Birds of all kinds were used for their feathers. Ostrich, heron, peacock and bird of paradise were enormously popular, but common garden fowl, such as pigeon, turkey and goose were also used. The duller feathers were often dyed and treated in various solutions such as acid or starch to achieve a more appealing look.

But despite this ability to create colourful plumage from common barnyard birds, or 'coq' as they were called, there remained a certain status associated with sporting real egret, osprey and heron feathers. They fetched good prices among 'plumassiers', the merchants who prepared feathers for the fashion industry. And some dealers would stop at nothing to obtain just the right feathers of just the right birds.

Herons and egrets in particular suffered at the hands of plume-hunters. Their feathers are most attractive during the breeding season, when hatchlings are abundant, and helpless, in their nests. So the carnage was twofold. Thousands of young starved to death as their parents lay slaughtered and skinned nearby. Entire colonies were eradicated quickly and easily in this manner, and it was not long before these birds were virtually gone (Weed and Dearborn, 1903).

The demand for feathers reached epidemic proportions. In 1892, a single order of feathers to a London dealer included 6,000 bird of paradise feathers, 40,000 hummingbird feathers and 360,000 feathers from other East Indian birds (McDowell, 1992). By the turn of the century, hats piled high with feathers were all the rage—so much so, in fact, that feathers themselves were no longer enough.

The following terms were found in the glossary of a historical hatmaking guide called From the Neck up, by Denise Dreher. One can get a pretty good idea of the absurd ways in which birds were used to decorate hats at the time:

OWL HEAD. The head of an owl, with or without wings, was often used as trimming on a hat and was dyed colours, including brown, tan, white, pink and natural.

FEATHER BREAST. Small pieces of feather arranged and pasted on a foundation in imitation of a natural bird breast. These breasts, sometimes called pads, are used in the making of entire feather hats and as trim.

MERL. A European blackbird noted for its beautiful, iridescent green plumage, which is very lustrous and soft. Often cured and used whole as trimming.

WINGS. Actual or manufactured wings (made by gluing or sewing feathers onto a wired foundation) have been a popular style of trimming. Most were made of chicken or sparrow feathers.

Queen Alexandra

The cruelty of this fad did not go completely unnoticed by some very influential people. In 1906, Queen Alexandra announced that she would no longer wear wild bird feathers in her hat, and following suit in 1911, Queen Mary disposed of all her plumed hats before travelling to India (Wilson & Taylor, 1989). In 1915, the importation of plumage other than Ostrich and garden fowl was banned in Canada. But this didn't eradicate the problem altogether. Ottawa Entomologist Dr. C. Gordon Hewitt describes an encounter with a somewhat tastelessly decorated hat in a 1916 Commission of Conservation Canada publication, Conservation of Fish, Birds and Game:

Only the other day, in an electric car, I happened to look down at the hat of a lady in front of me and imagine my disgust to see the skins of two chickadees, one of our most beautiful, most useful and most widely distributed birds, 70 per cent of whose food consists of injurious insects; those beautiful and useful native birds had been sacrificed simply to satisfy the thoughtless and wanton craze of fashion.

It became apparent that legislation was not enough to stem the trade of bird pelts for fashion purposes. The demand had to be stopped altogether—women simply had to cease wearing plumed hats. As absurd as it may sound, it was a trendy new hairstyle that would ultimately save the birds. In 1913, Irene Castle introduced the bob and other short hairstyles—cuts which would not support large extravagant hats. Plain slouch hats and 'cloches' became very popular, and most plume-hunters were forced to abandon their trade (Carter, 1977).

Fortunately for all animals, today's fashions tend to be characterized by a more global awareness of conservation issues. Chemicals and dyes have made it easy to imitate the beauty of nature, from the creation of 'faux' furs and feathers to simply dying commercially produced ostrich and hen feathers to mimic the popular plumes of days gone by. In the days since the turn-of-the-century extravagance, many sought after birds such as the Great and Snowy Egrets, the Great Blue Heron and the Pied-billed Grebe have returned from the brink of extinction. It is certainly no coincidence that at long last, birds are using their feathers the way nature intended!

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