Fashion Takes Flight
The Story of the Plume Bloom
19th century bird collection
Photo credit: Katherine Rushworth, CazArts Newsletter
Date: October, 2020
From the museum collection of the Cazenovia Public Library
The Cazenovia Public Library Museum is home to a large and varied collection of birds and eggs.
Bird Eggs from the Robert F. Hubbard Collection
Photo credit: Katherine Rushworth, CazArts Newsletter
Date: October, 2020
From the museum collection of the Cazenovia Public Library
Rob Hubbard’s copy of The Oologists’ Handbook
Photo credit: Katherine Rushworth, CazArts Newsletter
Date: October 2020
From the museum collection of the Cazenovia Public Library
Much of the collection can be attributed to Robert (Rob) Frederick Hubbard, son of museum founder Robert James Hubbard.
In 1894, Rob, an advid outdoorsman, donated his collection of 60 bird specimens and over 200 bird eggs to the museum.
Robert F. Hubbard
Photo credit: Unknown
Date: 1883
From the archives of the Cazenovia Public Library
Title: left-Quetzal; right-Great Egret
Photo credit: Richard Walker
Date: 2015
From the archives of Cazenovia Public Library
Hubbard’s collection became the inspiration for Fashion Takes Flight, a permanent exhibit on display in the Cazenovia Public Library’s reference room. The exhibit focuses on 1887-1920, a period known as the “plume bloom.”
Inspired by the fashion industry’s obsession with all things feathered, women around the globe dressed from head to toe in the latest feathered fashions.
Mile Lilian Greuze, du Théâtre Sarah-Bernhart (Image ID: 824864)
Photo credit: Félix
Date: 1913
From picture collection of the New York Public Library
Bird-of-Paradise
Artist: Jacques Barraband
Published in: Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux de Paradis et des Rolliers, suivie de celle des Toucans et des Barbus by Francois Levaillant and Jacques Barraband
Date: 1806
The plume bloom resulted in the decimation of bird populations around the world and the extinction of a number of species. In addition to feathers, wings, whole birds, nests and eggs were also used to adorn outlandish hats. Highly prized plumes were taken from exotic species like the beautiful Quetzel and the Bird-of-Paradise.
In 1886 alone, over 30 million birds were killed to meet the demands of the millinery (hat) trade.
Mrs. James Shelley, Hat trimming: body and wings of Bird-of -Paradise
Photo credit: Harris & Ewing, Inc.
Date: c. 1928
From Mr. Hubbard’s Salon Cazenovia Public Library
The cover of the Audubon Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1887
“It was a common thing for a rookery of several hundred birds to be attacked by the plume hunters, and in two or three days utterly destroyed.”
William Hornaday (1854-1937), Director of the New York Zoological Society.
Membership card for the Society for Abolishing the Wearing of Birds. 1899
Courtesy of Susan Langley
Appalled by the decimation of bird populations, Boston socialites Minna B. Hall and her cousin Harriet Hemenway hosted a series of teas for the ladies of Boston. By increasing awareness, they inspired support for their cause, and in 1885 the Massachusets Audubon Society was formed. The organization was the first of its kind in the nation.