<P> Wool cloth of one kind or another was traded as far back as the French regime in North America (1534--1765), but HBC point blankets were introduced in 1780 to compete with similar blankets offered by the Montreal - based private traders . The blankets were often produced with a green stripe, red stripe, yellow stripe and indigo stripe on a white background; the four stripe colours were popular and easily produced using good colourfast dyes at that time . </P> <P> From the early days of the fur trade, wool blankets were made into hooded coats called capotes by both natives and French Canadian voyageurs, which were perfectly suited to Canada's cold winters . </P> <P> The short black lines woven into the blanket just above the bottom set of stripes are referred to as "points ." About four inches in length (except in the case of half points, which are two inches), they indicate the finished overall size (area) of a blanket and allow a blanket's size to be easily determined while remaining folded . The "point" system was invented by French weavers in the mid-18th - century since then, as now, blankets were shrunk as part of the manufacturing process . The word point derives from the French empointer, meaning "to make threaded stitches on cloth ." Although the company had been selling blankets since its founding in 1670, the first Hudson's Bay "pointed" blankets appeared in 1780 . </P> <P> Over the centuries the sizes of blankets have shifted, particularly during the 20th century as beds became larger . Blankets of 2.5, 3, 3.5 and 4 point were most common during the fur trade era . Today Hudson's Bay blankets are commonly found in point sizes of 3.5 (twin), 4 (double), 6 (queen) and 8 (king). </P>

What do the stripes on a hudson bay blanket mean
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