The Philippi Collection: June 2012

Two very old price lists (prospects) of an ecclesiastical hat maker in Madrid, Spain
Today Mr Beltrán Medrano-Tomás is the owner of this shop.

(click to enlarge or open JPG in new window)
dated ca. 1940-1942

Here the translation:

OLD ECCLESIASTICAL HAT FACTORY JUAN DE MIGUEL
(Successor of José Mª Celada) 
Imperial 14 - Madrid - Telephone 10715
Official purveyor to the Madrid and Alcalá Seminary and to Madrid’s illustrious Lawyers Association

SPECIALIST IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SATURNO HATS IN SILK AND FELT
BONETES - BIRETTAS
SOLIDEO - ACADEMIC BIRETTAS
TOP HATS AND ANY KIND OF SILK HATS FOR GENTLEMEN
STOCK OF FELT HATS AND STRAW HATS
CAPS AND BARRETS OF THE BEST BRANDS
SPECIALIST IN ALL KINDS OF HAT REPAIR
A COMPANY WITHOUT EXTRA EXPENSES AND WITHOUT LUXURY FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE BUYER

Dear Sir:   

The old company of Juan de Miguel (Succesors of José María Celda) takes into consideration the actual situation of the Spanish clergy and tries to help them as they do not have the same resources as before and has started the production of a silk hat of finest quality at the price of 21,95 pesetas for the benefit of numerous and distinguished customers.

In spite of the low price, this economical hat is not manufactured like those offered to the market by others, at much higher prices, and made of silk and other old materials used by others, which can be dangerous for health and the crown made of cardboard. These hats give a very poor result even if the outside look is magnificent.

All our hats are manufactured from first class materials, bought from the most important companies around the world and made especially for us in order to be used specifically for the object at which we are aiming.

The plush of all the hats is woven from natural silk and the crowns of the hats are of felt, lacquered fabrics or straw and manufactured in our premises.   

There are many hats manufacturers which have disappeared after some few years.The only company which still exists is ours, with 30 years of existence, being now the most important and the oldest in Spain and the one which offers the best guarantee as proved as proved by many years of business.

Today when the economical situation is worset than ever,   
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one has to pay special attention when buying, and therefore you have to bear in mind what we wrote in order to have the best result from your purchase.  

We attach a price list with all the articles and with the different qualities which we manufacture.

If you cannot find the price of an article or an article in which you may be interested, please contact us and we will answer you by mail.

If you are not interested at the moment in this circular, please do not throw it away, show it to persons you may know and keep it for using when you may be interested in some of the items.   

Always at your service 
JOSE MARIA CELADA       

PRICE LIST (Price in pesetas)   

Saturn hat, silk, short crown and wide in the whole brim (mixed silk), 1st class, pr unit 21,95

The same with extra quality, "Swiss" silk, "Triplex Fort"· brims, clear superior furring, first class badana with fine gold ornament, pr unit 30,00   

Saturno hat, all of it of long silk, first class, pr unit 27,00   

The same with extra quality, "Swiss" silk, "Triplex Fort" brims, clear superior furring, first class badana with fine gold ornament, pr unit 35,00   

Saturno hat, all of it of short silk, 2nd class, pr unit 29,50   

The same in extra quality, "Swiss" silk, "Triplex Fort" brims, clear superior furring, 1st class badana with fine gold ornament, pr unit 38,00

Foldable or fixed bonete, without tassel, 2nd quality, pr unit 5,25   

The same with superior merino wool, pr unit 6,00   

The same with extra satin silk, and tassel, pr unit 7,00   

The same with superior merino wool, without tassel, pr unit 9,50   

Solideo in merino or satin, with stem or black tassel, pr unit 5,00   

The same with coloured tassel, 1 peseta more

Cylinder formed black cap, ottoman (fine fabric with a corded or ribbed effect) or vicuña, plain, pr unit 4,00  

The same with embroidery, pr unit 5,00  

Saturno hat with extra genuine felt, with reinforcement, pr unit 25,00  

The same without reinforcement, (half soft, pr unit 18,00  

The same in 2nd quality, (half soft), pr unit 15,00   

Silk Afal tassel, black, ordinary size (5 cm), pr unit 1,50

The same, natural, extra black, pr unit 3,00

The same, Afal, black, large size (6 cm), pr unit 3,00

The same, natural, extra black, 6 cm high), pr unit 6,00   

The same, coloured, pr. unit 7,00   

The same, Afal, pr unit 4,00

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Picture left (TODO SEDA CORTA):
ALL SHORT SILK 
Raised wings

Picture right (SEDA MIXTA):
MIXED SILK
Half semi-flat wings

BIRRETAS AND CORDS FOR BISHOPS‘ HATS

THE MOST FAMOUS COMPANY FOR GIFTS TO BE GIVEN ON OCCASION OF APPOINTMENTS OR FIRST MASS.   

WE ACCEPT FABRICS TO MANUFACTURE BONETES, CAPS, CALOTS, ETC.   

WE MANUFACTURE ANY KIND OF HAT AFTER DRAWING OR MODEL   

HATS FOR SECULARS, FIXED BLACK, GUARANTEED OR IN COLOR FROM 11 PESETAS

BONETES FOR ACOLYTES - CAPS - BERETS - WHOLESALE DISCOUNTS

WE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE REPRESENTATIVES IN SEMINARIES AND IMPORTANT VILLAGES

Picture left down (TODO SEDA LARGA): 
ALL LONG SILK 
Wings raised with cords

Picture right down (Solideo):
CALOT (ZUCCHEETO, PILEOLUS)
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Picture left (FORMA "MADRID"): 
"MADRID" form
Bonete with big tassel   

Picture right (SEDA MIXTA):
MIXED SILK 
Chinstrap wings

IMPORTANT NOTES   

When ordering do not forget to inform us about your headsize and when you require a hat, apart from the size, let us know the measurements for length and width.Both measurements can be taken from another hat which fits you and from side to side from the badana (sweat band), because a hat is a hard article it must be comfortable and good for the head.

For all customers who have already sent this information to our company it is not neccessary to send it again. It will be enough to tell us that we already have this information on record.

We recommend to all priests, monks, etc. that when they are in the vicinity of our company, come to visit us so that we can measure your head-circumference professionally and then you will obtain the product with the right measurements. This service is free and without obligation.  

We send parcels to everywhere in the world but please note that when a parcel has to be sent to the Canary Islands, or Balearic Islands or Spanish possessions in Morocco, 5 pesetas per parcel has to be paid in addition; for dispatch to Fernando Poo, 10 pesetas and for dispatch to foreign countries 25 pesetas to cover the packing, the postage and the insurance. 

When you send your order, if you have special requirements, please make these very clear.  

The hats in Italian style, will have an increase according to the size of the brim. The hats with mixed silk 1st class, are delivered with brims up to 4½cm and from this size to 6 cm it will increase by 3 pesetas.

We guarantee that the silk used in our hats is natural silk and completely new and in one piece and all the materials are of the finest quality.

The 1st class hats are delivered with felt crowns and the extra class will also have lacquered fabrics or straw. Currently the extra quality has crowns of lacquered fabrics.  

If there is no railway station where you live, please let us know which railway station is the nearest.

Picture at left (BIRRETA BORLA GRANDE): 
BIRETTA WITH BIG TASSEL   

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ALL THE PRODUCTS WHICH WE OFFER HERE ARE NOT MANUFACTURED WITH COMPETITION IN MIND, BUT ARE BASED ON GOOD QUALITY AND LONG-TERM DURABILITY.

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(click to enlarge or open JPG in new window)
in use from 1923 to 1934
They wrotethe prices with hand in the sheet

HATS

1.- Ecclesiastic, long silk, half plane

2.- The same with mixed silk

3 - The same with long silk, felt crown or straw with cords

4.- The same with mixed silk, with rolled up edge of the brim

5 - Top Hat

6 - Bonete satin, fixed or librillo ?

7 - Calot of satin

8 - Episcopal biretta

9 - Academic birreta

During my visit of the Franciscan establishments along the California Mission Trail I saw at the museum of the mission in Santa Barbara the following hat:

The museum of the Mission San Luis Rey de Francia exhibits:

These hats are similar to the cappello romano (saturno) with two exeptions:

- the crown is cylindrical with a flat top (not spherical)

- the hat has a wide brim

The wide brim reminds of a sombrero, a hat worn to protect the wearer against strong sunlight. Franciscan friars in California are exposed strong sunlight, especially during summer time.

Maybe the black color was worn during winter and whit during summer (to achieve a better reflection of the sunlight)?

To recognize them as catholic priest they used the typical hat cord with two tassels.

The tassels are typical f.e. for the Chapéu de Raia, too.

In this context, some paintings/drawings out of the book of Leonce Angrand: