Beaver Hat & Case

Beaver Hat & Case

Fur Trade
Beaver
Hudson’s Bay Company
British Columbia
19th century
Fashion

This is a beaver fur top hat and case from circa 1800s. Due to the fashion trends in the seventeenth century, there was a high demand of beaver top hats across Europe. However, beavers were essentially extinct in Europe, thus North America provided an alternative source of supply. The development of the fur trade through the monopoly of Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), along with the growing demand of fur from the Europeans in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, became British Columbia’s step into the economic world. Therefore, this source is useful as it gives us an insight into the prosperity of nineteenth century British Columbia. Through the display of the quality of one of the many types of fur that traders would trap, we see the most important reason for HBC’s success. This access to fur, was incentive for Europeans to trade with them, as this supplied their increasing demand, which enabled nineteenth century British Columbia to thrive.

Unknown

Hudson’s Bay Company Heritage

http://www.hbcheritage.ca/things/fashion-pop/beaver-hats

cicra 1800s

Tejal Mistry

Hudson’s Bay Company Corporate Collection

N/A

Material object

19th century British Columbia