Ever since our primate ancestors evolved into the Naked Ape and realized the need to cover their bare skin with bear skin (and that of other animals), fur and its products became an important commodity. The demand for fur throws, fur rugs, fur blankets and most especially fur hats helped to shape the relationships between ancient populations and their territories. Much later in time, starting with the North American Indians trading pelts for iron implements, beads and fabrics, millions of dollars were made from the fur trade. Fur trading companies sprang up, predominantly in Europe to profit from this trade. Originally, the French profited, but when the Hudson's Bay Company was chartered in 1670, a hundred-year scuffle between England and France ensued. Eventually, Jay's treaty, an agreement signed in 1794 between the newly established United States and England, set up a commission to settle border disputes and allowed the founding of the American Fur Company, run by one of the first American millionaires, John Jacob Astor. His company merged with the Hudson's Bay Company in 1821 and the combined companies continued to prosper from the fur trade until the end of the twentieth century. While regulations concerning the buying and selling of pelts abounded, requiring licenses and permits to hunt on various lands and prohibiting some hunters and trappers from working certain areas during certain seasons, there were few or no limits on the type of animal that could be killed for sale. The laws of supply and demand were the only ones that were considered by traders and it wasn't until anti-fur protesters and conservationists began to demand action in the middle of the twentieth century that the trapping of certain species was halted in some countries. In the meantime, fur and felt hats were being worn by virtually everyone, in every part of the world both for style and for warmth. Beaver was the original fur of choice, first as pelt and later as felt. The latter process was developed largely in Spain and Holland, and dates back to the 14th century when beaver skins were worn in Russia, then sent back to the Dutch artisans who transformed the used garments into the pressed fabric known as felt and thereafter made into hats. When beaver pelts began to become scarce, felt was made from rabbit fur and sheep wool, and most of the felt hats worn today are constructed from these materials. Animal activists naturally prefer this method of producing felt since it does not require the killing of the animals to procure its fur or wool. Most recently, the anti-fur contingent has been somewhat placated by the use of pest animals, such as the bushy-tailed possum of New Zealand, which is responsible for the near-extinction of many native species through its decimation of trees. Trapping of these animals and using their pelts for the manufacture of hats, throws, blankets and rugs is being encouraged to rid the country of an unwanted species, and hopefully restore some ecological balance. However, even with a pest such as the bushy-tailed possum, there is abundant regulation by the local government, ensuring that only the most humane means of capture is being utilized.
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