250 FUR FACTS 



the sack. If you are shipping by parcel post you can place the pack- 

 age in a pasteboard box or wrap it in a piece of paper, but never 

 wrap paper around the furs themselves. After you have securely 

 tied up the package, attach a regulation Funsten shipping tag to the 

 bundle, being careful to write out your name and address plainly, 

 or better still print your name and address and do the same on the 

 package. (Funsten Bros. & Co., will send you all the shipping tags 

 you want free — write to them). Be sure you get a receipt for the 

 shipment from your rural mail carrier, or from the express agent, 

 and there is nothing further for you to do, as it is not necessary for 

 you to notify the fur house by mail that you are making a shipment. 



The main thing to remember in shipping furs is to see that they 

 are clean, packed straight, flat, and not rolled and crumpled up, and 

 that your name and address is on both the inside and the outside tag. 



When your shipment is received it is given a number and it is 

 then sent to the grading room. Here the package is carefully opened 

 and its contents checked and rechecked against the shipper's invoice 

 tag. At Funsten Bros. & Co., the furs are then handled so as to 

 make them look their best, and they are then ready to be passed to 

 the grader to be assorted into the different grades. Appearances go 

 a long way in furs. Therefore, you can see how important it is for 

 your furs to be packed in such a manner that they wUl look their 

 very best when they are received in the market. Never dress or tan 

 raw furs that are intended for shipment to market. 



How Furs are Dressed 



The art of dressing furs is very old, and there are many different 

 methods by which the skins are dressed and the leather made soft 

 and pliable for use. In later years chemicals, such as alum, sul- 

 phuric acid, peroxide of hydrogen, and other acids have been intro- 

 duced into the dressing process. The art of dressing prior to the 

 war was developed to a very high state jn Germany. During, and 

 since the war, the American dressers have turned out as good and 

 in many respects, better work. 



The first step in the dressing of skins is the liquoring process, 

 which means that the pelts are soaked for about twenty four hours 

 in order to open the pores and soften the skin. They are then 

 taken out and thoroughly cleaned, some skins being washed and 

 rubbed with soap and water in order to get them thoroughly free 

 of oil. They are then drummed; that is, they are placed in a large 

 slowly revolving cylinder which contains sawdust. They are allowed 



