In my thesis, I decided to focus on the history of straw hat making in Domžale. More specifically, on the Univerzale factory, which was active from 1936 to 2003. I began with the introduction of straw hat making beginnings in the Domžale region, how this profession came to be and who were the first Domžale straw hat makers. This outline is quite important, in my opinion, because it reveals prehistory of the Domžale Univerzale factory, which was a successor of these first straw hat making factories. I then wanted to present the Univerzale factory in its entirety: I started by explaining how it was established, presented its workings during and after the Second World War and the important period, during which the factory was led by Matija Svoljšak. Then, I continued my thesis by writing down the words of an ex-worker, Jožica Košak, who explained to me, how the factory was run, how they braided straw plaits and then made straw hats out of those straw plaits, what rights did the factory workers have and what were the relations like in their workplace hierarchy. For the conclusion, I decided to touch upon the subject of the straw hat manufacturing decline and the remains of the Univerzale factory.
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