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| Title | Blue Fox, Cat Island, ca. 1912 |
| Photographer | Thwaites, John E. (John Edward), 1863-1940 |
| Date | ca. 1912 |
| Notes | PH Coll 247.798 |
| Contextual Notes | As work in the mines declined and the price paid for furs increased, fox farming began to prosper. By 1919, twenty-one fox farmers held Chugach National Forest permits for the Sound's 19 fox farms. At least half of the permit-holders were oldtimers who had arrived before or during the gold rush. In 1922, the Valdez Dock Company shipped $100,000 worth of fox furs from the Sound's islands to London and Paris. European women preferred the blue or Arctic fox, whereas the tastes of American women leaned towards red fox. By 1925, thirty-four islands had fox farms, and local newspapers were actively encouraging the establishment of more. At this time, blue fox pelts sold at $100-$150 apiece and silver fox from $250-$500. With the stockmarket crash in 1929 and a change in women's tastes, the fur market declined during the 1930s. By 1939, only 15 active fox farms remained.
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| Subjects (LCSH) | Arctic fox--Alaska--Cat Island |
| Location Depicted | United States--Alaska--Cat Island |
| Digital Collection | John E. Thwaites Photographs |
| Order Number | THW346 |
| Ordering Information | To order a reproduction, inquire about permissions, or for information about prices see: http://www.lib.washington.edu/specialcollections/services/reproduction-info
Please cite the Order Number when ordering. |
| Negative Number | THWAITES 247.798 |
| Repository | University of Washington Libraries. Special Collections Division |
| Repository Collection | John E. Thwaites Photograph Collection. PH Coll 247
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| Object Type | Photograph |
| Digital Reproduction Information | Scanned from a photographic print using a Microtek Scanmaker 9600XL at 100 dpi in JPEG format at compression rate 3 and resized to 768x512 ppi. 2003. |
