Help identifying the style of this coat.

SaturdayMarketplace

SaturdayMarketplace

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Good evening everyone!

I found this beautiful fur coat at a thrift for only $25! It definitely looks vintage. I believe it to be mink, but could be wrong. I've found a few items listed online by the brand Carroll's from around the 1960's, which is approx when I believe this coat may have been made.

Does anyone know of this brand Carroll's? Or the type of style of this coat? Or any other information that would be interesting? (I like to geek out with this stuff.) :-)

Thank you for your help!

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That's very pretty! I struggle to identify fur so I will leave that to the experts but the shape of this coat is giving me 1940s feelings. Those broad shoulders and that collar! I would try to see if Carroll's was active in the 40s. It is likely a dress shop or boutique label, not necessarily the furrier/maker's. Also check inside pockets for any tiny union labels or other clues.
 
morning-glorious said:
That's very pretty! I struggle to identify fur so I will leave that to the experts but the shape of this coat is giving me 1940s feelings. Those broad shoulders and that collar! I would try to see if Carroll's was active in the 40s. It is likely a dress shop or boutique label, not necessarily the furrier/maker's. Also check inside pockets for any tiny union labels or other clues.
Click to expand...
I think you might be right about the label being from a boutique or a dress shop. There is just so few Carroll's labels out there it's hard to tell.

I did a double check for other tags or labels to no avail. I also looked for leftover of tags that may have been cut out. Nope. Union made labels didn't really become popular until the 1950's. Perhaps that could be an indicator of it's age as well, which would fit in line with your guestimate of being circa 1940s. Hmmmmmm

I can imagine the stories this coat must be able to tell!
 
Hi there, Nice piece of history. I would indeed date it to the later 40s. The fur type is squirrel. Let me share about the fur first and then I will share more about the age of the coat.
Squirrel fur feels soft and cushy. The size and shape of the pelts can be seen, sometimes more than others, but you can see the points of the noses and the inverted portion on the other ends where the tails once were. Yours has been color enhanced to make it look more like mink so I can see why you might think that it was mink. That was the intent at the time.
Here's a close up photo of the fur within your coat so you can see the individual pelts and how each appears within. Each pelt has a point where the nose was, a stripe down the center, and an inverted point where the tail used to be.
Screenshot 2024-12-08 at 9.39.46 AM.png


Moving on to dating. I would date this to the late 40s however this style was still being worn in the early 50s too. Let me show you this ad though. This is a Carroll's Furs ad from The Idahon Statesman newspaper that shows a very similar coat. It dates to August 15th, 1948.
carrollsfurs1949.jpeg


Same image below, just the full page of the newspaper it was in.
Screenshot 2024-12-08 at 9.55.14 AM.png
 
Such a beautiful coat. I would truly wear that.
I wonder if Carroll's is still in business.

Furwise,
I had no idea the points indicated the nose.
You are such a great educator.

The amount of workmanship in these furs is astounding. One I posted yesterday showed less than 1" straps sewn together to create the entire coat. How many hours it must have taken?

Fun all around!
 
I'm glad I was right about the era! lol! My parents were married in 1947 and she wore a squirrel fur jacket that my father's uncle, a furrier, made for her. It is shorter than this coat but has similar vibes! I was going to guess squirrel for this reason, as well. Squirrel was a "poor woman's mink," my mom used to say! But quite lovely - I am sure though that it cost less than mink to make?
 
furwise said:
Hi there, Nice piece of history. I would indeed date it to the later 40s. The fur type is squirrel. Let me share about the fur first and then I will share more about the age of the coat.
Squirrel fur feels soft and cushy. The size and shape of the pelts can be seen, sometimes more than others, but you can see the points of the noses and the inverted portion on the other ends where the tails once were. Yours has been color enhanced to make it look more like mink so I can see why you might think that it was mink. That was the intent at the time.
Here's a close up photo of the fur within your coat so you can see the individual pelts and how each appears within. Each pelt has a point where the nose was, a stripe down the center, and an inverted point where the tail used to be.
View attachment 195528

Moving on to dating. I would date this to the late 40s however this style was still being worn in the early 50s too. Let me show you this ad though. This is a Carroll's Furs ad from The Idahon Statesman newspaper that shows a very similar coat. It dates to August 15th, 1948.
View attachment 195530

Same image below, just the full page of the newspaper it was in.
View attachment 195529
Click to expand...
@furwise
WOW! I’m absolutely blown away—thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! I had no idea this coat was made of squirrel fur, let alone that it was color-enhanced to resemble mink. It’s fascinating to learn how fur evolved with the times, adapting to fashion trends and practical needs.

The ads for Carroll’s Fur are such an incredible piece of history. I consider myself pretty skilled at finding information online, but I was having a really tough time tracking down anything about this company. Is there a specific resource or archive you use for vintage fashion research? Or is it just your amazing expertise and instinct for knowing where to look?

Thank you again for taking the time to share this with me. My family has been geeking out over this coat and all the information you’ve provided—it’s been such a fun learning experience for all of us!
 
Thank you all. Very nice of you to say such nice things. We have a great organization.

Squirrel pelts were less expensive than mink. Still felt soft, looked nice, and furriers could make more spending less, so they could pass the savings onto their customers.

SaturdayMarketplace said:
@furwise
WOW! I’m absolutely blown away—thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! I had no idea this coat was made of squirrel fur, let alone that it was color-enhanced to resemble mink. It’s fascinating to learn how fur evolved with the times, adapting to fashion trends and practical needs.

The ads for Carroll’s Fur are such an incredible piece of history. I consider myself pretty skilled at finding information online, but I was having a really tough time tracking down anything about this company. Is there a specific resource or archive you use for vintage fashion research? Or is it just your amazing expertise and instinct for knowing where to look?

Thank you again for taking the time to share this with me. My family has been geeking out over this coat and all the information you’ve provided—it’s been such a fun learning experience for all of us!
Click to expand...
We are always happy to help. It really fulfills us in part. We enjoy researching (sometimes too much), and having discussions about vintage fashion. The first fur I ever purchased was a vintage dyed muskrat fur coat that was sold to me as mink. After learning the fur was not what I thought, I was on a mission to learn more. Then I found the people here, their passion about vintage fashion, the incredible history that has gone along with it which I love, and it made me want to learn about vintage fashion as a whole.

We all continue to learn everyday, ask questions, and give answers to one another as each of us can.
I'm still learning how and where to research. I have books, magazines, catalogues, I search newspaper archives, company history, similar items, the list goes on and on, I learn from everyone here, and as we go we continue to learn from each other, more ways to search with what words, terms, and information we need to to produce the search results we are looking for.
 
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What a great thread!

@furwise, your first purchase is exactly as mine.

It wasn't malicious, just from a lack of knowledge by the seller.

You made lemoncello from lemons!

I'm so grateful for your helpfulness.

SaturdayMarketplace, how delightful your family is enjoying this, too!

Thank you both!
 
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