Terms of the Fur Industry

Abstract

THE VOCABULARY of the fur industry is notably eclectic, since it draws 1 its terms from many classes of workers in many parts of the world. The present discussion is limited to the terms that are usual among the rankand-Sle workers in New York City.l Here is found the gTeatest fur center in the world, concentrated in an area bounded, roughly speaking, on east and west by Sixth Avenue and Eighth Avenue and on north and south by 30th and 26th streets. In this section are employed about twelve thousand fur workers, laboring in more than 7So shops, firms, or concerns of varying size, -in the processing, manufacturing, and wholesaling phases of the industry. In round numbers it is estimated that this activity accounts for three fourths of all production in the field in America. Let us begin with some of the trade terms that are commonly applied to skins and pelts generally. The time of year in which a pelt is taken is an important point. The best developed fur fiber is usually found on those pelts which are taken in midwinter, usually described as firsts, prime peltries, or full-furred. If the peltries are taken before they have reached the prime stage, they are said to be early-caught, and in some cases this ensures a better color tone to the pelt. In some instances, furriers employ the terms falls or autumns to designate pelts taken in this season. Freshly skinned furs are often spoken of as green peltries. Animals taken after the winter has passed have pelts in which the fur fiber is thin or shedding. Such furs are generally known as late-caught, and their condition said to be springy or, if very poor quality, overspringy. There is a wide variety of differentiating characteristics which furs exhibit in regard to quality. If the skin is of a tough, rather heavy quality, it is said to be bucky. An animal's coat of fur has a sheen or luster if it was in good health and taken at the most favorable season of the year. Female furs which have encased fatty deposits of the mammary glands for nursing young are frequently called milchy or milkey. If a pelt is unduly stiff or of parchment-l'ike quality rather than pliable, it is denominated shelly. A soft-pelted skin is thin and pliable. A thick or heavy pelt