Faking Her Furs.

Hokitika Guardian, 24 December 1921, Page 4

Faking Her Furs.

(By Dr E. H. Chapman). OTTAWA. The increased demand for furs has caused keener and more persistent hunting of the wild fur-bearing animals. Indeed, so keen lias been the pursuit that some of the fur-bearers have been in danger of complete extermination. Bpt even with tbe increased efficiency of the trapper and tbe skill of tbe iuri'nriiier, the supply of furs lias never exceeded tbe demand, and, as tt result, Micro has been, and is, a considerable amount of unavoidable imitation —one might almost siiy deception—practised by the fur trade upon tbe public.

Tbe most valuable of the fur-bearing animals such as tbe silver fox, tbe Russian sable, the chinchilla, and tbe Alaskan seal, are scarce. Their furs are most expensive, and only the wealthy can pay tbe prices demanded for the genuine article. The loss wealthy, even the poorer classes, however, are supplied with cheap imitations of all these expensive furs.

Among tbe various animals whose skins provide tbe working basis for these imitation furs are lambs, kids, domestic cats, pups, ponies, weasels, monkeys, rabbits and bares. Fur-dressers and fur-dyers ate very ingenious people. Tbe ways they have of working up the skins of common animals to resoluble the furs of the most valuable fur-bearing creatures are nothing short of marvellous.

For example, it is quite possible for the -.l<ins ill three common garden rabbits born in the same litter to be shown side by side on the same counter the first as sable, the second as seal, and tbe third as ermine.

My ladv of the furs would be little loss conspicuous if she knew that her

“chinchillas” were often nothing more than dead and dyed rabbits. It is curious bow the art of the furdresser and dyer lias had to be supplemented by much arUutness in the choosing of trade names for tbe various imitation products. A most excellent imitation of sealskin made years ago from tbe skins of muskrats would not sell under its real name, since muskrat was a rather common fur. Accordingly, the name “Hudson Bay seal” was devised for it, and under that name tbe despised skin of tbe muskrat lias become one of tbe most popular of the medium-priced furs.

It is interesting to note that tbe modern fur-faker can imitate successfully practically all tlje expensive furs with the skins of tbe muskrat, a little rodent which lives in the salt marshes of tho Atlantic coast of North America and of which more than 10,000,000 skins arc used annually by tbe furd.vors.

If the proper descriptive names are used for imitation furs there can lie no mom for doubt as to what one is buying. The official description contains ]„,th the name of the fur imitated and tbe name of tbe animal whose skin forms 1 1 io basis of the imitation. Thus “sable bare” indicates an imitation of ssiLie made from tbe skins of bares. Similarly “bear goat” indicates an imitation of bear fur made from goats’ skins.