In much of
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
during the period 1550-1850, hats made of
feltFelt is a non-woven cloth that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers. While some types of felt are very soft, some are tough enough to form construction materials. Felt can be of any color, and made into any shape or size....
ed beaver fur were fashionable because the soft yet resilient material could be easily combed to make a variety of hat shapes, including the familiar
top hatA top hat, top-hat, silk hat, cylinder hat, plug hat, chimney pot hat or stove pipe hat is a tall, flat-crowned, broad-brimmed hat worn prior to and including the 19th and early 20th centuries...
. Emperor Norton I wore a beaver hat decorated with a peacock feather and rosette.
The demand for
beaverThe beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, Castor canadensis and Castor fiber . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...
pelts in Europe ultimately drove the animal to near-extinction.
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In much of
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
during the period 1550-1850, hats made of
feltFelt is a non-woven cloth that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers. While some types of felt are very soft, some are tough enough to form construction materials. Felt can be of any color, and made into any shape or size....
ed beaver fur were fashionable because the soft yet resilient material could be easily combed to make a variety of hat shapes, including the familiar
top hatA top hat, top-hat, silk hat, cylinder hat, plug hat, chimney pot hat or stove pipe hat is a tall, flat-crowned, broad-brimmed hat worn prior to and including the 19th and early 20th centuries...
. Emperor Norton I wore a beaver hat decorated with a peacock feather and rosette.
The demand for
beaverThe beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, Castor canadensis and Castor fiber . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...
pelts in Europe ultimately drove the animal to near-extinction. The booming demand for this type of fur helped cause the dwindling of the supply of beavers in the
New WorldThe New World is one of the names used for the non-Afro-Eurasian parts of the Earth, specifically the Americas and possibly Australia. When the term originated in the late 15th century, the Americas were new to the Europeans, who previously thought of the world as consisting only of Europe, Asia,...
, and fueled colonial expansion to a significant degree as more people sought the fortunes of the trade.
In 1624, the year
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
was first settled,
DutchThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
settlers were recorded having shipped 1500 beaver and 500 otter skins to Europe.
Used, smelly winter coats worn by
Native AmericansNative Americans in the United States is the phrase that describes indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of...
were actually a prized commodity for hatmaking, because their wear helped prepare the skins, separating out the coarser hairs from the pelts.
The demise of the beaver hat came around the time that silk hats became vogue.