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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