During the 18th century, wool blankets were among the most popular trade items in the Canadian fur trade and by 1779, HBC began shipping Point Blankets to company trading posts on a regular basis to keep up with demand.

The Point Blanket had many practical uses during the fur trade; fur traders, voyageurs, and Indigenous peoples regularly styled blankets into custom wrap coats, called capotes, nearly 200 years before the first commercial blanket coat was introduced by Hudson's Bay in 1922

Throughout the 20th century, HBC continued to produce and sell Hudson's Bay Point Blankets in a variety of colourways.

The wool was, and remains, a blend of varieties from Britain and New Zealand, each selected for its special qualities that make the blanket water resistant, soft, warm, and strong

The wool is first dyed before it is spun. The wool is then air and sun dried to brighten the colours

The blankets are woven 50% larger than their final finished size

Blankets are then milled - reduces the blankets to prevent further shrinkage and prevents the blanket from hardening when exposed to severe climatic conditions

Until the 1970’s, HBC point blankets were shipped to stores in unseparated pairs, a double-length blanket that HBC would then separate into 2 singles?

Customers were able to purchase unseparated pairs until the early 1960’s - very useful for campers who used the blankets as sleeping bags.

We’ve been told that HBC staff loved to dramatically tear the blanket apart in front of unsuspecting customers during a sale!

The “point” system was invented by French weavers in the mid-18th century as a means of indicating the finished overall size (area) of a blanket. The word point derives from the French empointer, meaning “to make threaded stitches on cloth.”

Each blanket was graded using a point system. Points were identified by the indigo lines woven into the side of each blanket. A full point measured 4–5.5 inches (10–14 centimetres); a half point measured half that length. The standard measurements for a pair of 1-point blankets was: 2 feet, 8 inches (81 centimetres) wide by 8 feet (2.4 metres) in length; with a weight of 3 pounds, 1 ounce (1.4 kilograms) each. Points ranged from 1 to 6, increasing by halves depending upon the size and weight of the blanket.

The number of points on a blanket represents the overall finished size of the blanket, not its value in terms of beaver pelts as is sometimes believed.