Hat Manufacturing, 1850 This 1850 lithograph advertises Charles Oakford’s hat factory in Philadelphia. Like many industries, hat making became increasingly mechanized in the 1840s. Here Oakford talks with a client in the center of the room, across from his steam-powered lathe, while workers stand at stations shaping and stacking hats. A boy packs the merchandise into a box ready for shipping. © Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent/The Bridgeman Art Library