382 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



Today reputable fur garment advertisers brand a Hud- 

 son Seal article a "Seal-dyed Muskrat," just exactly what 

 it is, and, in parentheses the ancient name. But it is quite 

 possible that long usage of the term Hudson Seal will con- 

 tinue and, as many muskrats from this state are used in 

 its manufacture, it will not be out of place to describe how 

 Hudson Seal is produced. 



While it is now known in a general way that muskrat 

 skins that have been plucked, sheared and dyed black be- 

 come this article of commerce, few are aware of the various 

 processes through which a raw 'rat pelt must pass in order 

 to emerge a "seal". 



As many as eighteen separate and distinct operations, 

 all of which call for expert handicraft and precise mechan- 

 ical equipment, are required because this manufacturing 

 process has graduated from a plain dyeing operation into 

 a scientifically and exact procedure. 



The raw pelts are received by the tanning and dyeing 

 establishments in the same form the trapper prepared them, 

 cased and with the fur on the inside. They are first per- 

 forated near the edge with a number so as to mark one 

 shipper's merchandise from another's and then the skin 

 are "half dressed," a term used in the fur industry to indi- 

 cate a treatment preparatory to the dyeing process, but 

 which is commonly and incorrectly identified with tanning 

 Today, muskrat skins are dressed in a manner quite supe- 

 rior to the antiquated crude method of tanning or dressing 

 handed down from the Indians, and a great percentage of 

 the value of the finished Hudson Seal product depends on 

 the initial dressing which has been evolved to an art by 

 the major fur dyeing and fur finishing plants of thip 

 country, and an art that calls for the best kind of crafts- 

 manship. This dressing process is carefully supervised so 

 that when completed in the haJf dressing the muskrat is 

 left with a pliable pelt and with no injury to the fur. 



The operation consists of inserting the pelts in a me- 

 chanical contrivance known as a "kicking" machine. By 

 kicking it is not meant that the pelts are subjected to any- 

 thing remotely resembling harsh treatment but merely that 



