c. 1912

Man's Coat

Fur garments, always a boon in cold weather, were available to midwestern farmers or stockmen in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries at relatively little expense. The hide of a cow or horse could be sent to any one of many specialist tanneries to be turned into warm coats, mittens, and robes. Harry Snyder, a teamster and part-time farmer from Washburn, Illinois, wore this set made from the hides of his favorite driving horses when driving a horse-drawn hearse at winter funerals.