What began as an interest by Potsdam Village historian and museum employee Hunter Crary has evolved into a special exhibit at the Potsdam Public Museum titled “Fur, Feathers and Fashion.”
Crary attended a workshop at the Adirondack Experience in Blue Mountain Lake where he learned taxidermy. He returned to Potsdam with a preserved European starling, considered an invasive species in North America.
“He brought that back and we kind of brainstormed about what we have in the collection (related to taxidermy) and what we know of Potsdam history,” said Mary Gilbert, the museum’s collection manager.
“We knew we had a lot of furs, feathered hats and textiles, so it became an exhibit on some of the history of acquiring furs and feathers to create textiles.”
The exhibit provides some of the history of hunting and trapping and its connection to the fashion industry over the years.
Although the museum does not have any examples of taxidermy in its collection, staff reached out to Larry’s Taxidermy Studio in Ogdensburg and the Nicandri Nature Center in Massena for examples of animals used for clothing resources in the North Country. The exhibit includes a beaver, bobcat and bear cub as well as a number of birds. Brian Livernois of Backwoods Taxidermy provided additional help by identifying furs in the museum’s clothing collection.
The museum staff reached out to the Akwesasne Cultural Center Museum for examples of how Native Americans utilized hides, deerskin fur, feathers and other materials for clothing, tools and regalia. The exhibit includes traditional native deerskin dresses with beadwork as well as a Kastowah headdress used for ceremonial purposes and, traditionally, as a means of identification at meetings of the Grand Council of the Haudenosaunee nations.
The museum has an extensive collection of historic fur clothing and hats which were removed from storage for the exhibit. Featured items include colorful hats of all sorts made out of feathers and various furs, fur coats, jackets, dresses, sweaters, capes, stoles, collars, fans and an Eider duck blanket made in Greenland. Most of the clothing was owned by Potsdam residents and donated to the museum over the years, providing an overview of changing fashion for almost 200 years.
Some of the textiles are from Anderson Furs in Potsdam. Originally at 23 Main Street in the 1940s and later 50 Market, the business was known for buying pelts from local trappers for the coats and accessories that they sold. When they closed in 1988, they advertised the “largest selection of fur coats in Northern New York.” It has been reported that teenagers in the 1960s sold muskrat furs to Anderson’s in order to earn money for “hot GTOs and ram-fed Chevelles.”
An extensive display of traps and stretch boards is on loan from the Wanakena Historical Association including several Conibear traps designed to be more humane. A rare trap from the museum’s collection produced by The Adirondack Trap Company, a Potsdam company, was designed by Johnny Racquet, a trapper from Forestport, and advertised in “Fur-Fish-Game,” a national outdoors magazine still in circulation today. A 1932 advertisement features a testimonial by St. Lawrence County trapper Elric J. Dailey, who highlighted its “efficiency and quick action.”
Potsdam residents were active in the fur trade from early years, harvesting a wide variety of animals. These pelts would be turned into hats, muffs, coats, capes, and other textiles either locally at places like Anderson’s Furs or in places like New York City. In 1928, local fur dealer Max Sverdlow reported the highlights of the season so far. A few martens that were considered rare in the area, and half dozen fishers, considered an even rarer catch. Courtesy of Potsdam Public Museum
A display about the history of beaver trapping includes mittens and a top hat. The exhibit also presents examples of fake fur that entered the market in the latter half of the 20th century when opposition grew to the use of real fur.
Other objects in the exhibit include a muzzle loading rifle, knives and fishing flies traditionally made with feathers and bits of fur.
Mimi Van Deusen, the former director of the museum who retired in 2020, is serving as a guest curator. The museum is currently without a full-time director.
The exhibit will officially open to the public during a holiday open house on Sunday, Dec. 7, from 2-4 p.m. The museum is located at 2 Park Street in the Potsdam Civic Center. Additional parking is available at the rear of the building.
The exhibit will be at the museum until late spring, 2026. The museum’s hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Special arrangements can be made for school groups. For more information about the exhibit or the museum, call (315) 265-6910, email museum@villageofpotsdamny.gov or visit potsdammuseumny.gov.