FUR DRESSING
INTRODUCTORY AND HISTORICAL
Fur dressing has a twofold purpose. First of all, the putrefactive
processes must be permanently stopped, so that the skin may be
preserved as such, or worked up as some fur garment, without danger of
decomposition. Having taken measures to assure the endurance or relative
permanency of the pelt, the prime consideration is, of course, the
appearance of the hair. The hair must be so treated that all its inherent
beauty is brought out to the fullest extent. It must be made clean and
soft, and all the natural gloss must be preserved, and if possible,
enhanced. The appearance of the leather is relatively unimportant, since
it is not seen after the furs are made into garments. There are, however,
certain qualities which it is essential for the leather to possess after
being dressed, and these are, softness, lightness of weight, elasticity or
stretch, and a certain firmness or ‘feel.’ In other words the important
considerations in fur dressing are the employment of means, and the
exercise of care to preserve or even improve those characteristics of the
pelt which make it valuable.
The dressing of furs has many features in common with the manufacture
of leather, which is a kindred art. But whereas in fur dressing the
prime consideration is the appearance of the hair, and the leather is of
secondary importance, in the production of leather, the hair plays no part
at all, since it is entirely removed from the pelt. The fundamental points
of resemblance between leather manufacture and fur dressing are in those
processes and operations which are concerned with the preservation of the
leather, and rendering it in the proper condition for use.
Both leather dressing and fur dressing have an origin which may be
regarded as identical, and which dates back to the haziest periods of
antiquity. In the course of satisfying his needs, primitive man killed
the animals about him, and thus obtained his food. The killed animal also
furnished a skin, which after undergoing certain manipulations and other
treatments, could serve as a protective covering, ornament, or defensive
weapon. Since the skin in its natural state was hardly fit for use because
of its easy tendency to putrefaction, it is evident that man had to find
some means of preventing this decay in a more or less permanent fashion,
and moreover had to treat the skin so that it would be suitable for use,
by rendering it soft and flexible. The discovery of means to accomplish
these purposes was probably one of the first great steps forward on the
path of progress and civilization.
There are evidences of the use of animal skins in the earliest periods
of antiquity, in fact it is a usage which may be literally regarded as
“old as the hills.” One of the earliest written records of the employment
of the skins of animals as garments, is in the Old Testament, where it
states, “Unto Adam and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins,
and clothed them.” Numerous other biblical references indicate the use
of animal skins for various purposes, sometimes prepared as leather,
with the hair removed. Among the Egyptians tanning seems to have been
a common occupation. The particularly attractive skins, like those of
the leopard or panther, were especially prized, and were made up as furs
for ornamental wear, rugs and decorations. The less valuable skins were
unhaired and made into leather. Although the tanning or leather-producing
processes of the Egyptians are quite unknown, numerous figures engraved in
stone afford an indication to some of the manipulatory operations, such
as soaking the skins, fleshing, softening with stones, stretching over
a three-legged wooden “horse,” etc. Many articles, made of leather, have
been found in the various Egyptian sarcophagi, and all are in a splendid
state of preservation, after forty centuries, thereby indicating a very
efficient method of dressing animal skins. Likewise, the presence in the
museums of various articles, leather and fur, of Assyrian, Phoenician
and Persian origin, tends to show that these peoples also possessed a
considerable degree of proficiency in tanning. Frequent references in the
Greek literature show that leopard and lion skins were worn as war cloaks,
and they undoubtedly were properly made. In the _Iliad_ is described an
operation for the preparation of skins for use as garments, and the method
seems to be a sort of chamois dressing.
The first method of tanning skins was, in all probability, that of rubbing
into the skins various fatty materials found close at hand, such as parts
of the animal, fat, brains, milk, excrement, etc., such an operation
constituting the basis of what is now known as the chamois dressing. One
of the reasons for believing that it was the first process to be used by
primitive man, is the fact that certain undeveloped tribes and races of
the present day still dress skins by it. The American Indians, even to
this day prepare skins by rubbing in, on the flesh side, the brains of
the animals which furnished the skins. The Eskimos dress skins by rubbing
in animal fats or fish-oil, and subsequently softening and stretching
the skins with their teeth in place of, or for want of other implements.
Usually, however, variously shaped stones or bones of animals are used
to obtain the proper degree of softness and flexibility. It is true, too,
that some of the skins dressed in this primitive fashion can scarcely be
excelled by any dressed with more modern processes and tanning methods.
The next step forward in the preparation of animal skins for use was
undoubtedly the utilization of substances found in the earth. Common
salt, sodium chloride, was the most universally used substance of mineral
origin, just as it is today. Our prehistoric ancestors eventually
discovered the preservative action of salt, and applied it to skins.
While it was effective, it was not sufficiently permanent, so another
mineral, also of very common and wide occurrence was used in combination
with the salt, and the result proved quite satisfactory. This second
common mineral was alum. The use of alum, which is the basis of numerous
tanning processes to this day, seems to have been quite a popular method
of ancient times. Artemidorus, a Greco-Roman writer, mentions the use
of alum by the Greeks, and the Romans are known to have prepared a soft,
flexible leather called aluta (alum leather), by using it. In view of the
fact that Egypt had extensive deposits of alum, it is believed that the
alum-salt process was employed also by the Egyptians in the preparation
of leather. However, the evidence on this point is not conclusive.
One of the most important methods of producing leather, either as such
or on furs, was with the aid of certain vegetable extracts, known as the
tannins, from which the process of tanning gets its name. The discovery
of the value of these materials for converting the decaying raw skin
into a leather which could be preserved for an almost indefinite length
of time, and which was flexible and soft as desired, was of far-reaching
importance. For it is only in very recent times that these tannins have
been superseded in part by new tanning substances whose use is simpler
and more time-saving. Yet there are unmistakable indications that the
tannins were employed for tanning at a period which reaches back to the
dawn of history. Although it is scarcely probable that the people who
used these materials could have known of the existence or the nature
of the particular substances in the vegetable extracts which actually
effect the tanning action, experience taught them to employ these plants
which possessed the highest content of active ingredients, and which,
consequently, were most effective in use. Tychios, of Boetius, a Greek
supposed to have lived about 900 B.C. and mentioned in the _Iliad_, is
considered the oldest known tanner, and was regarded by Pliny, a Roman
writer, as the discoverer of tanning, and of the use of the various
vegetable tanning materials. At any rate, the Greeks used the leaves of
a so-called tanning-tree, which was probably the sumach. The Egyptians
worked with the acacia, while the Romans used as tanning materials the
barks of the pine, alder and pomegranate trees, also nut-galls, sumach and
acorns. The Romans were quick to employ methods used by the peoples whom
they conquered, and it is in this way that they learned the use of many
of the plants mentioned, for tanning purposes.
Many other ancient peoples had various processes of tanning, the methods
probably differing in each country. Thus the Chinese, Syrians, and much
later, the Moors, were each known for proficiency in a certain class
of leather tanning. It has been said that in general, even up to modern
times, tanning with nut-galls was the characteristic method of the Orient;
with oak-tan, that of the Occident, while the use of alum is regarded as
the method peculiar to the Saracens.
In prehistoric times and the early centuries of civilization, skins or
pelts were prepared for use by the individual, the work usually being
done by the housewife and daughters, while the masculine members of the
family were engaged in hunting the animals and obtaining the skins. At a
later period, when people had advanced to the point where they lived in
cities, the preparing or dressing of skins became centered in the hands
of a comparatively small number of people, and thus the work took on the
aspects of a trade. The workers in fur were at first the same people who
made leather out of the skin, for the two kinds of work were very closely
associated. During the period of the Roman supremacy, historical records
show that the furriers, who did all the work connected with furs, from
purchasing the raw skins, dressing them, making them into garments, to
selling the latter, were organized into associations together with the
leather workers. After the fall of the Roman empire, and throughout the
centuries known as the Dark Ages, all traces of the furriers seem to
have been lost, but in the beginning of the Renaissance period in the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, we again find records of the furriers,
who were now all members of the furriers’ guilds, also in association
with the leather workers. As formerly, all the work connected with the
production of fur apparel from the raw furs, was done by the master
furrier and his apprentices. The methods and the implements used, were
essentially the same as in Roman times, and in fact, up to a very recent
period there was very little change in either.
With the advent of the great industrial era at the beginning of the
nineteenth century, the guild system became ineffective, but the
furriers continued their work as heretofore. Up to about the middle of
the nineteenth century, the furrier continued to be the only factor of
any importance in the fur trade. There was no need for speed in his
work, for the demands of the trade were not so urgent. The fact that
the dressing of furs often occupied two to four weeks was no deterring
factor in his business. However, with the great expansion of the fur trade
about this time, it became impossible for the individual furrier to do
everything himself, and keep up with the requirements of his customers.
Specialization commenced, and establishments were set up solely for fur
dressing. The traditional time- and labor-consuming processes were still
used, but the efficiency of work on a large scale enabled the fur dressers
successfully to fill their orders. But the fur trade continued to grow by
leaps and bounds, and very soon the fur dressers were no longer able to
meet the demands of the trade. It was then that the science of chemistry
came to the aid of the fur dresser, and helped him meet the exigency. By
devising dressing processes which were cheap and efficient, and which only
required several hours, or at the most one or two days, as compared with
as many weeks, the chemist brought the fur dresser out of his dilemma.
And with the adoption of mechanical time- and labor-saving devices, the
fur dressing industry has made wonderful progress.