I BUSINESS I

BEFORE YOU FLY AWAY FOR THE WINTER

Old Hat

Continued from preceding page

RIDE ON OVER

"He was a credit to the
human race. If he was your
friend he was really your
friend. He went out of his
way to do nice things for
people.
"And hats? Whenever we
had a new style we asked
him to come in. He was like
the Pied Piper. Whatever he
wore, everybody else wore."

FOR OUR

FALL INVENTORY REDUCTION

T

SALE
SAVE 15-50%

OFF ENTIRE FRAME INVENTORY
WITH PURCHASE OF PRESCRIPTION LENSES

SALE ENDS OCT. 28th

"COME AND SEE WHAT YOU'VE BEEN MISSING"
AT

ON THE BOARDWALK
6891 ORCHARD LAKE ROAD
SOUTH OF MAPLE
855-5810

steven franklin optics

0

.

SCRE EN

* SAFETY GLASS * THERMOPANES * TUB
ENCLOSURES * GLASS TABLE TOPS * MIRRORS

REPLACEMENT PARTS FOR DOORS, WINDOWS & DOOR WALLS
ROLLERS FOR PATIO DOORS & SLIDING WINDOWS
•
E WINDOW REPLACEMENTS
•
* PRIM
INSURANCE REPLACEMENTS

•

NEW SAFETY GLASS •

PICK-UP & DfLIVERY AVAILABLE
MON-FRI 8:00 TO 5:00 - SAT 8:00 TO 12:60

YOUR

and Mirrors

27 YEARS
SAME LOCATION

626-9007

32671 NORTHWESTERN HWY.
Two locations to serve you

BERKLEY • 547-1214

48

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1989

WEDDING

BAR/BAT MITZVAH
WILL BE

FINER

WHEN PHOTOGRAPHED BY

WINER

AND ASSOCIATES, INC.

357-1010

wo stores remain to-
day, one on Broadway
in Detroit and another
in Hamtramck. Both stores
retain the old-world flavor of
the 1930s and 1940s, when
hats were in their heyday.
Hats in the store are
enclosed in large glass cases
lining the wall. Workers
keep them clean with a
steam machine from decades
ago. A huge neon store sign
outside lights up every
night.
Today, Wasserman — Ap-
pleby has since left the busi-
ness — orders his hats
through the mail. They come
from France, Italy, England,
West Germany and South
America. His customers in-
clude numerous Chasidim —
who only want imported
black hats, he says — Detroit
Mayor Coleman Young,
judges, businessmen and
some 'not-so-nice' figures.
"We get everybody from
the nicest to the not-so
nicest," Wasserman says.
When he first bought
Henry the Hatter, Wasser-•
man traveled about six
times a year to New York for
his goods. He also met with
traveling salesmen.
"In the 1930s, hat
salesmen were the most
prestigious of all the
salesmen. They got the
choicest rooms in hotels and
the best tables. That was
when you could still get a
pretty good meal for a buck,"
he says.
"They would come to town
with these big trunks filled
with hats. Then they would
display them in their hotel
rooms and invite us all in to
see. We placed our orders,
which they sent back to the
factory."
Henry the Hatter was
itself the home of a hat fac-
tory until five years ago.
Wasserman takes an old
elevator, painted an art deco
green, upstairs where the
remnants of the old factory
remain. Heavy machine
parts covered with dust sit in
the back corner of the room;
round molds, once used to
design hats, rest near
multicolored spools of
thread; postcards Wasser-
man mailed from trips to
Arizona are still taped to the
wall.

The hat business may
never be what once it was;
Wasserman says his is one of
about a few stores in the
United States that sells only
hats. But men are still in
Henry the Hatter every day,
perhaps hoping a new hat
will bring them the adven-
ture of Indiana Jones or the
romance of Fred Astaire.
"Just the other day
somebody came in and
bought a folding top hat just
like this," says Wasserman,
running his hand across a
shiny black topper. "You
never know what people will
want."
Minutes later, a tall, blond
man walks in. No time for
browsing, he walks straight
over to Seymour Wasser-
man. "I'm looking for a red
fez," he says. "Have you got
one?"
Wasserman admits he's all
out
The man looks forlorn.
"Actually, I had one," he
says. "But my dog ate it." O

I IN BRIEF

ALLAN GALE has been pro-
moted to associate director of

Allan Gale

the Jewish Community
Council.
In Addition, MIRIAM
SCHEY IMERMAN has

Miriam lmerman
assumed the position of direc-
tor, domestic concerns.