Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;lizjewel, post: 4386760, member: 13874&quot;]Vintage clothing and even furs were among my special interests years ago. In Philadelphia I had a fur connection that was invaluable for research, a couple who had been in the fur business, including making/sewing furs since the 1930s.</p><p>To determine the type of pelt in this coat the question is:</p><p>Hard hairs or soft? If hard hairs it could be muskrat, which was a the poor lady&#039;s mink, or fisk, another type harder hair pelt.</p><p><br /></p><p>The picture does not show the hairs as hard. If very soft it may be baby seal. Imitations of baby seal were made with sheared close rabbit that could fool the eye to look like seal. If the coat was made in the 1950s seal was still a politically acceptable fur. It only got unacceptable in the 1970s, 1980s and on, with other animal skins like leopard, panther, tiger, etc. </p><p><br /></p><p>Don&#039;t laugh but it could even be sheared squirrel. I once owned (and wore!) a sheared squirrel coat in this length, called &quot;stroller&quot; that was made in the late 1940s, a gift from the fur couple mentioned above. </p><p><br /></p><p>Squirrel was a young lady&#039;s fur, as opposed to mink that was a mature lady&#039;s style.</p><p><br /></p><p>As for the provenance, Neiman Marcus, this store sold all kinds of furs, not just expensive furs like mink, sable, but even rabbit and squirrel back in the olden not-politically-incorrect days. </p><p><br /></p><p>Another couple of soft furs come to mind but I don&#039;t recall their names right now. Marten might be one but it was getting rarer even in the 1950s. Chinchilla is one but it was rarely dyed solid as its varigations were the definite signs of identification as a very expensive fur, why dye them then, right...[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in