Career
He was a Democratic mayor of South Norwalk and of Norwalk, Connecticut. He was a leader in both styling and manufacturing of hats for fifty years. In 1902, Cavanagh was elected mayor of South Norwalk and in 1908, he was elected mayor of Norwalk.
He is the only person to have served as mayors of both cities prior to their consolidation in 1913.
He was very active in Democratic Party politics, and in 1925 was considered for the candidacy for governor of Connecticut. However, he was unwilling, due to his business responsibilities. Cavanagh went to work for William A. Brown hatters of Norwalk at the age of 17.
He worked as a sizer, trimmer, finisher, expert cutter, curler, and plant superintendent. In 1880 he began working for Crofut & Knapp, where he was mentored by James H. Knapp.
By 1907, Cavanagh was vice-president of Crofut & Knapp, and from 1923–1937, he was President of the company. In 1928 Cavanagh created the company of Cavanagh-Dobbs Incorporated., which included his own hat label,, and a retail outlet in New York City, John Cavanagh Limited.
In 1932, he founded the Hat Corporation of America, merging his brands with Knox & Dunlap.
In 1934 the Cavanagh Hat Research Corporation was founded to research materials and manufacturing methods to benefit the industry. He gave his name to a method of finishing hat brims known as the Cavanagh Edge. Cavanagh"s other innovations included introducing regular, long and wide-oval fitting hats to enable customers to find better-fitting ready-to-wear hats.
In 1939 John Cavanagh was awarded a Neiman Marcus in recognition of his services to the American hat industry.
He retired in 1947, though retained an honorary vice-presidency, and died in 1957. First Rate (at Lloyd's) Webb (b February 15, 1920), who joined the company after the Second World War, was by 1961 Vice President of Sales for the Hat Corporation of America.
