The straw hat trade in St Albans

Jon Mein is leading a two-part course on the straw hat trade in St Albans, running on Monday 2 and Monday 9 November at Hatfield Road Methodist Church. It's put on through St Albans Learning for Leisure and aimed at adult learners, so it's a proper morning session rather than a quick talk. Both run from 10:15 to 12:15.

The first session, Making hats: the town's staple trade; and comparisons with Luton, looks at the industry when it was the town's main employer. The second, Specialisations and Boaters Galore!, goes into the specific types of hats St Albans became known for, with boaters taking centre stage. Together they cover the rise and fall of a trade that shaped the town for generations.

Mein's talks draw on his book, published by the St Albans & Hertfordshire Architectural & Archaeological Society, which tracks the straw hat trade as the town's staple industry from 1850 to 1930. At its height, it was a global business that actually outsold its Luton competition, employing hundreds of people between 1800 and 1940. It's a side of the town's history that doesn't always get much airtime, but it was a massive part of the local economy for over a century.

Mein himself has lived in St Albans for more than 25 years and joined the Society in 2007. He studied Law and History, and in 2011 he was awarded the Mayor's Prize for an essay on the Temperance movement in Victorian St Albans, so he's well-versed in the town's social history. The course costs £16 for both sessions, or £10 if you only want to drop in for one. Both run from 10:15 to 12:15 on Monday mornings at Hatfield Road Methodist Church.