Native Life: Hudson's Bay Point Blanket

Next to firearms and ammunition another coveted trade item was cloth or blankets, preferably woolen blankets that could stand up to any weather and be warm and durable even when wet.  Beginning in the 17th century, French fur traders knew that the better the quality of woolen blankets offered, the better the beaver pelts in trade and vice versa.  The Hudson's Bay Company, chartered in 1670, long offered generic woolen blankets as trade for beaver pelts.  However, beginning in the 1780's, HBC came up with a more colorful and durable blanket to compete with whatever private or independent traders could offer.

It was called the point blanket.  And, contrary to popular belief, the word point had nothing to do with the quality or quantity of pelts traded for each blanket, or the weight and grade of the woolen cloth.  French woolen merchants had come up with a visual system for quickly and easily gauging the size of a blanket by a set of black threads woven into it.  The number of these black lines, or points, denoted the overall size of the blanket.  HBC point blankets were traditionally white, with dyed horizontal stripes woven into the cloth.  The most favored colors for these stripes were yellow, green, blue and red.  As with the points, the number and color of the stripes had nothing to do with the beaver pelts traded or quality of the cloth.  These colors reflected the most cheaply available dyes at the time.  These blankets were highly sought after for their durability and colorfast dyes.  They could be made into blanket coats called capotes, a fashion adopted by both French-Canadian voyageurs and Natives alike.

HBC still manufactures the blankets today.  While original blankets are prized collectors items, HBC point blankets in modern sizes are available in high end department stores such as Lord and Taylor.