Wisconsin 101

Read more about the article OBJECT HISTORY: Beaver Felt Hat

Image courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.

OBJECT HISTORY: Beaver Felt Hat

The beaver felt hat was one of the main reasons for the success of the fur trade in northern states, such as Wisconsin, and in Canada. But why was this hat more popular than others? Clothing allows for people to choose their…

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October 6, 2020

Read more about the article OBJECT HISTORY: Trade Blanket

A trade blanket, with the "points" visible on the right side of the picture. Image courtesy of Ron Dennis.

Industry / Fur Trade / Indigenous Wisconsin / Pre-1787 / Home Furnishings / Object Histories / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / Everyday Life / 1787-1848 / Global Connections / Manufacturing & Trade

OBJECT HISTORY: Trade Blanket

This blanket, ordinary though it may seem, tells the story of an important meeting of cultures that occurred in Wisconsin between 1634 and 1763. Not long after the explorer Jean Nicolet first set foot in Wisconsin, French traders saw an opportunity to make money by sending beaver furs back to Europe for use in stylish…

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September 10, 2018

Read more about the article What is a Point Blanket Coat?

In 1818 Anna Maria von Phul painted this picture of a Native American woman wearing a white wool trade blanket. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Industry / Fur Trade / Broad History / Wausau / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / Related Stories / Everyday Life / Marathon County / Global Connections / Manufacturing & Trade / Region 4 - Center / A Hudson's Bay Company Point Blanket Coat

What is a Point Blanket Coat?

The practice of converting Hudson’s Bay Company blankets into coats began years before the company began mass-manufacturing point blanket coats in the twentieth century. During the fur trade, Native Americans hunters traded beaver pelts for wool point blankets. Point blankets were waterproof…

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June 7, 2018

Industry / Fur Trade / Green Bay / Brown County / Pre-1787 / Le Maire Sundial / Related Stories / Global Connections / Manufacturing & Trade / Politics & Government / Society & Religion / Region 5 - Center East

French Wisconsin at Fort la Baye

French explorers, voyageurs (fur traders), Jesuit priests, and other settlers began arriving in the Upper Great Lakes region of North America in the mid-1600s. Jean Nicolet supposedly landed near present-day Green Bay, Wisconsin in 1634, naming the waterway La Baye des Puants, literally “Bay of…

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May 24, 2018

Read more about the article Fashion and Fur

The history of fur and fashion runs deep in North America. October 1953 issue of Vogue.

Fur Trade / Broad History / Industry / Prairie du Chien / Brown County / Columbia County / Crawford County / Milwaukee / Green Bay / Milwaukee County / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / Related Stories / Hamburg / Everyday Life / Marathon County / Global Connections / Manufacturing & Trade / Nature & Environment / Region 4 - Center / Region 5 - Center East / Region 6 - South West / Region 7 - South Center / Region 8 - South East / Fromm Fox Fur Coat

Fashion and Fur

The End of the Old Fur TradeThe development of fur farms at the close of the 19th century was perhaps the most revolutionary change in North America’s fur industry, and fashion played a significant role in that change. Beaver pelts had been the…

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January 1, 2017