Sunny and Honey

 

 

 

 

Fawn and Chocolate Tort English Angora look quite similar when they are full grown.   Genetically they differ only by being an agouti that carries "A-" and non-agouti that carries "aa".    When they are babies, however, they look quite different.  

In the photo taken under natural light, the left is a fawn bunny and the right a chocolate tort.  The fawn bunny's color is very sunny while the chocolate tort bunny is very much a honey color.   Both of these bunnies are chocolate based, so their color genotypes are:

Fawn                A-bbC-D-ee
Chocolate Tort  aabbC-D-ee

As we could see, the only difference is the agouti vs. self.

 

These are the same two bunnies, the one in the front is the fawn and the one in the back is the chocolate tort.  This photo is taken with a flash, the contrast of these two colors are not as intense as the first photo but still it's a sunny color vs. a honey color.



 

Deb's First Pair of Fingerless Gloves

 

 

Deb has been raising English Angora for many years, she still holds the record of having an English Angora that won all breed Best In Show 17 times.  She sold wool but very seldom spin or knit/crochet with her wool in the past.   She says,

 

"I just wanted to let you know that you have inspired me to start making fingerless gloves from our Angora wool. Caroline Waskow gave me another spinning lesson, and since then, I have spun and crocheted 6 pair of gloves. I sold two pair at work today and have orders for two more pairs."

"And, since I was making big people gloves, I thought I would make a small pair for Katelyn. She loves them and has them very fuzzy already."

Deb's lovely granddaughter Katelyn sure enjoys what grandma made for her.

 

 

Remember When: Angora Standard in 1970s

 

 

 

 

This is an official publication of the ARBA but it is not the Standard of Perfection per se. In addition to listing the essence of the standard of each breed, the book also gives advises of how to raise rabbits.

 

 

 

This particular edition was published in 1976, before most of our readers started raising rabbits.



 

There were only two breeds of Angora: English Angora and French Angora.   The English Angora then was a lot bigger and heavier by reading the weight limits.   The weight limits for senior bucks are 5-1/2 to 7-1/2 pounds and the senior does are 5-1/2 to 8-1/2 pounds.   

The current senior weight limits for the bucks are 5 to 7 pounds and the does are 5 to 7-1/2 pounds.    The biggest difference is on the does, the upper limit is one whole pound less than in the old days.



 



The French Angora did not have an upper weight limit in the 70s; the wordings seem to suggest that the bigger the better.   To some degree this old standard makes a lot of sense since the French Angora is commercial type and considered dual purpose of wool and meat. 

The current standard lists the French Angora weight limits as 7-1/2 to 10-1/2 pounds for both bucks and does.   




These two photos have been used for many years before and after, when Betty entered into the wonderful world of Angora in 1981, these were the same two photos used in the Standard of Perfection.

 the English and French Angoras don't seem to be that different in appearance.   Prior to 1939, there was only one breed of Angora: Angora Woolers, then in 1939-1944 Standard of Perfection the Angora Woolers were separated into English Type and French Type.   The official names of English Angora and French Angora were adopted in the 1944-1947 Standard of Perfection.






 

Got Alpaca?

Lindsay found a deal on Alpaca fleece that looked really good.  Always up to a fiber adventure, Linday and friend Meg decided to go take a look.   It turned out to be an incredible deal and they got really carried away.



Lindsay could not resist the white fleeces as a nest.

 

 

Remember When: There is No Such Thing as a German Angora

 

 

In Europe, in the past as well as now, there is no such thing as a German Angora breed.  It has always been the Americans who wanted to call a certain type of Angora as "German Angora".    ARBA in 1987 turned down the name German Angora in favor of Giant Angora to distinguish it from the other three breeds of Angora that were already in existence: English Angora, French Angora and Satin Angora.   Eventually Giant Angora was accepted into the ARBA standard of perfection in 1988.

 

 

This is a page in the 1971 American Rabbit Journal, a breeder by the name of N. Stokman indicated that she was one of the first person who had imported Angora from W. Germany, but they were not called German Angora. 

The second part of the letter deals with wool coop and spinning equipment. 

In the next section, one can read a letter from the Ashford company advertising walnut stained spinning kit for $40 each or $30.60 each if one buys in the lot of 5.    In natural color $35 each kit or $26.35 each in the lot of 5.

Comparing to the price today, these seem to be better "investment" than some of the collectibles!!!





 

Remember When: English Angora for $6.00?

 

 

 

 

In the 1971 "American Rabbit Journal" there is an ad section.   

Look at the price of English Angora, $6.00 seems to be the "going price".   The highest was $7.50 for an senior and lowest was a trio for $15.00.      French Angora and New Zealand are both in the $10.00 range.

English Angora has come a long way both in quality and price.



 

Remember When: English Angora Best of Breed in the 1971 ARBA Convention

 

 

 

 

 

This is the cover of the American Rabbit Journal published in 1971.   Though it's named American Rabbit Journal, with the subtitle of "Combining Angora Rabbit Magazine, Two Magazines in One",  the content is heavily into Angora .  

 

The 1971 ARBA national convention was held in Albuquerque NM on October 28, 1971.   The English Angora BOB belonged to Mrs. L.P. Meyer.   

Mrs. L. P. Meyer was one of the founders of the National Angora Rabbit Breeders Club and also the presenter/creator of Satin Angora in 1987.   She passed away in the early 1990s.