MATTAT: FRENCH FINESSE
Randers Handskefabrik once again gained honour and dignity under Mattat, who, among other things, exported to Germany, France and Russia.
CHARITY & EDUCATION
The glove industry now once again employed up to 30% of the city's inhabitants. Mattat even provided the town's better-off women with work as home seamstresses. Women, who at first had considered themselves too classy for such employment, now found it chic to sew gloves.
The factory also helped women from the local poor farm with charity and education. A school was established in which poor girls were taught glove sewing. However, it was not enough to meet the demand for seamstresses, which is why Mattat also employed seamstresses outside the city, e.g. in Christiansfeld.
VESTERGRAVE 24
During Mattat's time, the glove factory moved from Tørvebryggen to Vestergrave 24 to meet the need for more space. The building no longer exists but was located where Laksetorvet and Randers Municipality's administration is now located.
C. MATTATS SONS
In 1848, four years before his death, Charles Louis Francisco Mattat (1791-1852) handed over the glove factory to his two sons, who continued under the name “C. Sons of Mattat”. They divided the work between them. Carl Christian Mattat (1818-1886) was responsible for the tannery and Joseph Prosper Mattat (1823-1903) took over the day-to-day running of the glove factory.
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT
With the cutting machine, machines for sanding the skins and from the mid-1870s also a special machine for edge stitching, the trade was in the midst of an industrial development with increased opportunities to supply the gloves with decorations, e.g. in the form of dents, "stripes" on the back of the hand.
GENERATION CHANGE
In 1887, Joseph Prosper Mattat's son, Prosper Mattat (1859-1927), took over the glove factory and continued the operation as 3rd generation. However, the factory was sold in 1893 after a period of declining earnings.
SLOTSGADE 7
The company's first shop, "Prosper Mattat Handskefabrik", was located in Slotsgade 7, Randers in the period 1887-1893. As the name suggests, the phrase 'Randers Handsker' was already used in the 19th century for gloves from Randers. However, Randers Handsker has never been the name of the company.
RHANDERS IN HISTORY
At the same time as the Mattat family's ownership and expansion of Randers Handskefabrik, Denmark underwent an industrial revolution.
Among other things, because of the railway, which for Randers' part connected the city with Aarhus, Hobro, Grenaa and Hadsund, which also contributed to Randers becoming the home town of e.g. the train factory Scandia, as well as the general development of equipment for all types of industry.
During the period, Denmark also had to go through two wars against Prussia; The Three Years' War of 1848-1850 and the war in 1864, which decimated Denmark and left the country as Europe's second-smallest state.
