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| My own Great Grandmother with a feathered hat circia 1902 |
-John F Lacey
John Lacey was a Republican congressman for Iowa and is probably best remembered for his contribution to the early conservation movement, specifically with the passing of the Lacey Act in 1900. I decided to focus on plume hunting for this Footnotes article, an issue which I think is little thought of these days, but was at the time a major shake up in popular fashion, politics and traditional gender boundaries. But first, some highlights from my recent trip, including of course bird pictures!
Two weeks ago my husband and I ventured down south to New Orleans and surprisingly enough we got a break from the record heat we’d been experiencing back in Chapel Hill. We had a blast and spent most every evening on Frenchman St. We ate well- really well- at the Three Muses and Adolfo’s and had a blast on the Confederacy of Cruisers Bike Tour. However, I went down to NOLA hoping to do some bird watching, and Audubon Park’s Bird Island did not disappoint as many varieties of ducks, geese, herons, ibises and egrets call this century old sanctuary home.
Seeing the wading birds casually preening their feathers, leisurely hunting in the shallows and sleeping in the open is quite a treat. It is particularly satisfying when considering the state of bird populations just about a hundred years ago and the sheer lack of interest in preserving their existence. I refer to the business of plume hunting, a practice that peaked roughly between the years of 1850-1910. Fueled by a growing middle class in city populations and a lack of public understanding about the industry or management of natural resources, the feather hat trade almost single handedly wiped out several species of birds. However, this was also the issue that galvanized the public into action, creating the beginnings of the conservationist movement and significantly changing views on natural resources and policies regarding it.
Feathers had been a part of fashion in the Western World for centuries, but it wasn’t until the Victorian era that the trend reached a truly unsustainable level. With industrialization came a larger middle class with more disposable income, and this translated into a steady demand for feathers for ladies hats. In 1886 Frank Chapman, an ornithologist at the American Museum of Natural History, counted over 700 ladies hats during two Manhattan walks. Three fourths of the 700 hats were decorated with bird feathers, bird parts or whole birds. The birds he counted ranged from the common grackle to birds of paradise, and at least one hat featured a small mouse.
When some questions about the cruelty of plume hunting were lodged at the Millinery industry in 1900 the explanation was given that most egret and heron feathers came from shed plumes (feathers collected after the bird molted). However, these feathers, usually worn and blemished, brought in only about 1/5 the price of “live” feathers. And indeed, one contemporary congressman, John Lacey, made the following comment on public knowledge of the consequences of feather hats:
“When on the streets I meet young girls and matrons with their kindly faces, and I see the egrets in their bonnets and hats I cannot help feeling that these daughters of Eve do not know how these feathers were obtained. These plums only grow when the bird is rearing its young. And I believe that if most of the women who wear them knew they were obtained by shooting the mother on her nest they would be ashamed to keep then, even in secret, much less to display them on the public streets.”
However, not all were swept away in the trend. Once most women became aware of the toll of the fashion to bird populations society women quickly began to mobilize for change. Women’s groups and associations (usually philanthropic in nature, and considered an extension of church life) had been a part of society women’s lives for decades. It was considered one of the few hobbies acceptable for the well-to-do wives and mothers outside of their “natural” home sphere. The network that such organizations provided became the backbone for the burgeoning conservation movement. This includes the proliferation of Audubon Societies across the country and the beginning of the Sierra Club. It is also worth mentioning that, roughly, in this time frame the first national parks were also designated for protection.
Eventually the Lacey Act was passed in 1900, formally protecting animals and plants from illegal transportation, abduction, selling and a wide array of other violations. While the Lacey Act did not end plume hunting, and was indeed difficult to enforce, it did lay the ground work for conservation policy.
While I could go on and on about the subject of plume hunting, its consequences and the early conservation movement I feel it is probably best to leave the article writing to the pros. For more information about any of the above please see the following sites. They are where I pulled most of my information and offer a more in depth look at the topic.
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