Hudseal Coney 1940s Fur Coat: Germany?

J

Jason Bulkley

Registered Guest
Calling all fur historians and experts: I am a private collector of vintage clothing and personality items owned by famous people. I have a vintage 1930s or 1940s Hudseal Coney (Rabbit) black fur coat which was sold to me as a sealskin coat by an unscrupulous dealer. Not knowing anything about furs, I assumed it was sealskin due to the texture and appearance. After being told by a furrier that it was rabbit, we snipped open the lining to reveal the following label (see attachment): Hudseal Coney stamped onto the inner skin. I would like to know what the R-14 or H-14 Union stamp refers to. According to the dealer, this coat was the property of a German woman high on the social scale in prewar Germany. Would anyone know if this coat was ever imported to Europe, and in what years? Thanks in advance, Jason Baltimore MD
wwas
hudseal logo coat.jpg
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Hi, Does that stamp say union anywhere? It looks more like a hide grade or inventory number stamp. The only people who would know if this coat was or was not imported to Germany for sure would be the exporter, importer, and couriers who were paid to transport it. International import/export was on the decline though for years after the Great Depression in the 30s. Higher tarriffs, import quotas, and foreign exchange controls all contributed to international trade collapsing. It took decades of negotiation after WWII before international trade barriers were lifted.
 
Jason Bulkley said:
Calling all fur historians and experts: I am a private collector of vintage clothing and personality items owned by famous people. I have a vintage 1930s or 1940s Hudseal Coney (Rabbit) black fur coat which was sold to me as a sealskin coat by an unscrupulous dealer. Not knowing anything about furs, I assumed it was sealskin due to the texture and appearance. After being told by a furrier that it was rabbit, we snipped open the lining to reveal the following label (see attachment): Hudseal Coney stamped onto the inner skin. I would like to know what the R-14 or H-14 Union stamp refers to. According to the dealer, this coat was the property of a German woman high on the social scale in prewar Germany. Would anyone know if this coat was ever imported to Europe, and in what years? Thanks in advance, Jason Baltimore MD
wwasView attachment 24170View attachment 24171
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Hello and thanks for the reply. It does say Union right under the logo, which looks somewhat like an animal, like a griffon, or lion, with the H-14 at the top. Thanks for the info on the trade: my research indicates that there was some trade, and Hudson Bay had branches in London. If I can establish that this coat was in England, it's not that far a hop from Germany, and that would be helpful. Again, if you can put me in touch with someone who is an expert in this field, I would be extremely grateful. Thanks again, Jason
 
Hi, I could not make that word out there but now that you have pointed out where the word Union was I can make out some of the lettering. While it could be, I am still unsure if that number refers to what union the hides were from. The number would more likely be a grading or registration number assigned by the union.
I am also unsure who might know if this specific coat was ever imported to Europe aside from the information I provided previously however if you can find out what company used the name "HudSeal," you might be able to contact the company if they are still in existence today to ask them and if not you may be able to search European newspaper archives, magazines, and/or other periodicals from those years looking for ads offering "HudSeal".
As for putting you in touch with an expert in this field, we are happy to answer your questions as best as we can and/or redirect you to other sources that may help you when we are able to, but we are not here to put you in touch with others.
 
Caryn is an expert in this field.

If you search google books, you will find a number of references to Hudseal being used as a term for rabbit, mostly in trade regulation and court case records, to do with mislabelling. It appears to me that it wasn't just used by one company, but I'm not sure. From a quick reading, it would appear the term was banned as false advertising at some point in the 40s, along with similar terms.

https://www.google.com/search?q="hudseal"&btnG=Search Books&tbm=bks&tbo=1#q="hudseal"&start=0&tbm=bks

However, I found a few coats with a Hudseal label, rather than a stamp, that resemble your stamp typographically, so presumably are from the same company. See ebay item 380795262344 nd this etsy listing:
Code: 
https://www.etsy.com/listing/158706687/vintage-black-seal-dyed-coney-rabbit-fur

Does your coat have any other labels?

I can also find a number of adverts from the 40s for Hudseal, simply by googling Hudseal fur. But they all appear in US newspapers.

Is your question to do with ascertaining the provenance, that the coat could actually have belonged to the person you were told it did? Even if it wasn't commercially imported to Europe, it's quite possible that someone brought it from the US to Europe personally, no? The woman herself, or someone else as gift for her?

Someone here may also be able to help with dating the coat more precisely, if it would help you to know if it was pre-war or post-war. We would probably need clearer pictures, and more details.
 
Without something in writing(authentic documentation) about the provenance, it surely would be difficult for anyone to say what paths this coat has traveled. One can only surmise! Ideally, it would be nice if you could go back to the dealer you purchased the coat from and ask for him to provide or steer you toward someone who could validate his claims, but of course, I see that you have stated that the dealer was without scruples, so that would be a dead end, for sure! Jason, I think both Caryn and Ruth have given you some good information to follow up on....and, I would say that Ruth is correct in saying that Caryn is extremely knowledgeable about furs. I am so glad she's a member of VFG, so I can rely on her expertise for my questions about fur.....it's surely a weak spot for me!
 
Thank you Ruth and Bonnie.
Bonnie is right. It would be very hard to know the paths this particular coat has traveled.

Ruth mentioned multiple companies offering HudSeal Coney. Many fur salons could have used the name "Hudseal Coney" which would have originally been fictitiously named by one company who sold the finished Rabbit fur hides to them. The fur salons would have then advertised the fur garments made from those hides as HudSeal, HudSeal Coney, or HudSeal Dyed Coney. If HudSeal Coney(Rabbit) was offered in the US by multiple fur salons, was also exported, and imported to other countries then it would make it even more difficult to know if this specific coat was one that was imported to Europe.

Ruth also asked if there was a label which could be helpful in your search too. I didn't see a label inside at the neckline but there could be one along a lining seem and if there is you could try to find out if the furrier had a location in Europe and/or if they imported their fur garments to Europe during those times. If the fur salon was offering rabbit coined as HudSeal Coney here and there at those times even if they imported from here to there it would again be difficult to prove whether this was one of the coats they imported there.

There were many fictitious names given to fur hides that were sheared and dyed to look like Seal but were actually another type of animal, like HudSeal and HudSeal Coney. In 1952 The Fur Products Labeling Act went into affect in the US which in part said no more trade names, coined names, or fictitious names allowed in the advertising, labeling, or invoicing of real furs. Your fur was from a time before then though hence the name stamped on the pelts.

Lastly as Ruth stated if you want help narrowing down dating, I, or we can certainly help you with that however we are all really experts in identifying vintage and determining age. My specialty is fur garments and coats.
 
Yep, the law was passed in 1951 and and went into affect in 1952. I am not so sure the seller intended to pass this off as something it was not. She should have done her research prior to offering it but she may have thought it was genuine Seal because it was sold to her as such and the person who originally bought it as HudSeal may have thought HudSeal was a type of genuine Seal which is one of the exact reasons the Fur Products labeling act went into place.
In 1956 consumers were offered even more protection when the Fur Label Authority label was added to fur garments. This label assured consumers that the furs complied with the guidelines set forth in the Fur Products labeling Act and were manufactured under fair labor standards. This label included an identifying number that matched the number on the invoice which again required the name and origin of the animal to be included. Garments that only had a small percentage of fur trim were not required to have this label.
 
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