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| Lotus-leaf conical hats offer a new direction for Doc So's traditional conical hat-making craft |
Fewer and fewer hat makers
“It's quiet around here now,” said Mr. Hoang Tinh, 73, a resident of Doc So, when asked how many people in the area still made conical hats. He explained that anyone looking for a hat maker would have to venture further into the neighbourhood, asking at one house before moving on to the next. Some households that once made hats together as a family had given up the craft long ago.
Mr. Tinh's family was once involved in processing hat leaves, specialising in drying them for sale to households that made conical hats. However, he stopped working in the trade nearly 15 years ago. Recalling the days when hat-making was widespread, he said that after the rice-growing season, villagers would sit down to sew hats. The money they earned helped them buy basic food supplies, make ends meet during the agricultural off-season and pay for their children's education. “In the old days, most families in this village relied on hat-making to put their children through school,” he recalled.
Producing a conical hat involves several stages: pressing the leaves, drying them, pressing them again, cutting them, making the rim, stitching the hat and completing the final finishing work. Each stage requires meticulous attention and patience. Doc So hats have their own distinctive technique, known among local craftspeople as non dat, characterised by small, dense and evenly spaced stitches. A typical hat has 15 to 16 bamboo structural rings. Even a skilled craftsperson could previously make only about one and a half hats a day, while a smaller hat might take two to three days to complete.
With careful use, each hat can last two to three years. This durability was once one of the main reasons Doc So hats became widely known. Mr. Tinh proudly noted that Doc So was one of Hue’s renowned conical-hat-making villages, alongside Tay Ho, My Lam, Phu Cam and Da Le.
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| Lotus-leaf conical hats offer a new direction for Doc So’s traditional hat-making craft |
Yet even hats that are durable and beautiful have not been enough to keep people in the trade. Le Kim Nam, Vice Chairman of the Huong An Ward People's Committee, said that in the past, every household in Doc So had someone making hats. Typically, two or three people in each family were involved, and in some households, four or five worked together. Today, only around 20 people continue the craft, earning approximately VND 50,000-70,000 a day. Most do this as a supplementary activity alongside farming and livestock raising.
The most noticeable change has been among younger generations. In the past, school and university students also helped with tasks suited to them. Today, young villagers complete their education and seek work elsewhere. Women also have more employment options offering steadier incomes. “All the young people have gone off to do other jobs now. Only the elderly remain, stitching hats to earn a little money to get by each day,” Mr Tinh said.
Mr. Nguyen Cau and his wife are among the few people in Doc So who remain involved in traditional hat-making. They have also begun experimenting with lotus-leaf hats. Mr. Cau explained that people in Doc So once made hats using mountain leaves, which are white in colour. At that time, the hats were closely associated with the lives of farmers. Anyone working in the fields needed a durable hat that provided good protection from the sun. Today, however, people’s working lives have changed. Many have taken jobs in factories, businesses and companies, reducing demand for conical hats. As a result, fewer people are continuing the tradition of making hats from mountain leaves.
As a conical-hat-making village in Hue with a history spanning more than a century, Doc So once passed the craft down through generations. Today, however, finding someone who still stitches hats is no easy task. When asked which households remained active, Mr. Tinh pointed along the road, saying, “That house used to make hats,” or “Mr. Duyen still stitches them,” before suggesting that visitors venture further into the hamlet to ask around. These fragmented directions leave both speaker and listener with a sense of sadness. The number of craftspeople is dwindling, and homes that once echoed with the sound of hat-making have grown quiet. The hat frames are still there, but fewer and fewer people sit beside them.
A new direction for an old craft
In the few households still connected to the trade, lotus-leaf conical hats are being explored as a potential new direction. Mr. Nguyen Cau is among those who continue to make traditional hats while also producing lotus-leaf versions. With different materials and processing techniques, the lotus-leaf hat is expected to open up additional markets for local craftspeople.
An unfinished lotus-leaf hat sells for VND 50,000. Those who make the basic hat largely ‘earn through their labour’, as the cost of leaves, rims, thread and other materials accounts for a considerable share of the selling price. According to Mr Nguyen Cau, a skilled craftsperson can make around two to three hats a day. After deducting all expenses, the income from hat-making amounts to approximately VND 70,000-80,000 per day.
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| Mr. Nguyen Cau has turned to making lotus-leaf conical hats |
These earnings show that although lotus-leaf hats offer a new avenue for product development, they cannot yet provide a stable livelihood without a reliable flow of orders. For those who have spent years mastering the craft, making these hats is a way to keep their skills alive. For younger people, however, the current income is not attractive enough compared with the many other jobs available.
The business run by Nguyen Thanh Thao, Director of Sen Thao Company Limited, currently produces around 70 to 80 lotus-leaf conical hats a day. During peak periods, output can reach approximately 100 hats daily, averaging 2,000-3,000 hats a month. However, production depends on tourist demand and orders. When sales slow, maintaining both the workforce and production becomes difficult.
According to Mr Thao, reviving the village’s traditional craft requires cooperation between residents, businesses and local authorities. Businesses need support with premises, capital, production expansion and market access. Residents, in turn, need more opportunities to learn the craft, find work and earn a stable income. When businesses have sufficient orders and suitable production facilities, bringing local people back into the trade becomes much more feasible.
Huong An Ward is considering ways to move hat-making beyond scattered, small-scale household operations. Mr. Le Kim Nam said the local authorities plan to build a cultural center incorporating a dedicated space for the conical-hat craft. Residents would be able to produce hats and demonstrate their stitching techniques there, while visitors could come to observe and try making the craft themselves.
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| New products of hat-making craft |
The ward is also preparing an application for submission to the relevant authorities to have Doc So recognized as a traditional conical-hat making craft village. The application is expected to be completed and submitted next year. Another proposal is to connect the conical-hat village with Duc Buu traditional cake-making village, creating a rural cultural experience tour and working with travel companies to bring visitors to the area.
According to Nguyen Ngoc An, Director of Hue Connection Travel Company Limited, bringing Doc So into tourism itineraries first requires the village to have enough active craftspeople and an appropriate space where visitors can watch and experience the different stages of hat-making. The village also needs distinctive products, stories about its craft heritage and engaging hands-on activities that encourage visitors to stay longer. “A craft village must be able to sustain itself before it can become a tourist destination,” Mr An said.
This is also the direction local authorities are considering: not simply preserving the conical hat as a handicraft but gradually creating a space where the craft can be seen, experienced and connected to wider markets. Mr Cau is among those seeking to preserve the old tradition by experimenting with new products. Beside his hat frame, he continues to perform the familiar movements he has practised for years, from preparing the leaves to sewing each stitch. Lotus-leaf conical hats may not yet solve all the challenges of making a living from the craft, but they are opening up another way for the tradition to survive.