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AAKKUUBBRRAA P.O. Box 287, Kempsey. 2440 • Phone (02) 6562.6177 • Fax (02) 6562.8726 • www.akubra.com.au SEPTEMBER 2012 Vol. 29 No. 3

AKUBRA – ON TOP DOWN UNDER AKUBRA – ON TOP DOWN UNDER

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AKUBRATURNS 100

However, we are still fresh and vibrant

Your Excellency, an Akubra is on its wayIInn JJuunnee tthhiiss yyeeaarr tthhee ffoorrmmeerr

DDeeppuuttyy PPrriimmee MMiinniisstteerr aannddAAmmbbaassssaaddoorr ttoo tthhee HHoollyy SSeeee,,TTiimm FFiisscchheerr rreepprreesseenntteedd tthheeAAuussttrraalliiaann GGoovveerrnnmmeenntt aalloonnggwwiitthh tthhee HHiigghh CCoommmmiissssiioonneerr ttooKKeennyyaa,, GGeeooffff TTooootthh oonn aann ooffffii--cciiaall vviissiitt ttoo tthhee wwoorrlldd’’ss nneewweessttccoouunnttrryy,, SSoouutthh SSuuddaann..

They went specifically tomeet with the country’sPresident, Salva Kiir only to findthat he like, Mr Fischer, has apenchant for hats.

“It was already well knownPresident Salva Kiir not onlylikes hats, he likes black hats

and even wears them in hisoffice,” Mr Fischer said.

“With that in mind I wore myex Vatican size 60 blackAkubra.

“He expressed admirationfor my Akubra but I did nothave a spare one to give him.

“I guessed, correctly as itturned out, that he is a size 58.”

Back at Akubra PresidentSalva Kiir’s admiration for MrFischer’s hat has not goneunnoticed and a size 58 blackCattleman is on its way toAmbassador Tooth who willpresent it to the President.

Mr Fischer visited SouthSudan along with AmbassadorTooth as the special envoy insupport of the Australian UNSecurity Council campaign forAustralia to win the ballot inOctober for one of the rotatingseats on the UN SecurityCouncil in New York.

“It was a pleasure to visitSouth Sudan and see manyvital Ausaid program unfoldalong with CaritasInternationalis and Solidarity,”Mr Fischer said.

The photograph was takenafter the successful bilateralmeeting in the president’s

palace in South Sudan’s nation-al capital, Juba, located on themassive river, the White Nile.

AKUBRA NEWS

Tim Fischer, never without hisAkubra and the President ofSouth Sudan Salva Kiir whowill soon be sporting a new

black Cattleman.

HOW AN AKUBRA SAVED ASPECIAL BOY FROM BULLYING

The Akubra hat is at thecentre of a movement at aQueensland high schoolto stop bullying and it israpidly expanding to otherschools across that state.

It all came about becauseone young student, ShaunWooderson, started atBundamba High School thisyear and wore his rather bat-tered Akubra each day.

Shaun is a high functioningautistic 13 year old and hismost treasured possession ishis Akubra and wearing it giveshim courage and confidencewhen he is faced with newenvironments.

Everything was going welland Shaun was popular untilseveral senior students startedstealing his hat and teasinghim.

Shaun refused to go toschool, developed a tic andthreatened to commit suicide.

His grandmother, MaryWooderson, in desperationwent on to Facebook, wroteabout his problem and askedother students at the school towear an Akubra or any othertype of hat or head wear toschool the next day to showtheir support of Shaun.

The power of Facebookbrought an immediate result.

“The school did not have ahat policy but the next day themajority of students turned upwearing all sorts of hats,” Marysaid.

“Some wore Akubras, oth-ers wore beanies, more wore

caps and there was even afluffy pink furry hat.

“It was an incredibleresponse and a glorious sightto see so many hats and stu-dents pledging their support to

our boy.“The only sad thing is that

Shaun was not at school tosee how much support hehad.”

The success of that initia-

tive prompted Mary to set upan anti bullying movement withthe Akubra hat as its icon andwith children as the owners ofthe program.

She wrote to Akubra tellingthe story and asking permis-sion to use the Akubra.

The company not only gavepermission but company sec-retary, Roy Wilkinson, alsowrote to Shaun offering himnot only a new hat but supportas well.

“After reading that beautifulletter Shaun returned to schooland spent every day poringover the Akubra web site tryingto choose from so many hatsthat he loves,” Mary said.

“He decided he would like aCattleman in fawn as he hashad a couple of these over theyears.”

The good news is the bully-ing has stopped, Shaun ishappy and doing well atschool, many more studentsare regularly wearing hats toschool and the anti bullyingmovement is gatheringmomentum at other schools.

“We have only just startedand are so grateful to Akubrafor their support in giving per-mission for us to use theAkubra,” Mary said.

“It is appropriate becausethe Akubra was what startedall this and the new hat savedour special boy.”

As Shaun said in histhankyou letter to Akubra, “thekids who were bullying mehave stopped as lots of kidsare looking after me. It is sogood not to be sad every day.”

A bright, happy and confident Shaun Wooderson shows off hisnew fawn Cattleman.

TThhee bbrraanndd nnaammeeAAkkuubbrraa cceelleebbrraatteedd iittss110000tthh bbiirrtthhddaayy llaasstt mmoonntthhaanndd wwhhiillee tthhee nnaammee mmiigghhttnnooww bbee aa cceennttuurryy oolldd oouurroouuttllooookk oonn ffaasshhiioonn,, ssttyylleeaanndd mmaarrkkeettiinngg iiss aass ffrreesshhaanndd vviibbrraanntt aass eevveerr..

In August 1912 thetrade mark was first reg-istered but 100 years onthe name Akubra isrecognised as an iconicpart of Australian society.

The original company,founded in Tasmania byBenjamin Dunkerley in1874, was namedDunkerley Hat Mills.

Wanting to expand,Dunkerley decided tomove into bigger premis-es, relocating to Sydneyin the 1900’s. Dunkerley iscredited with the creationof a machine that wascapable of cutting the hairtip from rabbit fur used inhat making.

This was previouslyperformed by hand. Theinvention was to revolu-tionise fur felt hatmanufacturing, not only inAustralia but the worldover.

In 1904 Stephen Keirjoined the company afteremigrating from England.Keir had hat makingexperience and was avaluable acquisition to the

business. He also caughtthe eye of the boss’sdaughter, Ada Dunkerley.

It was not long beforethey were married andsoon afterwards Keir wasmade general manager ofthe hatting company.

In 1912 the companyname was changed toAkubra and whenDunkerley passed away in1918 the ownership of thebusiness transferred toStephen Keir in whattoday represents the

fourth generation in own-ership of the Akubra Hatsbusiness.

The trademark Akubrahas evolved significantlyover the past 100 years.

Originally the trade-mark could be seen onFedoras and other shortbrimmed fashion hatssynonymous with the eraof the 1920’s. The Akubra

name then served duringthe two world wars as thefamous slouch hat.

The company today isstill a manufacturer of thisiconic symbol of theAustralian Defenceforces.

As fashion changedand hats were no longerconsidered a compulsorypart of every day wearnew markets emerged forthe brand.

Whilst fewer people

from the city were wear-ing hats regional Australiaremained strong, recog-nising the durable natureof the Akubra to with-stand the adverseconditions of sun andrain.

The emergence ofwider brims assisted inthis regard and Akubrawas now considered awork hat.

The reason for theiconic nature of Akubra ishard to pinpoint.Needless to say in the1920’s there were a num-ber of fur felt hatmanufacturers.

Today only Akubra isleft, still Australianowned, located inKempsey, NSW, employ-ing and supporting localcommunity and the coun-try at large. This is seenas a combination of pru-dent management overfour generations of theKeir family, a never failingcommitment to qualityand a strong corporateculture emphasising“honesty, fairness, qualityand generosity”.

Akubra has represent-ed Australia at numerousOlympic Games, hasadorned the heads of therich and famous andenjoyed associations withgreat Australians such asLee Kernaghan and GregNorman.

Akubra has evolvedfrom a fashion hat to awork hat to again captur-ing both of these marketspresently, along withbeing keenly sought byinternational visitors as aunique Australian gift.

Akubra now preparesfor another 100 years withthe same energy andcommitment.

The iconic bucking horse and the different Akubra images mirror thechanges through the last 100 years.

2012 front and back - September 31/8/12 4:46 PM Page 1

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AA lliiffeettiimmee ooff ggrroowwiinnggrriiccee,, rraaiissiinngg sshheeeepp aannddccaattttllee,, bbaattttlliinngg ttwwooddrroouugghhttss aanndd rraaiissiinnggtthhrreeee ddaauugghhtteerrss wwiitthh aappaassssiioonn ffoorr hhoorrsseess hhaassbbeeeenn tthhee ccaattaallyysstt bbeehhiinnddtthhee ooppeenniinngg ooff aa nneewwrreettaaiill ssttoorree ccaalllleeddRRyyeebbuucckkss iinn BBaallllaarraatt..John and Libby Austin

and daughters Jacintaand Bianca along withJohn’s brother Brett andJacinta’s partner DeanGeddes have outfittedwhat was a vacant oldshowroom on WiltshireLane and turned it into aslightly old fashionedretail treasure trove ofquality country orientedproducts.

The shelves and dis-play cabinets are stockedwith everything from sad-dlery to quality horsefeeds, veterinary sup-plies, equestrian apparel,outdoor clothing, wetweather gear, westernboots and shirts, beltsand bracelets, rope, sun-glasses and requirementsfor leather work andrepairs.

Plus an extensiverange of Akubra hats.

Their entry into retailfor the first time and withno prior experience was ahuge gamble but itappears to have paid off.

“The response to thestore has been amazingand we could not be hap-pier with the progress wehave made since ouropening only days beforelast Christmas,” Johnsaid.

“We grew rice on manyproperties around theRiverina for about 25years but we had to

severely curtail thatbecause of the 2006drought.

“We drove our farmingequipment to southernVictoria and leased aproperty at Ballarat butunfortunately this coin-cided with the driest yearin 100 years.

“The next five yearswere spent growing win-ter crops and fat lambsuntil the lease expired inJune last year.

“Portion of theNarrandera farm hasbeen given over to a fam-ily company growingtomatoes and cotton andour farming businessthere has been confinedto breeding cattle andsheep.

“Given our fondnessfor Ballarat we decided ona new direction into aretail business drawingon our combined family

interests and strengths.”The family found a

showroom and ware-house that had beenvacant for some time andset to work, using theirown skills, to re-fit it.

“Dean made all the dis-play cabinets while we didthe rest of the work to endup with a fit out we arevery proud of,” John said.

“It is perhaps slightlyold fashioned, deliberate-ly personal and very muchin a country vein whichwe hope makes peoplefeel comfortable andrelaxed.

“Akubra sent us someof their older advertisingmaterial which we framedand which adds to thelook.

“Bianca’s partner, JoshRushton, has also movedhere after three yearsmustering by helicopter inthe top end and we have

great photographs of thaton the walls.

“Jacinta and Biancaare the backbone in thestore alongside theirmother and myself whileBrett is making the transi-tion from chasing sheepand driving tractors tohats and horse tack and isin the shops most days tohelp the girls.

“Dean and Josh workelsewhere in town butoften come in to help out.

“Our other daughter,Aleisha, has finished hervet science degree and isworking in England.

“The girls have beenriding and involved inshows, cross country andeventing all their lives andcan draw on that experi-ence when giving adviceto customers.

“We might be new toretail but we have beenconsumers for a long timeand learned from that sowe only stock qualityproducts.

“It is not possible toexclusively sell productsthat are Australian madehowever Ryebucks willonly sell products that areAustralian suitable.

“We are proud that weare able to stock such awide range of Akubra hatsbecause they are totallyAustralian.”

Finally, as Johnexplained, the nameRyebucks was chosenafter an Australian poem,now lost in antiquity,called The RyebuckShearer.

Ryebuck was a collo-quial Australian slangmeaning “the best of thebest.”

NNoo ddoouubbtt tthheerree hhaass bbeeeennmmaannyy aa ssttoorryy ttoolldd ffrroommuunnddeerr aann AAkkuubbrraa aarroouunnddtthhee ccaammpp ffiirree ddoowwnntthhrroouugghh tthhee yyeeaarrss..

Earlier this year TourismNorthern Territory turned itinto an art form and calledit the Great NorthernTerritory Hat Yak tourismcompetition and you cango to their dedicated website www.hatyak.com tosee what we are yakking,sorry, talking about.

Basically, it worked likethis.

There were 100 Akubrasscattered throughout theNorthern Territory and theidea was to put one of thehats on your head then tell

your story that best definedthe Northern Territory foryou – the one you liked thebest.

The story, picture orvideo was then uploaded tothe website and the hatpassed on to someone elsewith a great yarn to tell.

And if a story teller couldnot find an Akubra therewas a virtual one availableon the website.

It attracted 503 stories,all different and all rich withthe great characters andtraditions that encompassthe Territory.

The winner was TomCurtain who trains horsesfor use on cattle stations.

He wrote the story andsang it, with Akubra firmlyin place while sitting on hishorse which was lyingdown.

To recognise hisachievement the town ofKatherine was renamedTom Curtain for the day.

The idea was then takenone step further at theNorthern Territory stand atthe Australian TourismExchange in Perth.

As the photographshows, 150 Akubras weresuspended from the ceilingof the Territory’s displayarea which fitted in perfect-ly with the outback theme.

Again visitors to the dis-play were asked to don a

hat and a tell story aboutthe Territory with eachday’s winner presentedwith one of the Akubras.

Hats were also givenaway to people who hadbeen supporters of thepush by the Territory tocreate awareness in it as agreat holiday destination.

“The display looked fabu-lous and caused the right kindof sensation and we had somuch fun giving the hatsaway,” Trade EventsCoordinator, Joy Eggenhuizen,said.

“We eventually gaveaway all 150 hats andeveryone who received onewas delighted.”

TWO DROUGHTS AND THREEHORSE LOVING DAUGHTERSThe journey from rice growing to retail

Jacinta (left) and Bianca Austin shows off their range of Akubrahats at their new Ryebucks store in Ballarat.

Three of the delighted staff who had so much fun giving away 150 Akubra hats.

THE GREAT NORTHERNTERRITORY HAT YAKUnder an Akubra, of course

2012 middle pages - September 31/8/12 3:20 PM Page 1

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AAKKUUBBRRAA P.O. Box 287, Kempsey. 2440 • Phone (02) 6562.6177 • Fax (02) 6562.8726 • www.akubra.com.au SEPTEMBER 2012 Vol. 29 No. 3

AKUBRA – ON TOP DOWN UNDER AKUBRA – ON TOP DOWN UNDER

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AKUBRATURNS 100

However, we are still fresh and vibrant

Your Excellency, an Akubra is on its wayIInn JJuunnee tthhiiss yyeeaarr tthhee ffoorrmmeerr

DDeeppuuttyy PPrriimmee MMiinniisstteerr aannddAAmmbbaassssaaddoorr ttoo tthhee HHoollyy SSeeee,,TTiimm FFiisscchheerr rreepprreesseenntteedd tthheeAAuussttrraalliiaann GGoovveerrnnmmeenntt aalloonnggwwiitthh tthhee HHiigghh CCoommmmiissssiioonneerr ttooKKeennyyaa,, GGeeooffff TTooootthh oonn aann ooffffii--cciiaall vviissiitt ttoo tthhee wwoorrlldd’’ss nneewweessttccoouunnttrryy,, SSoouutthh SSuuddaann..

They went specifically tomeet with the country’sPresident, Salva Kiir only to findthat he like, Mr Fischer, has apenchant for hats.

“It was already well knownPresident Salva Kiir not onlylikes hats, he likes black hats

and even wears them in hisoffice,” Mr Fischer said.

“With that in mind I wore myex Vatican size 60 blackAkubra.

“He expressed admirationfor my Akubra but I did nothave a spare one to give him.

“I guessed, correctly as itturned out, that he is a size 58.”

Back at Akubra PresidentSalva Kiir’s admiration for MrFischer’s hat has not goneunnoticed and a size 58 blackCattleman is on its way toAmbassador Tooth who willpresent it to the President.

Mr Fischer visited SouthSudan along with AmbassadorTooth as the special envoy insupport of the Australian UNSecurity Council campaign forAustralia to win the ballot inOctober for one of the rotatingseats on the UN SecurityCouncil in New York.

“It was a pleasure to visitSouth Sudan and see manyvital Ausaid program unfoldalong with CaritasInternationalis and Solidarity,”Mr Fischer said.

The photograph was takenafter the successful bilateralmeeting in the president’s

palace in South Sudan’s nation-al capital, Juba, located on themassive river, the White Nile.

AKUBRA NEWS

Tim Fischer, never without hisAkubra and the President ofSouth Sudan Salva Kiir whowill soon be sporting a new

black Cattleman.

HOW AN AKUBRA SAVED ASPECIAL BOY FROM BULLYING

The Akubra hat is at thecentre of a movement at aQueensland high schoolto stop bullying and it israpidly expanding to otherschools across that state.

It all came about becauseone young student, ShaunWooderson, started atBundamba High School thisyear and wore his rather bat-tered Akubra each day.

Shaun is a high functioningautistic 13 year old and hismost treasured possession ishis Akubra and wearing it giveshim courage and confidencewhen he is faced with newenvironments.

Everything was going welland Shaun was popular untilseveral senior students startedstealing his hat and teasinghim.

Shaun refused to go toschool, developed a tic andthreatened to commit suicide.

His grandmother, MaryWooderson, in desperationwent on to Facebook, wroteabout his problem and askedother students at the school towear an Akubra or any othertype of hat or head wear toschool the next day to showtheir support of Shaun.

The power of Facebookbrought an immediate result.

“The school did not have ahat policy but the next day themajority of students turned upwearing all sorts of hats,” Marysaid.

“Some wore Akubras, oth-ers wore beanies, more wore

caps and there was even afluffy pink furry hat.

“It was an incredibleresponse and a glorious sightto see so many hats and stu-dents pledging their support to

our boy.“The only sad thing is that

Shaun was not at school tosee how much support hehad.”

The success of that initia-

tive prompted Mary to set upan anti bullying movement withthe Akubra hat as its icon andwith children as the owners ofthe program.

She wrote to Akubra tellingthe story and asking permis-sion to use the Akubra.

The company not only gavepermission but company sec-retary, Roy Wilkinson, alsowrote to Shaun offering himnot only a new hat but supportas well.

“After reading that beautifulletter Shaun returned to schooland spent every day poringover the Akubra web site tryingto choose from so many hatsthat he loves,” Mary said.

“He decided he would like aCattleman in fawn as he hashad a couple of these over theyears.”

The good news is the bully-ing has stopped, Shaun ishappy and doing well atschool, many more studentsare regularly wearing hats toschool and the anti bullyingmovement is gatheringmomentum at other schools.

“We have only just startedand are so grateful to Akubrafor their support in giving per-mission for us to use theAkubra,” Mary said.

“It is appropriate becausethe Akubra was what startedall this and the new hat savedour special boy.”

As Shaun said in histhankyou letter to Akubra, “thekids who were bullying mehave stopped as lots of kidsare looking after me. It is sogood not to be sad every day.”

A bright, happy and confident Shaun Wooderson shows off hisnew fawn Cattleman.

TThhee bbrraanndd nnaammeeAAkkuubbrraa cceelleebbrraatteedd iittss110000tthh bbiirrtthhddaayy llaasstt mmoonntthhaanndd wwhhiillee tthhee nnaammee mmiigghhttnnooww bbee aa cceennttuurryy oolldd oouurroouuttllooookk oonn ffaasshhiioonn,, ssttyylleeaanndd mmaarrkkeettiinngg iiss aass ffrreesshhaanndd vviibbrraanntt aass eevveerr..

In August 1912 thetrade mark was first reg-istered but 100 years onthe name Akubra isrecognised as an iconicpart of Australian society.

The original company,founded in Tasmania byBenjamin Dunkerley in1874, was namedDunkerley Hat Mills.

Wanting to expand,Dunkerley decided tomove into bigger premis-es, relocating to Sydneyin the 1900’s. Dunkerley iscredited with the creationof a machine that wascapable of cutting the hairtip from rabbit fur used inhat making.

This was previouslyperformed by hand. Theinvention was to revolu-tionise fur felt hatmanufacturing, not only inAustralia but the worldover.

In 1904 Stephen Keirjoined the company afteremigrating from England.Keir had hat makingexperience and was avaluable acquisition to the

business. He also caughtthe eye of the boss’sdaughter, Ada Dunkerley.

It was not long beforethey were married andsoon afterwards Keir wasmade general manager ofthe hatting company.

In 1912 the companyname was changed toAkubra and whenDunkerley passed away in1918 the ownership of thebusiness transferred toStephen Keir in whattoday represents the

fourth generation in own-ership of the Akubra Hatsbusiness.

The trademark Akubrahas evolved significantlyover the past 100 years.

Originally the trade-mark could be seen onFedoras and other shortbrimmed fashion hatssynonymous with the eraof the 1920’s. The Akubra

name then served duringthe two world wars as thefamous slouch hat.

The company today isstill a manufacturer of thisiconic symbol of theAustralian Defenceforces.

As fashion changedand hats were no longerconsidered a compulsorypart of every day wearnew markets emerged forthe brand.

Whilst fewer people

from the city were wear-ing hats regional Australiaremained strong, recog-nising the durable natureof the Akubra to with-stand the adverseconditions of sun andrain.

The emergence ofwider brims assisted inthis regard and Akubrawas now considered awork hat.

The reason for theiconic nature of Akubra ishard to pinpoint.Needless to say in the1920’s there were a num-ber of fur felt hatmanufacturers.

Today only Akubra isleft, still Australianowned, located inKempsey, NSW, employ-ing and supporting localcommunity and the coun-try at large. This is seenas a combination of pru-dent management overfour generations of theKeir family, a never failingcommitment to qualityand a strong corporateculture emphasising“honesty, fairness, qualityand generosity”.

Akubra has represent-ed Australia at numerousOlympic Games, hasadorned the heads of therich and famous andenjoyed associations withgreat Australians such asLee Kernaghan and GregNorman.

Akubra has evolvedfrom a fashion hat to awork hat to again captur-ing both of these marketspresently, along withbeing keenly sought byinternational visitors as aunique Australian gift.

Akubra now preparesfor another 100 years withthe same energy andcommitment.

The iconic bucking horse and the different Akubra images mirror thechanges through the last 100 years.

2012 front and back - September 31/8/12 4:46 PM Page 1