This hat is our salute to the Oregon Timber industry. Timber has had its ups and downs in Oregon history. Though a roaring industry through the 1920s, the Great Depression hit logging hard. By 1931, most mills operated at less than half capacity. The war economy of the 1940s increased both demand and production in the middle of a wartime. Women worked sawmills in great numbers during World War II, and the postwar construction boom kept jobs plentiful. Environmental devastation followed logging operations. By the 1950s, timber companies promoted the “conversion” of old-growth forest into fast-growing stands. They sold the idea of clear-cutting whole regions as a “scientifically sound” practice. Companies at the time also dramatically increased the use of chemicals to control brush and undergrowth. Weak state and federal laws left forests open to exploitation. Strong laws protecting Oregon’s forests began in the 1970s with a ban on DDT and herbicides 2, 4, 5-T. The timber industry has a rich history in Oregon and we support sustainable logging.
Harvest woven patch is handstitched in the USA.
