Hi Rainey,
Frederun Scholtz is an instructor at The Fashion Institute of Technology
and wrote her master's thesis on the turn of the century trend of using
birds (or feathers) on hats. She may have seen some "audubonnets"
during her research, or have another avenue for you to pursue. Please
contact me off-line for her phone number. I would also suggest the
Museum at the City of New York, which has a fine collection of American
costume.
--
Tamsen Schwartzman
Museum Information Coordinator
The Museum at FIT, Room E210
Seventh Avenue at 27th Street
New York, NY 10001
212~217~5701 ** 212~217~5979 fax
http://www.fitnyc.edu/museum
Rainey Tisdale wrote:
>We received a reference question from the National Audubon
>Society that we were not about to answer, but it's an interesting
>question so I wanted to pose it to the list. Apparently the
>Audubon Society was formed in Boston in 1896 when Harriet
>Lawrence Hemenway started a movement among her friends to stop
>wearing hats with bird feathers on them (they were highly
>fashionable at the time and birds were being killed for their
>feathers). The organizing going on in Boston caught on and women
>across the country started promoting milliners who sold birdless
>hats, lobbying for protective legislation, and working to change
>what was considered fashionable. Jenna Weissman Joselit relates
>this story in "A Perfect Fit: Clothes, Character and the Promise
>of America," although it may be in other books as well.
>
>The Audubon Society staffer who contacted us is looking for an
>"audubonnet," the term given to the non-feathered hats that the
>Audubon Society ladies encouraged milliners to make as an
>alternative. She thought we might have one since the movement
>started in Boston. Does anyone know of an institution that owns
>an audubonnet, or any other artifacts/ephemera (milliner ads?)
>related to the birdless hat movement? 1899 and 1900 would
>probably be the likeliest years for such hats, although inclusive
>dates would be 1896 to 1906ish. It may be that very few hats were
>actually labeled "audubonnet" in some way, even though there
>might be a number of birdless hats out there that were created in
>response to this movement--I just don't know for sure at this
>point.
>
>Thanks in advance for any help with this question.
>
>Rainey Tisdale
>Collections Manager
>The Bostonian Society
>206 Washington Street
>Boston, MA 02109-1773
>617-720-1713 x24
>617-720-3289 Fax
>
>For more information about The Bostonian Society, or to become a
>member, visit our website: www.bostonhistory.org
>
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