Research information taken from: http://thefedorachronicles.com
Dunlap Robert Dunlap received his first job at the age of 12 in 1857 as a general office boy for Charles Knox of Knox Hats in New York. Soon the boy graduated to the ranks of the hat salesmen, and several years later was still selling Knox hats, his salary having risen to $12 weekly. Ambitious, he asked for $15, and when Knox refused the raise the angry, Dunlap left to start his own business. Thus began the famed Dunlap hat company, founded by a onetime Knox errand boy. By the late 1890s Dunlap Hats was known for the quality of its high end “formal” hats, such as top hats and bowlers. Indeed, Dunlap succeeded in turning out the blackest derbies ever known, the Dunlap hat eventually outsold the Knox in Manhattan. For many a year small hat-makers held up their spring lines until they could see and imitate the Dunlap derby and the Knox felt. As for Knox-Dunlap competition, both the Knox and the Dunlap businesses declined in the second decade of the 20th century and in 1918 Dunlap was acquired by Knox, though hats under the Dunlap name continued to be produced.
