Tuesday, May 30, 2006

"Where does Mohair come from?"

My old roommate asked this at lunch on Saturday.

I hesitated for a moment.

My fiance jumped right in.

"It comes from the Mo of course!"

Sorry to burst your bubble dear.

From Wikipedia:

Mohair is a silk-like fabric made from the hair of the Angora goat. Mohair is durable, light and warm. Mohair is used to make sweaters and other clothing and blankets. It is also popular material to make teddy bears.

The word was adopted into English before 1570 from the Arabic mukhayyar, a type of haircloth, literally 'choice', from khayyara, 'he chose'.

Mohair should not be confused with the fur from the angora rabbit which is called angora. During World War II, U.S. soldiers wore uniforms made of wool. Worried that domestic producers could not supply enough for future wars, Congress enacted loan and price support programs for wool and mohair in 1954. Despite these programs, wool and mohair production declined. Nevertheless, the U.S. government continued to provide subsidies to mohair producers until 1994. As of 2002, mohair producers were still able to receive special assistance loans from the U.S. Government.

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