Why Are There Statues of Beavers on Top of This Oxford Street Shop?

sharkjacobs•about 3 hours ago

It's funny to me, a Canadian, that this even warrants a did-you-know article because everything about the beaver fur/hat making industry is something I learned extensively about in elementary and high school because it was like, a major driver of the European exploration and colonization and therefore significant to the history of my country.

But outside of here it's just a footnote to a fashion trend.

KellyCriterion•about 2 hours ago

Thanks for sharing this discrepancy!

Indeed, the "beaver as relevant tool as major driver" does actually not exist in schools in EU mainland; the chance is higher you hear about the porks brought by first European-immigrants that they used for food production because of their fast reproduction numbers.

(and porks are easy to deal with, they eat everything; Once I heard someone from crime enforcement saying: "the perfect murdery would be to feed the dead body to a herd of porks because they would even eat the teeth from the body")

bluedino•about 2 hours ago

The movie "Snatch"

https://youtu.be/_Yvmg4wcfzY?is=paeV1wjPaF2c6WZB

helterskelter•about 2 hours ago

Some people speculate that the USA gained control of Oregon country in large part because Canadians/Brits trading in beaver furs had to send all their pelts back to the UK before they could go out to the rest of the world. America just sailed from Boston to the PNW, traded for pelts and went directly to, say, China. Much faster, and cheaper too.

thaumasiotes•about 2 hours ago

What was stopping the British from taking their pelts directly across the Pacific? It can't have been American control of the region if this is the explanation for how America got control of the region.

Spain certainly wasn't exporting silver from the New World to Europe before shipping it on to China; they shipped it directly there.

coldpie•about 3 hours ago

We learned about it here in Minnesota, too! But I suppose we are about as close to Canadian as you can get without actually crossing the border.

amiga386•about 3 hours ago

What such a hat looks like:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Black_beaver_hat_-_D...

Am4TIfIsER0ppos•about 1 hour ago

So it's a top hat? Or not?

_whiteCaps_•about 1 hour ago

If you're interested in learning more about the ecological impact of beavers, I highly recommend "Three Against The Wilderness" by Eric Collier. He homesteaded in BC in the 1930s-60s and encouraged the re-introduction of beavers after being on the brink of extinction here.

redwood•about 2 hours ago

The flag of New York City also features beavers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flags_of_New_York_City

Edit: it's clearer in the seal of the city https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_of_New_York_City

sparky_twofort•about 1 hour ago

The Astor Place subway station also contains several beaver tiles / bas-reliefs, because John Jacob Astor made his fortune with beaver pelts. EDIT: see https://www.nyhistory.org/blogs/beavers-john-jacob-astor

conartist6•about 3 hours ago

Perhaps it's only because we wiped them out so many places that we understand in the slightest the ecological role they play

1-more•about 2 hours ago

$1.2 Million worth of wetland restoration and years of ecological revue skipped https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver-engineered_dam_in_the_C...

throwway120385•about 2 hours ago

I think if we hadn't we would've figured it out anyway. Someone would have found them interesting enough to study.

Why Are There Statues of Beavers on Top of This Oxford Street Shop?

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