While in Vermont we visited an odd little science museum begun by Horace Fairbanks. There were several "paintings" made from butterfly wings and bugs, yes, really beetles and things. I was most drawn to the taxidermy exhibit of tropical birds of paradise followed by the fashion exhibit of the hats made out of these birds.
Price of Beauty
The birds of paradise pay
fascinating feathery frills
marketed for millinery trade
magenta bellies and emerald throats
Fascinating feathery frills
a plume craze into extinction
magenta bellies and emerald throats
women wear the males on their heads
A plume craze into extinction
one ounce of feathers for two ounces of gold
women wear the males on their heads
courtship props of the highest price
One ounce of feathers for two ounces of gold
I would just die to have that hat.
Courtship props of the highest price
the birds of paradise pay
The birds of paradise pay
fascinating feathery frills
marketed for millinery trade
magenta bellies and emerald throats
Fascinating feathery frills
a plume craze into extinction
magenta bellies and emerald throats
women wear the males on their heads
A plume craze into extinction
one ounce of feathers for two ounces of gold
women wear the males on their heads
courtship props of the highest price
One ounce of feathers for two ounces of gold
I would just die to have that hat.
Courtship props of the highest price
the birds of paradise pay
I thought the pictures were kinda cool...until I read your post. Now I think they're kinda creepy.
ReplyDeleteIt was Marjorie Stoneman Douglas who stopped the exploitation of tropical birds for the making of women's hats -- it was she too who brought the Everglades into a protected status. You might enjoy reading "River of Grass." Eloquent poem -- the rhythm mimics the triteness of those who would wear such hats.
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