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Volume 15, Issue 1

English naturalist and Antarctic historian Robert Burton uncovers the never before published history of seal wool! During the early 1800s, as the whaling industry quickly replaced the demand for fur seals, Tom Chapman invented a way to spin the undercoat of the fur seal into shawls as fine as cashmere.

(DIGITAL ONLY)

What's inside

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SOUTH GEORGIA

Antarctica

Seal wool! Perhaps the wildest fiber—ever. Even Napoleon owned 13 seal wool shawls.

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FAMADIHANA

Madagascar

Madagascar's ancient funerary ritual is threatened by the loss of the native silkworm's habitat.

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SHAVE'EM TO SAVE'EM

US

The Livestock Conservancy is launching an innovative program to save endangered sheep breeds.

FIELD TO FABRIC

Sarepta, Louisiana

Retired high school history teacher and coach, Tony Mullins, is cotton obsessed.

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ACADIAN COTTON

Louisiana

Acadian brown cotton is not only a vestige of the past, it's growing strong roots for the future.

THE SWEATER'S TALE

England

Has anyone ever asked what kind of wool was in Sir Ernest Shackleton's sweater?   

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FROZEN DREAMS

Antarctica

After thirty years of dreaming, the author's trip of a lifetime comes perilously close to sinking in a stream of chaos.  

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PANGONG CRAFT CENTER

Ladakh, India

Now in its fourth year, the ladies of Pangong are gaining control..