Bollman Hat hits target: $100,000 to ship knitting machines here from China

It went right down to the wire Sunday evening, with appeal after appeal made throughout the day for donations to an expiring Kickstarter campaign whose goal was to create new U.S. manufacturing jobs by transporting specialized knitting machines from China to Pennsylvania.

With about 10 hours until its Kickstarter deadline, Bollman Hat Co. of Adamstown, Lancaster County, was more than $10,000 short of its $100,000 goal. With six hours left, the gap was $5,000; with an hour to go, $1,200.

"Every dollar counts now! We have it within our grasp to bring these jobs to the U.S.," Bollman implored in an 8:19 p.m. email blast.

Indeed, Bollman did have it. Ultimately, 671 supporters pledged $102,820 in the crowdfunding initiative launched by America's oldest hatmaker on Nov. 19, American Made Matters Day.

The money will help pay for the cost of moving about 70 knitting machines, most as much as 80 years old, and repairing and retrofitting them to work on U.S. electrical systems. They will enable Bollman to make the world-famous Kangol 504, a stylized wool hat first introduced in Britain in 1954; adopted by the hip-hop movement in the U.S. in the 1980s; and frequently sported by actor Samuel L. Jackson, who appeared in Bollman's Kickstarter video.

"There was a lot of love for Kangol and Bollman Hat Co. and certainly bringing jobs to America that was gratifying," Don Rongione, Bollman's president and CEO, a native of Northeast Philadelphia, said Monday morning.

But that wasn't immediately apparent. Two weeks ago, Bollman had not reached even half its goal.

"I was a little disappointed that the results weren't more overwhelming early on," Rongione said, attributing the campaign's slow start to the holidays. He also acknowledged that "some of the rewards were not as enticing as others you see on Kickstarter campaigns."

Bollman was offering T-shirts, pins, and key chains featuring motherfunder, the term Jackson - a notorious tough-talker in his movie roles - used to appeal to the donating public. Kangol hats, some autographed by Jackson, also were offered.

A last-minute rewards package to meet the request of one particular donor helped push the fund-raising drive over the finish line. That donor, a California woman, wanted a Kangol 504 autographed by Jackson and a 15-inch, polished-aluminum statue of the brand's iconic kangaroo logo.

The only statue offered had been claimed soon after the Kickstarter campaign went live, Rongione said. The one that will go to Sunday's donor - who pledged more than $3,000 - will come from Bollman's design office in New York, he said.

Bollman's owner-employees also answered the call, raising $1,000 through a raffle and a "Chinese-to-American" auction, Rongione said. That display of company pride would have made the campaign worth it even if the $100,000 had not been raised, he said.

Had the company missed its goal, it could not have collected any money that had been pledged.

Once pledges are confirmed and knitting machines and other equipment arrive and are put into working order, hires will be made and training to make the Kangol 504 will begin, Rongione said.

Plans call for 41 new jobs at Bollman, which had nearly 130 layoffs in the mid-2000s tied to competition from China.

Bollman bought the global license to design, produce, and distribute Kangol head wear in 2001. By then, most of the Kangol equipment had been moved from England to China, where Kangol's owners had a factory from the mid-1990s.

The first Kangol 504s made in Adamstown are expected in April.

dmastrull@phillynews.com

215-854-2466@dmastrull