follow steps that have changed only incrementally over the last century. Wool or fur fibers are formed into a soft cone, shrunk and hardened, dyed, blocked over a wooden or aluminum form, stiffened, sanded or pounced to the desired finish, then trimmed with a sweatband, lining and ribbon or leather band. Western hats are graded by an X system that indicates the quality and content of the felt, with higher X ratings generally reflecting finer fur content and a smoother, more durable finish.

Details that buyers often look for include leather sweatbands rather than synthetic, satin or branded linings, hand shaped crowns, and finishing work on brim edges and bindings. Straw and raffia hats involve different processes, including hand weaving on some Helen Kaminski styles and blocking of woven bodies for panama and toyo constructions.

Visiting the Adamstown Location

The Main Street location functions as a factory outlet, which means the selection includes current season styles alongside discontinued colors, overstock and closeout pieces from the company's various brands. The store draws a mix of local shoppers, western hat buyers, collectors of vintage inspired dress hats and travelers passing through the area. Trying hats on in person is a practical advantage, since crown height, brim width and proportion all affect fit and appearance in ways that photographs do not convey, and staff can help with sizing and with steaming or shaping adjustments where appropriate.

Adamstown itself is a common destination for antique hunting, with a concentration of antique malls and markets along Route 272 near the Pennsylvania Turnpike interchange, so a stop at the hat outlet fits naturally into a day of browsing. The location is roughly midway between Reading and Lancaster and is accessible from both the Turnpike and Route 222.

Accessibility and Practical Information

• Wheelchair accessible entrance
• Wheelchair accessible parking lot
• Toll free customer line at +1 800-959-4287 for order questions, sizing help and wholesale inquiries

Shoppers planning a special trip should confirm current retail hours by phone before visiting, since outlet hours at manufacturing sites can differ from standard mall retail schedules and may vary seasonally.

Wholesale and Trade Relationships

In addition to direct retail, Bollman supplies independent hat shops, western wear dealers, department stores and specialty boutiques. Retailers looking to carry Bailey, Kangol, Country Gentleman or the company's other labels can inquire through the main phone line. The Adamstown facility also handles freight receiving, with a dock operation that supports inbound and outbound shipments for the company's distribution network.

Who Shops Here

The customer base is broad. It includes western riders and rodeo participants buying working and dress cowboy hats, men seeking classic fedoras and flat caps, women shopping for sun hats and cold weather styles, costume and film wardrobe buyers looking for period correct shapes, and people who simply want a well made hat from a domestic manufacturer. For anyone interested in American manufacturing history, the Adamstown site is a rare example of a nineteenth century industry that still operates in its original town.