The question isn’t as strange as it might seem. Since the early 1900s, fur has been popular yet controversial, mostly because of its association with the rich and famous. More recently, though, it’s been gaining popularity as an acceptable form of self-expression. Now it’s also the key to unlocking some rare historical artifacts.
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From Rags To Riches
In 1914, Englishman Frederick Russell Burnham popularized the term ‘rags to riches’ to describe the story of how he started out with nothing and became one of the most successful men in America. Burnham was born into extreme poverty in England and immigrated to North America at the age of eleven.
He spent his first years in the United States living in a tenement apartment in New York. When he was thirteen, his family moved back to England, but Frederick opted to stay in America, where he began work at a nickel a day, bagging groceries and selling newspapers on the streets of New York. In his spare time, he studied books on business and self-improvement and developed a fascination with the American Dream.
In 1924, at the age of 25, he founded the Advertising Agency Burnham, Lambert and Co (the famous ‘Advertising Agency’ from which the Frederick Russell Burnham estate gets its name). He wrote numerous self-help books and gave lectures on overcoming financial obstacles. In his twenties, Burnham became extremely wealthy and famous, owning a fleet of luxury cars and a beautiful apartment on Central Park South. He was also an accomplished art collector, with an interest in both old and contemporary masters.
Backstory
In 1933, Burnham wrote a thirteen-part article for the Saturday Evening Post that became the basis for his autobiography, Make Way For Tomorrow. In the book, he described how he spent his time during the Great Depression, when he was in his early forties. As a young man, Burnham had purchased a mink coat, which he described as his ‘ticket to social standing’. Despite the economic hardships of the time, he was able to maintain his high social status thanks to a generous benefactor who paid for his school fees and gave him a regular income. Burnham was one of the first people to recognize the value of fur in both modern and historical eras, and he was never truly satisfied with just one mink coat; by the time he died, he had acquired over 500 furs, which he bequeathed to his family.
The Challenge Of Unique Furs
Over the years that followed, Burnham’s family grew, and so did his collection. As he described in his book, the collection grew to such a size that it became unwieldy, and he had to find a way of storing it. In 1940, he designed a special, fire-proof building on Central Park South that was originally intended as an office for his advertising agency. Once the headquarters of the North American Fur Auctions (NAFA), the building has since been converted into a museum, which is today one of the world’s finest repositories of furs and associated materials.
The NAFA Years
During the Second World War, the NAFA became the central point for the storage and trade of furs in the United States. Furs were considered a valuable commodity at this time, as most animals had been exported to provide fur for the war effort. American Vogue even called the era the ‘era of furs’ due to the popularity of fox fur in particular.
The NAFA also took on the role of taxidermist for visiting dignitaries, storing the skins of animals that people of influence had killed. While this may seem like a grim role, many famous men of the time were ‘furs’natics’, and the practice allowed them to add another item to their impressive trophy walls.
Postwar Changes
The war years saw a dramatic fall in the price of furs, due mainly to a combination of factors: wartime restrictions on the export of fur, the difficulty in legally importing foreign furs into the country, and the development of cheaper substitutes like nylon.
In the decades that followed the war, the popularity of fur declined in the United States, but it still retained a high profile among the wealthy and famous. In the 1960s, though, the tide began to turn. First, there was a rise in animal rights activism, which influenced the general public to become more sensitive to the plight of animals. Second, there was a concurrent rise in the cost of living, which many considered to be more important than the relative value of money, and this combined to make the purchase of luxury furs less attractive.
A Fashion Statement
While the fashions of the day have changed, making it less acceptable for someone of a higher social status to show off their wealth through display of fur, the style has never been more popular. Today, you’ll find a wide variety of fancy cats, from the classic black cat to the ever-present white cat, on stylish clothing and accessories racks around the world. Not only has fur never been more popular, it’s also become a way of life for many. Whether you’re into historical recreations or prefer to keep things trendy, you can own a piece of fashion history with the latest feline accessories from Fred Segal.