Page 15 - May2008

68 THE NATIONAL 13u'T'Ton BULLETIN May 2008

Some of the typical fur buttons available
from the heyday of the fur coat'

- Beaver: Long lustrous hair. Popular for shearing and carving surface patterns.
- Chinchilla: The sohest of all fur types, mainly grey to slate blue in color. Originally from
South America, now farm-raised in North and South America and in Europe.
- Coyote: Creamy tan or grey. Trapped and hunted in North America.
- Ermine: Not really an animal type, but the winter phase of the weasel. Silky white with
black tips. Once popular as the capes and trains of European nobility.
- Fox: Most are farm-raised in North America; they have the widest range of natural color.
- Lamb: Many types including broadtail (Russian), Mongolian (curly long hairs, often white
and dyed in bright colors), Mouton (sheared to a soh thick fur), Persian lamb (from Asia and
South America) with long wavy curls in natural colors of black, brown and grey, popular
trim on the" hippy" coats of the 1960-70s). Shearling is a natural lamb pelt with the leather
side sueded to be worn on the outside and the curly fur worn as a lining (popular for coats
and slippers).
- Lynx: Indigenous to North America and Russia. The whiter the fur, the higher its value.
- Marten: A close cousin to Russian sable, American marten has long silky hair and varies
from dark brown to golden in color. Baum is soher, silkier and shinier than American; and
Stone, the finest variety, has a bluish-brown coat and pale under fur.
- Mink: The diva of furs. Soh and lightweight with lustrous guard hair and dense, soft
under-fur, it is primarily farm-raised. Available in a wide range of natural colors and may be
sheared.
- Muskrat: North American wild fur popular for its natural color which can be dyed rich
jewel shades.
- Nutria: Found in Southern United States and Argentina, and also farmed in Poland and the
Czech Republic. Very similar to beaver. Ohen sheared and can be dyed.
- Opossum: Ohen used as coat liners and for men's coats. Woolly and coarse with long
silvery black-tipped guard hair and thick under-fur.
- Rabbit: The cheapest fur with limited durability. Medium length guard hair can be sheared
or grooved in patterns. Large variety of natural colors and takes vibrant dye color well.
- Raccoon: Long gray/black guard hair
with silvery tips over a woolly, dense genuine
under-fur.
- Sable: Russian sable is still the most
expensive fur in the world. Brown in
color with a silver cast, legendary for its
rarity and silky quality.

Original card of mink "snap" buttons
"For the woman
who has everything."
* FICA - Fur Information Council of America