Akubra
Akubra is an Australian company that has been making hats under this name since 1912 .
Benjamin Dunkerley, who immigrated to Tasmania from England, began making hats in 1847 . In the 1880s, the company relocated near Sydney . In 1902 the hat maker Stephen Keir I, who also immigrated from England, joined the company and three years later he married Ada Dunkerley, the daughter of the company founder.
Since then, the company, which was renamed Dunkerley Hat Mills Ltd in 1911 , has been run by descendants of Stephen Keir I and Ada Dunkerley.
In 1912, the trade name Akubra was used for the first time . It is claimed that this is an Aboriginal name for a headgear. Rabbit hair is used as the material for many models and is very laboriously processed into felt.
The hats have sold better and better, especially since the company in the First World War supplier to the Australian Army was and this role in World War II had. In addition, the Australian athletes often wore Akubras as part of their official clothing at the Olympic Games . It was also helpful that the film character Crocodile Dundee, played by Paul Hogan , wore an Akubra.
The term Akubra is often used synonymously in Australia for all hats of this type. The Prime Minister's official website lists four Australian cultural icons : the Sydney Opera House , the famous Uluṟu rock , Vegemite and the typical Akubra hat. The combination of Akubra with a Driza-Bone coat is considered the quintessence of the Australian outback , where it is worn by the stockmen in rainy seasons .
Web links
- Akubra website (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Australian Icons ( Memento from August 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )