This fur jacket is labelled Fashion Furs by Cynara - one of the Mooneys Furs labels. Mooneys started out in Dunedin in 1912, later opening additional workrooms in Auckland and Wellington. Nola Rae Waters (nee Dignan) worked in the Auckland workroom as a furrier in the 1930s and 1940s. She was able to remain in employment during the Second World War, manufacturing uniforms, including bomber jackets for the American Airforce. Nola got married and had a daughter in 1948 but Mooney’s asked if she would return to work. She did - on the proviso that she could make her mother this jacket, which was originally made as a coat. Nola must have been a highly regarded employee because they agreed, and continued to pay her "a man’s wage" for her work.