From the archives of the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library:
The Sault was in style even as far back as the early 1900s, thanks to a talented roster of milliners, or women’s hat makers. If you wanted a hat in 1914, for instance – which most everyone did – the City Directory listed such milliners as: Miss Annie McVicar, Mrs. Jane Magee, Miss B. Parker, Miss A. Rouleau, Miss F. Toombs, and Miss F.L. Wice.
Millinery was considered a significant economic opportunity for turn-of-the-century women, and three of the four millinery shops in 1900 were women-owned. While the Sault’s milliner directory changed over the decades, and styles shifted as frequently as the weather, one figure remained steady in the field for nearly 60 years: Miss Florence Toombs.
Toombs honed her craft by apprenticing under Elmo Kibbey in Sault, Michigan. She initially began hat making at Bemrose’s Store between East and Brock Street before opening her own shop located at 728 Queen Street East in 1908. The pre-1900 brown frame building, which was demolished in 1961, had previously hosted a butcher shop, music store, candy shop, and Chinese restaurant.
Velour, silk, straw, metal, mohair, velvet; Napoleon blue, peau-de-pêche, ‘monkey skin,’ Mother Goose, shell pink and crabapple – there were colours, materials, embellishments, and sizes for all personalities and occasions. “Many women don’t feel dressed up unless they are wearing gloves. I have always believed that if you are wearing gloves, you should also put on a hat,” said Miss Toombs.
As crucial as a highly skilled technique in sewing and frame-making was to a milliner’s career, knowing the trends was almost every bit as important to guarantee hat sales. Toombs told the Sault Star that the Glengarry Bonnet was in fashion her first year in business, “and did I make them!” she said. The bonnet, inspired by traditional Scottish and then British army headgear, was a distinctive boat shape worn in a puffed-up, creased manner. It was not uncommon for world events to inspire styles of the season.
To keep up with extremely quick-changing fashion cycles, the most serious of Sault milliners packed their suitcases to attend opening fashion exhibits in such metropolitan cities as Montreal, Toronto, Detroit, Cleveland, and Chicago. They would often travel by steamers like S.S. Keewatin and S.S. Noronic, returning weeks later to fill shops with the vogues of the season.
One frequent traveller and milliner, Miss Alberta “A.D.” Rouleau owned the ‘French Hat Shoppe’ at 127 Gore Street. The shop endured many successful years, employing 6-8 women at any given time. Perhaps it was her August 1919 visit to the Toronto exhibit that inspired the name, as she reported of “being charmed with the delightful new French hats of the season.” On that same visit, Rouleau was even introduced to the Prince of Wales.
As exciting and dramatic as the industry was for many decades, it is safe to say that handmade hats have become a lost art in society of today. Veteran milliners kept the fire lit as long as possible, paying it forward and taking on apprentices. One of Miss Toombs’ personal apprentices – of which she had 15 – Mrs. Fred Niemi went on to teach millinery classes herself at the YMCA in the 60s. In 1966, Niemi said that while manufactured hats had taken over the industry en masse, a niche interest in ordering custom-made hats was still high in the Sault. In the no-nonsense words of Miss Toombs’ 1926 spring advertisement: “Above all – the right hat!”
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