# $40,000.00 Blanket (Forty Thousand Dollars!) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 14, 2008, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-000-00-blanket-forty-thousand-dollars/449227 "2008-05-14T01:00:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2008, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-000-00-blanket-forty-thousand-dollars/449227/21 "2008-05-14T13:09:22Z")
Long ago, the word _engine_ simply meant _device_. _Engine_ got whittled down to _gin_, as in _cotton gin_ and _gin trap_. The delightful beverage _gin_ filtered down from a different root, _geneva_. You may now return to talking about wascawwy Fwench wabbits. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2008, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-000-00-blanket-forty-thousand-dollars/449227/22 "2008-05-14T13:22:28Z")
Their website seems to be in exquisite repose, too. I was trying to get an idea of what else people with $40g’s to drop on a blankie like to shop for, but I couldn’t get in to the US or UK “boutique”. [QUOTE=WF Tomba] You can drive the price especially high if your salespeople describe it as an animal rather than as a rabbit. “This meat is harvested from an animal specially created, through thousands of years of selective breeding by artisans in the Near East and Europe, for superior taste and tenderness.” [/QUOTE] Right. What with the guy in the shop describing a mysterious _animal_ that exists only in France, I figured he didn’t want to dirty his shop with discussion of livestock. The Poitou region has several heritage livestock breeds that are pretty near extinction and desperately need some new marketing strategies. With the description of “pretty long, maybe covered my hand” I was angling towards a critter with hooves. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2008, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-000-00-blanket-forty-thousand-dollars/449227/23 "2008-05-14T13:37:47Z")
[QUOTE=Projammer] **Duck Duck Goose** just beat me to it. My research turned up [Orylag](http://www.orylag.com/version_anglaise/index.php) as the most likely candidate as well. [/QUOTE] That website contains the following somewhat mysterious claim: > [@](#): > > The story resembles a legend. In 1985, two researchers at INRA (National Institute for Agronomic Research) set out to develop a new fur that would be both technically ideal and ethically acceptable. For this, they worked on the rex rabbit, crossing, selecting and perfecting it until they created a new breed. > > The birth of orylag required 15 years of scientific research. A real success : an incredible soft fur, dense, bright, resistant and very light skin which gives professional a maximum of possibility to create. > > orylag answers all these requirements. > > A few rigorously selected farmers have started breeding. The legendary fur is becoming a reality. Leaving aside that the passage begins with _“resembles”_ a legend and ends by asserting it is _“legendary”_
what’s the basis for their claim that it’s “ethical”? The text asserts that it’s ethical, but then advances no reasoning as to why. The main ethical concern I’m familiar with is that animals are killed. Are they claiming their animals shed their skins and live happily ever after? Sailboat ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2008, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-000-00-blanket-forty-thousand-dollars/449227/24 "2008-05-14T14:13:00Z")
[QUOTE=NajaNivea] Their website seems to be in exquisite repose, too. I was trying to get an idea of what else people with $40g’s to drop on a blankie like to shop for, but I couldn’t get in to the US or UK “boutique”. [/QUOTE] That’s because the link in the OP is malformed. Here’s the correct link: [Hermes.com](http://www.hermes.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2008, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-000-00-blanket-forty-thousand-dollars/449227/25 "2008-05-14T14:27:12Z")
[QUOTE=outlierrn] Many years ago I put my hand on a real California sea otter pelt, and it was good in a way that made me want to stuff it down my pants and smoke a cigarette, and I thought ‘yeah, I can see how these were almost trapped into extinction.’ [/QUOTE] (wiping a tear from my eye) Oh my. How am I going to explain the chuckles all day? ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2008, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-000-00-blanket-forty-thousand-dollars/449227/26 "2008-05-14T14:33:53Z")
[QUOTE=aldiboronti] That’s because the link in the OP is malformed. Here’s the correct link: [Hermes.com](http://www.hermes.com/) [/QUOTE] Dude, I’m quite capable of removing a tacked-on parenthesis. I run a couple script-blockers and selectively accept cookies\*, so sometimes I fall into a black hole of unable to redirect. \*chocolate chip and shortbread always welcome ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-000-00-blanket-forty-thousand-dollars/449227/27 "2008-05-14T16:31:09Z")
Since it’s just rabbit fur, I wonder how it holds up in the long-term. Where I come from, “rabbit” is considered a cheap fur, something that’s suitable for children, and for women who can’t afford mink, or even fox; one tends to associate a rabbit-fur coat with the girl who works at Woolworths, and her teenage younger sister, and their cocktail waitress mom. And of course rabbit is the essential trim on Baby’s hood. So no wonder they prefer to call it “orylag” or “the exclusive, very rare, French animal”. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2008, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-000-00-blanket-forty-thousand-dollars/449227/28 "2008-05-14T16:56:00Z")
Wow. This is the strangest thing I’ve read all week. I was thinking of going downtown to the Platinum Kilometre\* and checking this thing out, but I suspect that the store’s ‘insufficient money’ alarm would go off as soon as I darkened its door. If I had a blanket worth 40,000 dollars, I certainly wouldn’t be _throwing_ it around. 🙂 [sub]\*That strip of Bloor west of Yonge is not the ‘Golden Mile’. The Golden Mile is in Scarborough.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-000-00-blanket-forty-thousand-dollars/449227/29 "2008-05-14T19:33:32Z")
[QUOTE=xiix] So I was looking for a small leather accessory this afternoon and thought I would check out HermĂšs ([http://www.hermes.com/](http://www.hermes.com/)). I wondered into their Toronto boutique and found some reasonably priced leather accessories, but then decided to explore what else they happened to have lying around. Thats when I saw a rather attractive blanket, which I promptly ran my hand through, only to discover what I can categorically say must be the softest fur I have ever had the pleasure of caressing. When I asked my salesperson the price, the expression in his face changed, as if, he was having tremendous difficulty uttering the figure without bursting out in laughter. Before telling me the amount, he went into a little story about how the animal is very rare (apparently it is a specially bred animal only found in France, and only sold in small quantities to French-owned companies as per their law). And then, he indeed confirmed that the price was forty thousand dollars. There was also a matching cushion, equally soft and lovely (but only half the size of a regular pillow) for $39,000.00 My question is, what might this animal have been? I believe the name started with an O
perhaps similar sounding to ‘urcourt’ or something like that, but I could have misheard. So far I’ve googled for rare french furs, as well as going through what I can find from Hermes catalogues, but I imagine its a rare item not really sold online. So from what animal did this ĂŒber-expensive fur originate? [/QUOTE] The French word for “bear” is “ours,” but I can’t find any subtype that would fit your phonetic description. > **[ours - traduction - Dictionnaire Français-Anglais WordReference.com](https://www.wordreference.com/fren/ours)** > > ours - traduction français-anglais. Forums pour discuter de ours, voir ses formes composĂ©es, des exemples et poser vos questions. Gratuit. > **[Ursidae](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ours)** > > UrsidĂ©s, Ours Ne doit pas ĂȘtre confondu avec les Ursides. > « Ours » redirige ici. Pour les autres significations, voir Ours (homonymie). > Famille ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2008, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-000-00-blanket-forty-thousand-dollars/449227/30 "2008-05-14T20:56:26Z")
[QUOTE=Savannah] I can say with some confidence, that I will never buy or even be given as a gift, a $40,000 blanket. This, alone among all things, I am certain of. [/QUOTE] I just bought you one yesterday, but since you don’t want it 
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**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2008, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-000-00-blanket-forty-thousand-dollars/449227/31 "2008-05-14T21:30:42Z")
[QUOTE=Manduck] I just bought you one yesterday, but since you don’t want it 
 [/QUOTE] Send it here, I’ll stick it on eBay. 1 cent starting bid, free shipping. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2008, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-000-00-blanket-forty-thousand-dollars/449227/32 "2008-05-14T23:30:30Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] I wonder if he meant [vicuña](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicu%C3%B1a), which is not French, but is extremely expensive: > [@](#): > > Current prices for vicuña yarns and fabrics can range from $1,800 to $3,000 per yard. Vicuña fiber can be used for apparel (such as socks, sweaters, accessories, shawls, coats, and suits) and home fashion (such as blankets and throws). A scarf costs around $1500 while a man’s coat can cost up to $20,000. Extrapolating, a blanket could easily approach $40,000 [/QUOTE] Good heavens! :eek: And here I have a blanket made out of vicuña pelts that my Mom got in South America around 50 years or so ago. I wonder how much it’s worth? It has a few skins separated, but I have them all
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**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2008, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-000-00-blanket-forty-thousand-dollars/449227/33 "2008-05-14T23:55:52Z")
I should add, btw, that my mom purchased that blanket in the late 1950s, long before the vicuña were protected. She’d never have purchased it illegally. ---
**Author:** ![mwbrooks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mwbrooks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mwbrooks)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-000-00-blanket-forty-thousand-dollars/449227/34 "2008-05-14T23:59:31Z")
[QUOTE=xiix] 
 the item I found is described as an ‘Orylag fur Troika throw’. [/QUOTE] A French throw for a Russian sled? At least it’s Orylag, not Gulag! I don’t know what Gulag fur is either. And I don’t want to. Drat, now I have that Troika tune from _Lieutenant KijĂ©_ running through my head. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-000-00-blanket-forty-thousand-dollars/449227/35 "2008-05-15T02:28:42Z")
[QUOTE=lobotomyboy63] The French word for “bear” is “ours,” but I can’t find any subtype that would fit your phonetic description. > **[ours - traduction - Dictionnaire Français-Anglais WordReference.com](https://www.wordreference.com/fren/ours)** > > ours - traduction français-anglais. Forums pour discuter de ours, voir ses formes composĂ©es, des exemples et poser vos questions. Gratuit. > **[Ursidae](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ours)** > > UrsidĂ©s, Ours Ne doit pas ĂȘtre confondu avec les Ursides. > « Ours » redirige ici. Pour les autres significations, voir Ours (homonymie). > Famille [/QUOTE] I think we’ve pretty well established that it’s a very-very-special French rabbit. See previous posts. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-000-00-blanket-forty-thousand-dollars/449227/36 "2008-05-15T03:16:46Z")
[QUOTE=Manduck] I just bought you one yesterday, but since you don’t want it 
 [/QUOTE] I’m just over in Langford, and I can hop in the car! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-000-00-blanket-forty-thousand-dollars/449227.md?page=1)