THE EMPRESA INDUSTRIAL DE CHAPELARIA

Empresa Industrial de Chapelaria

History

Known in S. João da Madeira as “The New Factory” the Empresa Industrial de Chapelaria was established in 1914.
António José de Oliveira Junior, its founder and a very important and loved person in S. João da Madeira, received from the Portuguese Government the Industrial and Agricultural Merit Diploma.
Using innovative production techniques and always up to date to the market needs, this factory will be responsible for introducing the production of merino wool hats. Known as the “fashionable hat“, this hat was very different in all aspects from the coarse wool hats produced until that moment. 
Being the only factory in Portugal fully prepared to produce the “fashionable hat“, the Empresa Industrial de Chapelaria will guarantee for many years the monopoly in the production and commerce of that item.
During years, this factory will follow the evolution of the hat industry, reflecting its prosperity and decay periods. However the strongest image that resists, is the one of a factory which employed and trained generations and generations of hatters and craftsmen who have devoted their entire lifetime to the hat's production.
The Empresa Industrial de Chapelaria closed its doors definitively in 1995.
Take a guided tour to the Hat Museum and discover all the amazing histories about this factory and its workers.