Magical millinery: an iron for hat making

Source: Frankston Weekly

To be honest, hat making has always been somewhat of a mystery of me. Being completely uninitiated in this art, I think that most millinery tools look like somebody combined a magic wand with a dental pick, and what one does with this bizarre combination is completely opaque to me!

Source: Damsel in Regress

Now, I'm not proud of my ignorance, and I plan to remedy this problem someday when I have more free time. Until then, I take full responsibility when my lack of millinery knowledge causes me to purchase items for which I have absolutely no use.

What am I talking about? Here's an example:


A couple months ago while I was browsing the nooks and crannies of a local thrift store, this bizarre gadget caught my eye:

As probably guessed, the "Original Bügelfix" mounts onto a table with the turn of a lovely heart-shaped screw. Plug the cable into the wall and the round head heats up, just like the bottom of a normal steam iron.

Honestly, I hadn't the slightest clue this was actually for hat making! I bought it on a whim since the price was incredibly low—just a few Euros—and I thought it could be used for ironing difficult articles of clothing like blouses with puff sleeves.

"Bügelfix" translates to "Fast Iron" or "Quick Iron"

(In case you are wondering, the "D.R.P." on the sticker label stands for "Deutsches Reichspatent", that is, a patent dating to before 1945, which gives us an idea of when this device was manufactured.)

An old-fashioned plug without the grounding prongs

Never make hot-headed decisions, right? Guess this was one of those impulsive buys I've always heard about.

Source: Craig Swanson

Not even an exhaustive internet search could turn up any information about this curious device, but I did discover two pictures of a model sold over eBay (the listing is now deleted) for which the power cord can be completely detached.

And here's a screen shot of an eBay listing from a year ago. Apparently someone bought an iron just like the one I have for 60 Euros, much more than I paid for it.

Right now a perfectly usable hat making rarity is just sitting on a shelf in my laundry room collecting dust!

Perhaps the time has come when my Bügelfix and I shall part ways...

Source: lebabovard.com