Hats – A Very UNnatural History Smith Hardback 9781611863475

Name: Hats – A Very UNnatural History Smith Hardback 9781611863475
Brand: Michigan State University Press

Michigan State University Press

HatsA Very UNnatural History\nAuthor(s): Malcolm Smith\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Michigan State University Press, United States\nImprint: Michigan State University Press\nISBN-13: 9781611863475, 978-1611863475\nSynopsis\nFor such simple garments, hats have had a devastating impact on wildlife throughout their long history. Made of wild-caught mammal furs, decorated with feathers or whole stuffed birds, historically they have driven many species to near extinction. By the turn of the twentieth century, egrets, shot for their exuberant white neck plumes, had been decimated; the wild ostrich, killed for its feathers until the early 1900s, was all but extirpated; and vast numbers of birds of paradise from New Guinea and hummingbirds from the Americas were just some of the other birds killed to decorate ladies hats. At its peak, the hat trade was estimated to be killing 200 million birds a year. At the end of the nineteenth century, it was a trade valued at 20 million (over $25 millio.