Ostrich plumes, cock feathers, vulture plumes, and white swan plumes.

major bill

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Forum Host
Joined
Aug 25, 2012
With the growth of the Union Army, where did all the ostrich plumes come from? That would be a "boat load" of ostrich feathers. I assume ostriches were not raised in the United States

Per War militia some times used different colored vulture feathers, So where would red vulture feathers with blue tips come from?
 
What an interesting topic, Major Bill! Plume hunters. It was a huge, booming business and nearly wiped out the snowy egret, once so abundant the naturalist John Audubon said no amount of hunting could extinguish it. He was wrong! But it did lead to the founding of the Audubon Society and the passage of the Migratory Birds Act in 1913, which outlawed market hunting along with other measures. The ostrich plumes, such as the black ostrich plume Jeb Stuart wore, came from France. A lot of Jeb's gear came from France, which was one of the reasons he was called a cavalier. London was really the major source for them and others, and also a giant market for egret plumes. @JPK Huson 1863 might be able to help - feathers were huge in the ladies' fashions!
 
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@major bill, perhaps this is why we no longer have flocks (or more rightly, herds) of ostrich in North America today?
 
Thanks for the confidence Diane but have to admit when it comes to those feathers I've always flinched away- there's some dreadful histories there. We tended to decimate nature any time fashion dictated. Heck, entire birds were stuffed in order to sit on someone's head and stay there. We're still arguing about fur as a luxury accessory although that's gotten a little better.

I don't know about ostriches in this country. From the sounds of it they fortunately seem to be poorly inclined when it comes to viewing humans as creatures they'd like to hang around with. Aren't they one of our grumpier birds? May be problematic when it comes to raising them for any purpose.
 
Thanks for the confidence Diane but have to admit when it comes to those feathers I've always flinched away- there's some dreadful histories there. We tended to decimate nature any time fashion dictated. Heck, entire birds were stuffed in order to sit on someone's head and stay there. We're still arguing about fur as a luxury accessory although that's gotten a little better.

I don't know about ostriches in this country. From the sounds of it they fortunately seem to be poorly inclined when it comes to viewing humans as creatures they'd like to hang around with. Aren't they one of our grumpier birds? May be problematic when it comes to raising them for any purpose.

Sure don't blame you. I made the mistake of reading about the down industry practices with the albatross on Midway... That will make you regret being a member of the human race for quite a while!
 
Annie, I know you didn't mean this in jest, but it struck me as a very funny way to make your point. I love it!

PatrickH, I sometimes wonder if the purpose of fashion is to illustrate what vanity is! This is one of the outfits on display at the New York Historical Society:

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However, being an Indian, I'm probably the last person to be critical of wearing dead animals....:x3:
 
Annie, I know you didn't mean this in jest, but it struck me as a very funny way to make your point. I love it!


It may have been a little difficult to train them and there's always the danger of ending up with bird doodle down one's back- you could see why fashion mandated they be dead. :angel: Now, those fox tail stoles would have their own story. Why fashion insisted on so much carnage is beyond me. Once declined to go on a second date with someone because he had an ostrich skin wallet. We really haven't been good neighbors to animals.

PatrickH, I sometimes wonder if the purpose of fashion is to illustrate what vanity is! This is one of the outfits on display at the New York Historical Society:

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However, being an Indian, I'm probably the last person to be critical of wearing dead animals....:x3:

Apples and oranges. I'm pretty sure you guys weren't making a fashion statement? Warmth v " How pretty would that be? Hmmm, let's see yes, a deceased ermine draped around the neck like this, yes, still needs something. OH I know, wrap one around your wrist. PERFECT darling. Let's do lunch. " Seems different. :angel:
 
My grandmother had one of those fox shawl thingies which my mother kept in a trunk for some reason. That freaked me out so badly!! Those beady little eyes and the sharp little teeth!!!! Gross!!!!! I don't know how someone could wear that so close to one's face, but my Grandmother liked to "keep up with Jones" and be fashionable. Fur was a status symbol through a lot of Western history.
 
My grandmother had one of those fox shawl thingies which my mother kept in a trunk for some reason. That freaked me out so badly!! Those beady little eyes and the sharp little teeth!!!! Gross!!!!! I don't know how someone could wear that so close to one's face, but my Grandmother liked to "keep up with Jones" and be fashionable. Fur was a status symbol through a lot of Western history.

Fur meant annihilation for more than the fuzzy little guys who wore it. Check out the history of the Hudson Bay Company in the Pacific Northwest! Whole tribes went out with the beavers, otters, minks and anything else with soft fur.
 
It may have been a little difficult to train them and there's always the danger of ending up with bird doodle down one's back- you could see why fashion mandated they be dead. :angel: Now, those fox tail stoles would have their own story. Why fashion insisted on so much carnage is beyond me. Once declined to go on a second date with someone because he had an ostrich skin wallet. We really haven't been good neighbors to animals.



Apples and oranges. I'm pretty sure you guys weren't making a fashion statement? Warmth v " How pretty would that be? Hmmm, let's see yes, a deceased ermine draped around the neck like this, yes, still needs something. OH I know, wrap one around your wrist. PERFECT darling. Let's do lunch. " Seems different. :angel:

Oh warmth was in there but it was mainly a religious thing. If you had an otter skin quiver, it was because the otter is a good hunter and his medicine would make you a good hunter! Had a whole process to go through before you could make a quiver of him, too! To a Native person of that time, seeing a woman with an egret draped around her neck, would have been extremely puzzling!
 
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