Muskrat fur

This autumn, when I was helping my mom move from her condo to a senior living complex, we found in her closet a fur cape (the size, but not the style of the one shown above) from a now defunct Minneapolis clothier.  The item dates from the 1940s or 50s (long before the wearing of fur became controversial).  She didn't recognize it or remember anything of its history (though it did have her name stitched in the lining), so I wondered about the source creature.

This week I encountered an article in the Wall Street Journal about the big current demand for muskrat fur:

The North American muskrat market has been booming, thanks to soaring purchases by Chinese and other newly rich nations that need muskrat fur to line coats and footwear.

Specifically, they want muskrat bellies, the felt-like fur that is practically impermeable to moisture. At $10 per pelt—five times what muskrats fetched in the 1990s—pelts were trading at new highs when bidding for last season's furs ended in June...

All told, Fur Harvesters collected 3,120 muskrats from Upper Peninsula trappers in December, and another 16,000 rats from trappers in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and the Dakotas...

Michiganders love muskrats because the state imposes no limit on the number a trapper can take, which is not the case for otters, martens or bobcats. Moreover, the lowly muskrat is easy to catch and skin.

I have only blogged about muskrats once, a year ago posting "How to prepare muskrat for dinner" (TL;DR - covered in cream corn).

A quick search of "muskrat fur" today took me to the photo above from an item sold by Etsy seller zaama ("vintage brown muskrat fur wrap shawl capelet stole.  It closes with one front hook and eye closure. Decorated with two huge fur buttons. Lined in satin.")  Elsewhere I found photos of a vintage muskrat fur jacket and full length coat.

My mom's socioeconomic status as a young woman would not have been consistent with having a mink stole, so I rather suspect she proudly wore muskrat fur (knowingly or unknowingly) to a few parties back in the 1950s.