"The Canada straw hat from the region of Detroit was sold by our firm as early as 1845. After being blocked and trimmed, they were sold as an ordinary staple hat. We sold a few to John H. Genin, W. H. Beebe & Co., and Charles Knox, then the leading retail hatters of Broadway. I think, however, they were sold by them only as a fishing or harvest hat. We continued to receive these goods from Detroit for several seasons, until an article from Lower Canada, of inferior quality and less price, made its appearance, and stopped the sale, as far as we were concerned." The exact date of the appearance of the Mackinaw in Philadelphia cannot be accurately determined, but it must have been as early as 1847. Messrs. Beebe, Coster & Co., a prominent retail firm in Philadelphia, in 1849, sold the tapering crown, wide brim "Canada straw hat." From about 1855 to 1860 the Mackinaw became so very popular in the Quaker City that it was recognized as a leading article. The prominent retailers then using it were Charles Oakford, W. F. Warburton, Louis Blaylock, and Sullender & Pascall; each of these firms themselves finished the straw hats, taking them as they were sewed by the natives, which was with a taper crown and wide brim, making little pretence to any variety in style or proportion. Messrs. Sullender & Pascall made an advanced step and undertook one season to sell the Mackinaw to the exclusion of all other straw hats, preparing them in various shapes and for the first time adapting them to the requirements and tastes of a "nobby" trade. In 1847 William Ketchem of Buffalo, E. B. Wickes of Syracuse, and John Heywood & Sons of Rochester sold these hats. In 1848 L. Benedict & Co., prominent retailers of Cleveland, handled the goods. This firm was followed next season by Messrs. R. & N. Dockstadter, then a very prominent concern in the same place. In 1849 they were sold in Sandusky by C. C. Keech. The Mackinaw during these periods must have been introduced and sold in other places, but it had not secured its recognition as an article worthy of being placed on a level with foreign productions, which were then considered the desirable and suitable straw hat for genteel wear. It was probably not until after the year 1855 that the article received its title of "Mackinaw," and not until then did it secure its well merited, dignified position.