The description, however, is a little deceiving.
Thankfully a new film, produced by the Wyatt Heritage Properties, has been completed in the hopes of clearing up the confusion.
The movie is called "Those Little Silver Mines" and documents the explosive rise of the Silver Fox industry on Prince Edward Island.
"It was just a really fun project to do. Hopefully people will enjoy it and bring alive another part of Island history," said Marlene Campbell, cultural programs assistant with the heritage properties.
The movie was created to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the monopoly on foxes on PEI being broken. The film is 46 minutes long and can be watched as a whole or in parts at the International Fox Museum and Hall of Fame here in Summerside. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Saturday.
It was shot entirely at the fox museum by filmmaker Susan Rodgers of Blue Mountain Entertainment and has one actor, Bill McFadden, playing several roles. Funding for the project came from the provincial Community Cultural Partnership Program.
MacFadden acts out the tale of Frank Tuplin of New Annan and how he broke the fox monopoly held by six prominent Island businessmen.
The story begins as Frank begged his uncle Robert Tuplin, one of the six breeders, for years asking him to sell him a pair of foxes. Robert always refused, but eventually broke down and told his nephew he would sell him a pair for $1,000. After taking out a loan to buy the foxes Frank spent several years raising the animals and selling their pelts. While he made a profit selling pelts he soon had an even better idea.
"He realized that the money was not in selling the pelts, but in selling breeding stock," said Campbell.
Other farmers were desperate to get their hands on their own animals for breeding so when Frank started providing them he made his fortune and swung the door open for other breeders to follow suit.
Fox fur and breeding animals became a major export for PEI and brought tremendous wealth to the province.
"It really helped a lot of people through the depression era," said Campbell.
While "Those Little Silver Mines" can only be seen at the fox museum for now, there are plans to eventually load the video onto the Wyatt property's website.
The Journal Pioneer
