Dog fur

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  Dog fur (China, Korea)

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Dog fur was also used in Central Europe until the beginning of the 20th century. Since 2009 they have been banned from marketing, importing and exporting in the European Union .

Asian pelts have always come to the world market almost exclusively, mostly from China, Mongolia and Korea . The products made from the skins, known in the tobacco shops as Chinese dogs, were offered as Gae Wolf pelts, previously also known as Sobaki, both Eastern names for dogs. Asiatic jackal was also one of the earlier names for pet fur that avoided the word dog.

The skins of the dingo , a feral Australian domestic dog breed, did not appear in the international tobacco trade .

History, trade

In the Middle Ages, the processing of dog fur was ostracized, the dog skin tanner was a dishonest profession. If a furrier tanned or processed a dog's fur, even if he deliberately killed a dog, he was also declared dishonest and excluded from the guild, he was no longer allowed to practice his profession, although the guilds hardly had the opportunity to overlook this misconduct. If they tolerated such a colleague in their city, they were threatened with a boycott of all surrounding guilds, which meant that they were no longer allowed to offer their goods at other fairs, that journeymen would not be able to access them and that no more furriers' sons from the city would be accepted for further training . In summary, the very existence of the town's furrier trade was at stake. At the beginning of the 18th century the Wroclaw guild excluded one of their masters for processing dog fur. An expert opinion obtained from the Leipzig furriers, however, criticized this as completely inadequate and no longer up-to-date: "This is how you make mugs out of dog fur that even noble people used to wear". But even in 1731, the German Reichstag still felt compelled to declare in its Reich Decree of 1731, Section 13: Processing of doghides by the tanners must not be made the subject of punishment. Likewise, no craftsman should be considered dishonest who throws a dog or a cat to death or beats or drowns, "yes, only touches a carrion or the like".

In 1925 Emil Brass wrote : “In the general public it is spoken with a certain contempt that furriers also use 'dog skins' to make fur. That is now very exaggerated. By and large, only Chinese dog fur is used, and these are mainly used for blankets ”. Brass also writes there: “ Dogs are eaten by poor Chinese , and you can sometimes see the animals hanging out in Chinese markets, but preferably in southern China. The fact that they are a Chinese delicacy and that they are particularly fattened, as various travel writers claim, belongs to the field of fairy tales, in which literature is so rich ”. Even so, it's still an issue, see dog meat .

According to the Byzantine lexicon Suda , Kynee was to be understood as a simple headgear for the rural population, which was previously also made from dog fur. In the Feldmeilen-Vorderfeld settlement (Canton of Zurich), dogs may even have been mainly kept for fur or leather, according to Julika Renger's explanations. As evidence, "fine cut marks" created by the skinning of the dogs are given, which have already been discovered on young animal bones in this settlement. However, time and again was clothing made of dog fur as rather indelicate, the Greek War writer Myron of Priene mentioned (third century BC...): "The helots bey the Lacedẩmoniern insonderheit had to insult hats from dog skins and wild Churen bear".

Chest ornament with dog fur trim ( Pacific , between 1768 and 1780)

The Hawaiians and the New Zealand Maoris regarded dogs as precious possessions. The Polynesians valued dogs not only for their meat, but also for their hair, teeth, bones, and fur. Dogskin coats were the most precious heirlooms of the Maori chiefs.

In 1841 Brockhaus noted that despite the widespread use of domestic dogs, the skins were hardly usable: “Most of the poodle and pointed skins are still found, the former from Denmark. The most expensive are those from the Siberian Spitz ( var. Sibiricus Gm. ), Especially the black ones ; the hair is very long. ”A later mention of an essential processing of the fur of European domestic dog breeds does not seem to be known. In 1852, the author of a specialist fur book confirmed that dog fur is generally not processed into tobacco products and therefore does not appear in the tobacco trade. Only occasionally does it happen that the owner of a dog has a blanket or a pair of warm winter boots made from the fur of the killed animal. In 1911, the use of certain breeds as rugs with naturalized heads is mentioned ( St. Bernard , Newfoundland ). To a small extent, fine-haired skins have also been dyed or processed in a sheared state, but never on a larger scale. The particularly strong dog leather was used much more frequently for bag work . Pants, suspenders, lower quality gloves and wallets could be made from them.

The skins that were exported to America in large numbers were initially generally made into warm work jackets for forest and farm workers, while the lower qualities continued into the 1930s. The better ones now served as trimmings for inexpensive women's clothing. They were colored black, and occasionally brown, as the dyeing technique progressed, other colors followed. Only a small percentage of wolf-colored pelts was left natural.

Maori with a cloak made of dog fur (1839)

At the beginning of the 20th century, single-skin "dogmats" (90 × 40 centimeters), two-skin "dogrugs" (about 170 × 50 centimeters) and four-skin "dogrobes" came from China, the latter being mainly made from young animal skins, the so-called puppies, they went exclusively to America. The skins were tanned in Manchuria and made into blankets. These fur panels were made entirely of piebald and light colored fur. They were mostly sorted into about 50 percent black, 25 percent yellow and 25 percent gray. For blankets the yellow and gray were preferred, for trimmings the prima quality, the so-called “furriers” (furrier skins) of the black variety, was quite suitable. The black ones, which were very shiny and compact, were traded a lot in England; in Germany they were less known. Before World War I, dog fur tulips , actually sheepskin pelts , were very fashionable in Russia. Many tablets were also delivered to the USA. In addition to the Manchurian dog skins, the “Newchwang dogskins”, many common street dog skins came on the market at the beginning of the 20th century. They were significantly shorter-haired.

The main collection points for fur from Manchuria were the cities of Harbin and Mukden . In 1925, the Berlin tobacco shop Brass named the "Hsinchee" skins as the best. They are only a little smaller than the Newchwang dogs and also only slightly shorter in the hair and were therefore good to use for blankets. “Wonks”, also “Chow Wonks”, was the name of the common Chinese domestic dog that was quite suitable for fur. They were also described as being somewhat smaller and the hair not so thick and shorter; however, they were often unusable because of the mange ; the poor ate the meat and made blankets out of the skins. The next qualities were the flat "Tientsin" and the " Hankows " of even lower quality. In 1931 a Leipzig tobacco shop reported that dog fur and dog fur blankets, mainly manufactured in the Chinese provinces of Newchang and Kalgan, were mostly exported to America, but that there was little interest in European trade. The best skins came from Korea and Manchuria, the best Manchurian variety was Ho-Lung-Kiang from the Amur border. The next varieties were the Kirin , Fengtien , Tientsin and Honan , "which are nice and flat and stuffy". On both sides of the Liaotung peninsula in the main region of the Fengtien attack, in the city of Newchang, the skins were collected and finished in the tanneries of the city of Chinchow for export to Europe and America, the dressing of Chinchow was considered the best Chinese dog fur preparation . Korean skins mostly went to Japan, where they were trimmed. A part was worked for domestic needs as glove trimmings, the rest was also mainly exported to America.

A brief increase in the attack of dog fur occurred when Mustafa Kemal had the " pariah dogs of Constantinople " killed on an island in the area. A French company recycled these skins by using them to point skins to imitate silver foxes .

The highly Nordic dog breeds with their appealing colors and drawings also have beautiful and quite usable fur. However, the furs were largely consumed for themselves by the natives who kept these animals , i.e. the Eskimo , Sami , Tungus and Kamchadals . While a part made of reindeer fur often only lasted one or two winters until it was worn down to the point that it was unsuitable, a durability of at least four years was assumed for dog fur . Another advantage is that dog fur does not absorb moisture well. Eskimo dogs , slightly larger than a sheepdog, come in different colors, such as white, black or wolf gray, especially the deep black, fine, dense and long-haired skins were also used for trimmings and trimmings in the fur industry. The Kamchadals were considered the best variety. While dog fur was underestimated in most areas, the old inhabitants of the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Itelmen , used it to make their festive clothing, which was more valuable to them than sable. The question: “Where were you when I and my ancestors already wore dog fur? What were you wearing then? ”The other Siberian peoples only used dog fur as trimmings or trimmings.

Different peoples have made magnificent state and holiday clothes from dog fur since ancient times. The inhabitants also made mittens and blankets out of them. Of the European domestic dogs, only Russian, on average of very low quality, were used in large quantities for furs, and even that almost only locally for peasant furs and the like. Brass only considered two wild dogs to be useful for fur purposes, the red dog ( Canis alpinus ) from Manchuria and the one from southern Eastern Siberia.

When long-haired pelts were increasingly fashionable in the 1970s, furs made from East Asian dog fur, especially from Korea , came on the market for a few years in the Federal Republic under names such as “Sobaki”, “Asian jackal” or Gaewolf . In 1978 the German tobacco goods association pointed out that under no circumstances should the skins be traded under the sole designation "Wolf". He recommended that its members use the term "Gae-Wolf" used in Russian auctions.

The article was very difficult to sort because, as they say, “a dog from every village” was usually delivered. The size varied significantly, as did the abundance of hair, which ranged from very sparse to woolly (Chow-Chow-like) fur. The colors also scattered from creamy white, over yellowish, reddish, brownish and black (uni) or in the mentioned colors black and spotted. The raw skins are delivered open, not peeled off round.

The airbag of the Bohemian bagpipe is also traditionally made from dog fur. The stigmatization of dog fur has increasingly led to a turn to goat fur in recent decades, but instruments with air tanks made from dog fur are still being used. It should be noted that no breeding animals are slaughtered for this purpose, but the skins are used without exception from deceased animals with the consent of the owner.

In 2002, the German fur trade associations signed a voluntary waiver of the trade in dog fur and domestic cat fur for their members in consideration of the ongoing discussion in western countries (together with the world fur association IFF - International Fur Federation (at the time "IFTF" )).
Since December 31, 2008, Regulation (EC) No. 1523/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of December 11, 2007 has prohibited the placing on the market, importing and exporting of dog fur and products containing such fur in and from the community; Exceptions can be approved. The implementation in Germany is regulated by the Animal Products Trade Prohibition Act with powers of intervention for police authorities and threats of fines.

"Gaewolf" jacket (around 1975?)

Men's Black Chinese Dog Skin Coat with Nutria Collar and Cuffs (USA, 1906)

processing

It is said about tanning in 1891 that dog skins are easy to prepare , because of the enormous fat content they only have to be washed well. In 1925, Hyman Stein of the Fur Dying Corp. tobacco dye works. Black dog fur was so much bleached that it could be dyed to imitate more valuable types of fur such as wolf or fox. His further development of the process made it possible to color other types of fur in other attractive shades. In the 1930s, skunks fashion was particularly popular, so the skins were dyed dark brown skunks.

The use of the rather heavy domestic dog fur in modern fashion mostly happened for women’s jackets and much less also for women’s coats, the flatter qualities also for men’s fur . Because of the low value of the pelts, they were usually processed in a relatively uncomplicated manner, simply by placing them next to each other for jackets and additional stacking for coats. The labor-intensive, so-called omission , the lengthening of the skins by cutting and sewing was rarely used. Occasionally the pelts were cut in half and optically separated from each other by inserting leather strips ( galons ), which made the fur look a little less “wild”.

Numbers and facts

• The Klondike gold rush began in 1896 . During this time, dogmats made 25 to 30 marks in wholesale. According to Brass , a total of about 100,000 Manchurian dog skins were on the market before 1911 , in 1925 Brass stated 100,000 to 200,000 Manchurian dog skins, the unit price for single-skin dogmats was "previously 3 marks" and for double-skin dogrugs about 10 marks. In 1930 the police headquarters in Leipzig reported the theft of 60 "Klondykefellen" in the newspaper Der Rauchwarenmarkt . It was not explained which animal species the skins came from.
• In 1925, when they were rated very highly, black “Furriers” of the prima quality cost up to 15 marks each.
• Status 1936, China: Chinese original deliveries of dog fur were offered sorted according to quality and color, as well as separated according to fur and "mats" ("mats", boards). Most of the ranges contained 50 percent “Firsts”, first quality skins, 40 percent “Seconds” and 10 percent “Thirds”; or 40 percent “Firsts”, 40 percent “Seconds” and 20 percent “Thirds”, the trade mark for this was 40/40/20. None of these ranges contained more than 10 percent skins that were so excellent that their overall quality could be described as “furriers” or “supers”.

Black skins, "Blacks", were offered in their own assortments, as were the colored "Colors", including all others, whether they were spotted or had other shades of color. Color deviations were usually reddish.

The coat size did not matter, the "mats" were usually the same size. Raw hides were not exported in large quantities, as dressing was significantly cheaper in China than elsewhere. Prepared skins that were not pre-made into bars usually had no size information, but the only medium-sized or small skins were sorted one or two quality levels lower.

• 1936, quote: “ Mongolia and Manchuria have so far carried out significant exports of dog fur, mainly to European marketplaces. Manchukuo alone exported at least a million dog fur a year. The main assembly point in Manchuria was Chinehno [=  Jinzhou ?], 60% of the foreign deliveries of dog fur were collected here, 25% of the total export went via Mukden , the rest was spread over the collecting areas around Hsingking and Chenchiatun . [...] The hides from Mongolia and Jehol achieved the highest prices , while the hides from Manchuria were the least valuable. "
• As of 1949, Russia: No specific provenances are listed in the Russian Smoking Goods Standard. The "Sabaki" were only sorted according to natural characteristics:

I. variety (full-haired), a) shooting time in winter, b) long, even hair on the back and sides, c) clean leather.

II. Variety (short-haired), the same characteristics as variety I, but the hair is short, even and soft.

They are differentiated according to their color

a) black, b) monochrome, c) colored

III. Variety (half-haired), a) Hunting time in autumn, short thin hair - also short-haired with coarse hair.

The export of dog fur from Manchuria averaged one million pieces annually. The main hub was Hangzhou with around 60 percent, followed by Shenyang with 25 to 30 percent. The best furs came from Mongolia and cost 5 to 8 yuan, those from southern Manchuria around 20 cents.

1926–1927 : In 1926, 109,019 dog fur came from Russia, a year later there were 105,621 fur.

1936 (publication). There are two regional groups of Chinese dog fur, those from Manchuria and those from Mongolia. The other subdivisions are named after the collection points along the two railway lines of the Chinese Eastern Railway and the South Manchurian Railway .

Manchuria: Hailar (northernmost, best quality), Tsitsihar (lower quality), Mukden, Chinchow , Newchwang .

Mongolia: Usually they came from the area along the border from where they went to Tientsin. In Mongolia, killing dogs was largely forbidden for religious reasons, which is why only small amounts were killed at the border. They had the woolly structure of older, unsheared lambs ("overgrown"), the hair was soft, the pelts small and flat.

Chinese sections: Chihli : Tientsin , Shuntefu .

• 1956, trade classification of salted Swedish dog fur :

These skins are made to measure.

The individual percentages for the various sizes must be specified in the contract, e.g. B.% 60-80 cm; % 80-100 cm and% 100 cm upwards. In general, the skins usually have thicker fat and meat appendages.

Trigger error:

Slightly sleek approx. 15-20%, more sleek approx. 5-10%.

Holes in the sides approx. 30-50%, holes in the core approx. 30-40%.

A certain quality is usually not guaranteed.

• 1956 Commercial Classification of Salted English Dog Pelts :

The goods were traded to measure in 1956, mostly 60 cm and up, or 90 percent 60 cm and 10 percent 50 to 60 cm upwards. The skins were very unequal in shape and size.

• Before 1988 , Chinese dog boards measuring 26 × 52 inches (66 × 133 centimeters) were available as dogskin plates gou pee (or Gubi ) in German wholesalers. Also were fur piece panels , among other things, dog legs, delivered.

See also

Commons : dog fur  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Commons : Dogskin Apparel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Dog skin tanner
• Other types of fur
• fur
• Furrier

Two dog fur and fur necklaces made from dog and cat fur on a Chinese market (2008)

supporting documents

Ushanka , a Russian ear flap cap, dog fur (2016)

1. ↑ Art. 3 Regulation (EC) No. 1523/2007
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Arthur Samet: Pictorial Encyclopedia of Furs . Arthur Samet (Book Division), New York 1950, p. 225. (Eng.)
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Christian Franke, Johanna Kroll: Jury Fränkel ’s Rauchwaren-Handbuch 1988/89 . 10th, revised and expanded edition. Rifra-Verlag, Murrhardt 1989, p. 128 .
4. ^ ^{A b} Fritz Wiggert: Origin and development of the Old Silesian furrier trade with special consideration of the furrier guilds in Breslau and Neumarkt . Breslauer Kürschnerinnung (Ed.), 1926, pp. 59–60, book cover and table of contents .
5. Jump up ↑ Werner Danckert: Dishonest people - The perpetrated professions , chapter Schinder (dog skin). Pp. 167-173 and Hundshautgerber. Pp. 181–188, Francke Verlag, Bern / Munich 1963.
6. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Emil Brass : From the realm of fur . 2nd, improved edition. Publishing house of the "Neue Pelzwaren-Zeitung and Kürschner-Zeitung", Berlin 1925, p. 523-527 .
7. ↑ Suda , keyword ᾍδου κυνῆν , Adler number: alpha 510 , Suda-Online ; refers to Suda , keyword Κυνέη , Adler number: kappa 2698 , Suda-Online
8. ↑ Julika Renger: Social debates about the economic and psychosocial use of the dog from 1870 to 1945 in Germany . Inaugural dissertation . Free University of Berlin, Berlin 2008, pp. 108–109.
9. ↑ D. Christ. Wilh. Jakob Gatterer: Treatise on the fur trade, in particular the British . Schwan and Götz, Mannheim 1794, p. 75. Primary source: Myron von Priene: beym Athenæus . XIV. 29.
10. ↑ Marvin Harris: Taste and Reluctance: The Riddles of Food Taboos . Klett-Cotta, 2005, pp. 195-196.
11. ^ FA Brockhaus : General Encyclopedia of Sciences and Arts. Published by JS Ed and IG Gruber, Leipzig 1841. Third Section OZ, keyword “Fur”.
12. ↑ Paul Cubaeus, Alexander Tuma: The whole of Skinning . 2nd, revised edition. A. Hartleben's Verlag, Leipzig 1911, p. 39-40 .
13. ^ Friedrich Lorenz: Rauchwareenkunde . 4th edition. People and Knowledge, Berlin 1958, p. 85 .
14. ↑ Alexander Lachmann: The fur animals. A manual for furriers and tobacconists . Baumgärtner's Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1852, pp. 160–161.
15. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Max Bachrach: Fur. A Practical Treatise. Prentice-Hall, New York 1936, pp. 33, 246-250. (engl.).
16. ↑ Richard König : An interesting lecture (report on the trade in Chinese, Mongolian, Manchurian and Japanese tobacco products). In: The fur industry. No. 47, 1952, p. 49.
17. ↑ Marcus Petersen: Petersen's Fur Traders Lexicon . Petersen & Chandless, New York 1920, pp. 18 .
18. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Alexander Tuma: Pelz-Lexikon. Fur and rough goods . 1st edition. tape XVIII . Alexander Tuma, Vienna 1949, p. 115, keyword "dogs" .
19. ↑ Aladar Kölner (tobacco shop): Chinese, Manchurian and Japanese fur skins. In: Rauchwarenkunde - Eleven lectures from the goods science of the fur trade. Verlag Der Rauchwarenmarkt, Leipzig 1931, p. 104.
20. ↑ "Le.": CL Motz on the lace of fur skins. In: The tobacco market. No. 7, Leipzig, February 14, 1936, p. 5.
21. ↑ Hans Damm: The furs of the Eskimos and Siberian peoples . In: The fur trade. XX. Volume 9–10, Hermelin Verlag Paul Schöps, Leipzig / Berlin 1950, p. 19.
22. ↑ Fritz Schmidt : The book of the fur animals and fur . FC Mayer, Munich 1970.
23. ↑ Uniform designation of the Asian fur articles . In: Winckelmann Pelzmarkt No. 429, March 10, 1978, p. 7. Primary source: real relations .
24. ↑ Paul Cubaeus: The whole of Skinning. Thorough textbook with everything you need to know about merchandise, finishing, dyeing and processing of fur skins . 1st edition. A. Hartleben's, Vienna / Pest / Leipzig 1891.
25. ↑ Friedrich Kramer: From fur animals to fur . 1st edition. Arthur Heber & Co, Berlin 1937, p. 64 .
26. ↑ Emil Brass : From the realm of fur . 1st edition. Publishing house of the "Neue Pelzwaren-Zeitung and Kürschner-Zeitung", Berlin 1911, p. 435-438 .
27. ↑ Fur theft. 60 Klondy skins stolen. 2nd December 1930.
28. ^ "-R": The Far East as Europe's fur supplier. In: The tobacco market. No. 3, January 17, 1936, p. 4.
29. ^ Kurt Nestler: Tobacco and fur trade . 1st edition. Max Jänecke Verlagbuchhandlung, Leipzig 1929, p. 92 .
30. ^ ^{A b} John Lahs, Georg von Stering-Krugheim: Handbook on wild skins and pelts . From the company Allgemeine Land- und Seetransportgesellschaft Hermann Ludwig, Hamburg (ed.), Hamburg 1956, pp. 215, 220.