The Furriers. 43 



They are simply Dealers in Fur who have no experience 

 in manufacturing or technical knowledge of the value or 

 quality of skins. They handle only the products of other 

 makers, and are obliged to depend entirely upon the 

 representations of the manufacturers who supply them 

 with goods. The Fiirrier is the man upon whom the fur 

 buying public must depend for a square deal, whether they 

 purchase from him direct or from one of the dealers he 

 supplies. 



The necessity of considering the responsibility of the 

 dealer when purchasing furs must be apparent to all who 

 remember what a large trade is carried on in what may 

 be termed artificial products. The common and cheaper 

 furs are often so prepared as to resemble rarer and 

 costlier articles. The skill with which piecing is done is 

 somewhat marvelous. All the clippings and cuttings of 

 furs have their uses, and pass into different hands for 

 various purposes. The life of a fur also depends largely 

 upon the method of dressing and the quality of the dye 

 used in coloring. The average purchaser cannot possibly 

 have the knowledge that will protect him from being 

 imposed upon by unscrupulous dealers. There are how- 

 ever so many responsible Furriers and Fur Dealers 

 large and small, that no one except those who are look- 

 ing for "something for nothing" need ever be the victim 

 of fraud or deception. 



The story of the Furriers is not so full of dramatic 

 interest as the history of the Fur Traders, but they are 

 "the men behind the guns" without whose prosaic efforts 

 to make furs fashionable, and to stimulate the demand 

 at various times, for different species by the creation of 

 new styles, peltries never would have become valuable 

 enough to cause the Fur Traders to leave their homes and 

 risk their lives in the pursuit of their calling. 



To trace the origin of the trade in manufactured furs, 

 we would have to go back, almost, to the origin of man 

 himself. The writer finds as a matter of record that in 

 1251, in the account of the Master of Robes to Louis 

 IX of France, there is a charge for an ermine lining for 

 a surcoat ; in which three hundred and forty ermines were 

 used for the body of the garment, sixty for the sleeves and 

 waist band, and 336 for the frock. We might mention, in 



