Rabbit fur

Rabbits are not part of a systematic zoological group (Taxon), because there are still some not next to wild and domestic rabbits other closely related species within the family of rabbit called Rabbit. Their skins are sold as rabbit skins in tobacco shops and processed into furs by furriers .

The Middle Low German name Kanin , which is still in use in the fur industry, is the original name for the rabbit. It comes from the old French conin from the Latin word cuniculus and is ultimately probably of Iberian origin.

Rabbit hair was originally used to make stiff or soft felt hats for women and men. It was not until around 1900 that the hides were also used for clothing. Since then, rabbit fur, together with sheepskin, has been one of the most processed raw materials in skinning as an inexpensive fur .

The durability coefficient for wild and domestic rabbit fur was estimated to be 20 to 30 percent. In fact, the resilience of domestic rabbits, especially the so-called furrier qualities, and here especially the Rex variety and for good, shorn hides, should be significantly better. On the other hand, a well-known specialist book wrote in 1986, long before the wave of small braided rabbit imports from China began: “By crossing them with other breeds, it was possible to breed Rex rabbits of different colors. However, the skins are not very durable. ”With a classification of fur animals into the fineness classes silky, fine, medium-fine, coarse and hard from 1955, rabbit hair, also very undifferentiated, is classified as medium-fine.

Various domestic rabbit skins, natural and dyed (old display board, 2009 at a Frankfurt rabbit skin dealer)

history

As a Phoenician in 1100 BC BC landed on the Pyrenees Peninsula, they encountered huge numbers of wild rabbits. Until the conquest of Spain (133 BC), the animal was still unknown to the Romans, but soon the meat of the animals that were imported and kept in enclosures was considered a delicacy there, especially that of the young animals. Wild rabbits were released on Mediterranean islands, Italy, Madeira, the Azores and the Canary Islands. It was not until the 12th century that they came to England and Ireland. In England in 1532 the gray rabbits, which were regarded as inferior, were seen as suitable for servants and paid yeomen. For the English furriers, besides lambskin, rabbit fur was the main item of their profession in the 16th century. Black rabbit skins, about twelve times as expensive as the gray ones, and other rare varieties, such as "black speckled with white hair", were considered fine enough to be worn at the English court. Henry VIII (1491–1547) wore a rabbit fur lining in a rust-brown velvet coat. However, rabbit fur was mainly used as a warming material, less to show it to the outside.

Rabbits came to Germany at the beginning of the 15th century. Today it ranges from the Atlantic to the Black Sea coast . Various breeds of domestic rabbits existed as early as the 16th century and were bred in French monasteries, among other places. Originally only bred for meat, they have also gained importance as fur animals since the 17th century.

They were also introduced on other continents. The first animals came to Australia in 1790. The Englishman Autin ensured the final distribution in 1859 by releasing 24 animals as game in the state of Victoria because of the limited hunting opportunities. Due to the lack of natural enemies, the offspring multiplied so quickly that they were quickly perceived as a nuisance to be combated. From 1864, before the danger was recognized, the rabbits spread very quickly to New Zealand . However, for a time, rabbit fur was a very important export item for Australia.

In 1762 it was said about white rabbit skins that the finest came from Poland, with which one lined the clothes and covered the lapels with them, and sleeves were also made from them. The gray rabbits made a "common" (ordinary, simple) lining. Blue rabbit skins were imported via England, also for cuffs and sleeves and for hats. In the beginning of the 18th century, invoices from Anna Maria von der Pfalz that are still available contain several invoices for velvet gloves with "English rabbit food", with the abundant consumption of five rabbits per pair.

Certificate of acceptance for 1 rabbit skin from the "VE Kombinat Aufverarbeitung Animal Raw Materials and Fur Animal Production" of the GDR, quality class II, 6 Marks, and the right to buy back prepared rabbit skins amounting to 5% of the value of the goods delivered

The rabbit fur is well suited for making imitations of more valuable types of fur . It takes color easily, otherwise treats well in the hair, looks great, and is cheap. In times of war and inflation in particular , the use and, at the same time, the progress of German rabbit finishing increased considerably. Above all, it was the fur finishing company Adolf Petzold who endeavored to create a replacement for the French rabbits who had failed during the First World War. It was so successful that refined rabbit fur in the Leipzig area became a "world success". The German rabbits were now qualitatively far superior to the French; a head start that lasted at least until World War II. It was reported: "In the preview, the seller had to tear open the coat because the lady only took the coat if it was made from real Petzold rabbit fur." In 1928 the share of rabbit fur in world fur production was 57 percent, of the approximately 350 million skins that came on the market, 200 million rabbit fur.

While fur sales in the western Federal Republic of Germany reached an unprecedented high during the time of the division of Germany, there was a shortage economy in the GDR for this trade article too. A large part of the furs processed by the furriers there came from the jackets and coats of relatives in the West that had been discarded. One of the few fur materials available in the GDR without foreign currency was the fur of rabbits, which were mainly kept by private individuals for meat self-sufficiency. However, this resource, which was still scarce, was managed by the state through allocations to the furriers.

Rabbit jacket, braided (Chinese work, 2008)
Rabbit coat with fantasy print (Düsseldorf 2012)
Melissa Joan Hart with a rabbit jacket printed on the leather side (New York, 2010)
Women's and men's jumpers made of napped rabbit fur (Düsseldorf 2014)

Wild rabbit

Model Freja Beha Erichsen with a wild rabbit lining (Denmark, 2007)

Rabbit fur in relief with phantom colored rabbit fur (Münster, 2015)

The European wild rabbit differs from the European brown hare in its smaller size , 35 to 45 cm, tail length 6 cm and shorter limbs. The “curly” leather side is also mentioned as a slight distinguishing feature from the tanned rabbit fur. The fur of the wild rabbit is called wild rabbit in the tobacco shop .

The coat color , collectively referred to as earth gray, is more or less gray on top; the underside including the throat and the inside of the legs are white. On the sides of the head, on the neck and neck, yellowish to rust-red tones mix in. The tips of the ears have a black border. The tail is black on top and white on the bottom. The eyes are outlined in white. In some areas the yellowish-red tint is more pronounced. Occasionally there are stronger color deviations (blue-gray, fox-red, black, white, piebald). It is certain that such mutations exist, but any of them could be domestic rabbits that have escaped.

The stiff guard hairs are 2 to 3 cm long. They have a thickening in the upper third. The dense woolen hair is short, very thin, curved in a wave shape, but not curled. The guide hairs are very long and bristly, sometimes slightly curved. There are around 136 hairs per square millimeter.

The coat change takes place mainly in spring and autumn and takes about six to eight weeks. However, smaller portions can also be changed over the course of the year. The spring hair change begins in the stomach, progressing towards the back, the autumn hair change runs in the opposite direction. The winter fur is denser, the number of wool hairs is increased during this time.

Huge amounts of raw fur were exported annually from the rabbits, which occur in abundance in Australia , at first only because of the hair, as a "cutter" for the hat industry, and later also for fur purposes. Since the shelf life of the "wild rabbit" is quite short, the inexpensive but mostly heavily haired rabbit jackets of the 1960s and 1970s unjustifiably discredited the entire type of fur, including domestic rabbits. While for a few decades the rabbit-gray wild rabbit skins were rarely offered for fur purposes, they have been increasingly used again for stocking purposes and small parts since around 2010.

Australian rabbit skins were shipped by weight, in pressed bales of 400 to 600 pounds each.

Children's muffs and scarves from rabbit fur (New York, 1910)

The best varieties came from New Zealand , New South Wales and Tasmania , followed by Victoria and Melbourne , which are of equal quality but smaller. The skins from South and West Australia mostly went to the cutting industry. It is mainly caught in winter when the fur is best.

The ranges were very precise and divided into many degrees. The auction was mostly in larger Australian cities, the main auctions took place in Sydney for New South Wales goods and in Melbourne for Victoria goods. The actual main auctions, however, were in London six times a year. The New Zealand and Tasmanian goods were not sold in the country itself, but instead went directly to London and America in refrigerated ships.

The trading centers of Leipzig, London and New York were decisive for the furrier goods. New York preferred the hard-leather skins, the so-called bucks , while France, Belgium and Germany tended to buy the medium to thin-leather goods. Bucks , in English " bucks ", does not mean the male animals in the fur trade, but the large, thick-leather, also known as "bucky" skins. Accordingly, the English “ doe ” does not mean the female, but a thin, leathery, soft fur.

The auctions of the individual traditions showed the following terms:

New Zealands: Prime Winter Does (female), First Winter Does, Prime and First Winter Bucks (male), Second Winter Does, Second Winter Bucks, Late Winter and Outgoing Does, Late Winter and Outgoing Bucks, First Incoming and Early Winter Does, First Incoming and Early Winter Bucks, Late Autumn (Mixed Pelts), Early and Dawning Autumn, Incoming an Early Winter (Spotty), Springs, Autumn Rocks, Light, Spring and Summer Rocks, First Broken (Winter), Second Broken, Summer Broken , Milky (fair to good), Milky (medium to poor), Half to three-quarter grown, Kittens and Smalls, Black and Silver Gray (1st Winter), Black and Silver Gray (2nd Winter), Fawns
Sydney's: Prime Winter (Prime Pelts), First Winter, First Winter (Bucks), Second Winter, Second Winter (Bucks), Late Winter and First Outgoing, Late Winter (Bucks), First Incoming, First Incoming (Bucks), Second Incoming , Autumn, Early Autumn and Autumn Racks, Light Rocks (Summers), Greasy and Pelty Racks, Glovers (clear pelted to slightly spotty), Milky (Winters), Milky (Incomings and Outgoing), Milky (Spring, Summer and Autumn), Inferior and damaged (Spring and Summer), Half to three-quarter grown, Kittens and Suckers, Buck, Fawn
Melbournes and Tasmanians: Prime Winter, First Winter, First Winter (Bucks), First Winter (Butchers), Second Winter, Second Winter (Bucks), Late Winter and First Outgoing, Late Winter and First Outgoing (Bucks), First Incoming, Second Incoming, Autumn, Light Rocks, Greasy Racks, Milky (fair to good), Milky (medium to poor), Inferior and damaged, Half to three-quarter grown, Kittens and Suckers, Fawn

Butchers were slaughterhouse skins ; they were traded without the sides. Offspring areas , also mid-growth or undergrown areas, are more or less large areas of shorter hair in the coat, a remnant of the seasonal hair change. On the raw fur, which is delivered with the hair side in, they can also be recognized from the leather side by the dark, grayish or bluish spots. The Australian wild rabbit was sorted according to the number and size of the offspring spots. Femellen is an old quality name for female Australian rabbit fur.

At the London auctions the skins were divided into:

Fully seasoned = winter goods, weight for 100 pieces 4 kg
Incoming = late autumn
Outgoing = early spring

and further differentiated into Bucks (males), Does (females), Suckers (milk rabbits), Kittens (little mice = particularly small), Racks (short-haired, squat varieties).

In the past few decades, hardly any Australian rabbit fur was offered. They are shorn almost exclusively for hair recovery. In earlier years, however, up to 100 million pelts were exported annually. Franke / Kroll said in 1988: “It cannot be ruled out that in the future considerable quantities of rabbit fur will again be delivered for the fur industry. Fur animal skins are subject to strong fluctuations in fashion. When a type of fur such as longhair fur and the like a. Foxes, neglected for years, the present shows that hardly enough longhair fur can be procured to meet the demand ”.

Large, dense winter pelts of the European wild rabbits were temporarily used for fur farming to a small extent. According to Larisch, around 1900 only about 3 percent of the pelts went to the tobacco trade, 97 percent went to the hair and felt hat industry.

The skins are delivered in bag form, with the hair inside.

American Washoe Indian women work a rabbit blanket (1935?)
Mary Lowe, 70 years old, with a blanket of 100 rabbit skins (according to the caption) (1937)

Cottontail Rabbit

Domestic rabbit

Leopard-printed rabbit coat (GDR, 1953)

For a detailed description of the different breeds, see → domestic rabbits , about rabbit colors also → genetics of domestic rabbits .

For images of different types and finishes, see → at the end of this article .

From the house rabbit, also known as "tame rabbit" in the tobacco industry, many breeds have emerged through centuries of breeding, which serve as suppliers of meat, wool and fur. Appropriate breeding selection can significantly influence the value of the skins. The most important requirement of the fur trade for a good rabbit fur is that of the density and evenness of the hair on the various parts of the body, also on the often poorer quality sides, the dewlap. The lower-quality summer skins are called "hollow" in the trade.

Rabbit breeding became established in Germany after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and 1871. The soldiers returning from France got to know rabbit meat there and rightly hoped for advantages from breeding the undemanding animals.

Kanin has had an important position in the fur industry for a long time; it is one of the most popular and inexpensive types of fur, is soft in the hair and particularly suitable for finishing and coloring.

Fur and leather structure

Usually three hair types can be distinguished:

Cover hairs (graver hairs ) 3 to 5 cm in length and 12 to 45 µm in diameter. They are relatively hard and have an air-filled canal running through them.

Guard hairs about 3 cm long and 25–30 µm. They are soft and curled in the lower part. Inside there is no continuous canal, but a strand of air bubbles connected by medullary cells.

Woolen hair 1.5–3 cm long and 12–13 µm, curled and very elastic. The thicker the woolen hair and the stronger the frizz, the more valuable the fur.

Long-haired rabbits, like the angora rabbit, have hair up to 25 cm long, 92 percent of which is wool.

Expressed short-haired breeds are the Rex rabbits. Rex skins have 10 to 20 mm long, not wavy and very dense woolen hair and only very few fine guard hairs that hardly protrude beyond the undercoat.

The leather of the domestic rabbit has an average thickness of 0.7 to 1 millimeter; the skin of the male animals is usually thicker than that of the female. A pronounced muscle fiber network in the lower third of the dermis can be regarded as a certain histological characteristic .

Hair change

The hair change takes place essentially as with the wild rabbits twice a year. It lasts 1 to 1½ months in spring and autumn. In some parts of the body there is a hair change at other times. In the first year of life, the hair is changed three times. Hair grows more slowly and partially loosens during pregnancy.

Breeds and breeds

In general, a distinction is made between giant and middle races . These include, among others, English rams with lop ears, 20 cm long, Belgian (with a body length of up to 75 cm), white giants (body length 70 cm), German rams , German giant chicks , blue (gray, white, black) Viennese , Viennese piebalds , Belgian domestic rabbits .

Small breeds are chinchilla rabbits , Feh rabbits, and English piebald rabbits , as well as dwarf rabbits , the ermine rabbits , Chinese rabbits , Japanese rabbits , etc.

Another group are the longhair rabbits , here the Angora rabbit is best known. The very silky hair is spun into fine angora wool , otherwise the fur is not used. Before 1940, attempts were also made in Germany to breed long-haired rabbits with less wool and more guard hair for the fur industry. Straight-haired angora cannin pelts with thick guard hair are less prone to matting, are much more durable in use and also easier to prepare. Blue fox, silver fox, yellow fox, red fox and opossum rabbits emerged. The great expectations that were placed in these developments have not been fulfilled. The hair of these long-haired rabbit breeds turned out to be unsuitable because of its excessive softness and the associated tendency towards matting and hair. In addition, the hair changed by the breeding goal, with its largely uncrimped structure, is unsuitable for wool processing as a possible alternative use. Angora cannin pelts turned out to be unsuitable for shear processing.

The main focus of rabbit breeding is still in Europe today, to what extent there are more recent figures about a presumably increasing number in China for years is unclear. Sport breeding is constantly creating new breeds. Rabbits are kept in particularly large numbers in southern Europe, where the meat is eaten. Most of the European pelts are therefore produced as a by-product in these countries. The attitude is particularly important in France, the value of exports averaged 150 million francs a year before the Second World War. Furs from Burgundy and Brittany were particularly sought after . Rabbit fur came from Spain (mostly white fur of good quality), Italy, Belgium, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Eastern Europe. In Spanish finishing companies, particularly innovative colors, shear patterns and finishing of the leather side are also created. However, the majority of semi-finished goods and ready-made products come to Europe via China; the European pelts are imported frozen by Chinese companies, processed and re-exported.

The requirements for fur processing have changed. In the past, skins were desired that were processed undyed and unsheared, such as white monochrome, blue (Viennese), black or brown breeds (Alaska, Havana, black tears and silver rabbits), today mainly skins with a thick undercoat and short guard hair are preferred. Rex rabbits, which meet these requirements in a special way, were bred from the start so that they would not require any further mechanical processing as far as possible. They are made up in a variety of natural colors and dyes for all conceivable small furs. The breed comes from France, where it was discovered in 1919 by the Abbé Gillet in a farmer. In 1924 this breed came to Germany for the first time, where it immediately attracted considerable attention. Breeding animals soon reached prices of 500 to 1000 Reichsmarks. Not only did the proverbial high rate of reproduction of the animals cause the price to collapse, but fashion also turned away from the material after a while. Around 1940 the Rex rabbit was just a breeding for lovers like other breeds. In 1988 it was still unclear whether the mutation Rex with its newly bred colors would prevail on the fur market.

Jacket with orylag rabbit (2013)

Rabbit meat is traditionally a much eaten dish in France, the fur was only a small additional income for the small and large farmers who breed rabbits. Around 1940, “every village” had its “chineur”, the rabbit fur collector, who passed the fur on to the middleman who did the first sorting. As late as 1970 it is reported that the fur collector made himself noticeable in the country by a trumpet signal in order to buy up the rabbit skins in order to then sell them to wholesalers. Thanks to modern marketing methods, a partial change has taken place: a cultivated form of the Rex rabbit is the orylag rabbit, which has achieved a particularly high price since its appearance on the market and is often traded without the addition of rabbit. The name was protected in 1989 and can only be used with the approval of the agricultural cooperative of breeders d'Orylag for meat and skins from their animals. The French cooperative places particularly high demands on its members in terms of animal welfare, for example particularly large enclosures. In any case, the breeding of the Rex rabbit is more difficult and requires more effort than that of the conventional species. Orylag is currently available in three colors, brown, "beaver" and "chinchilla". The number of heads produced has increased from 2000 in 1992 to 100,000 in 2006.

The Central Association of German Race Rabbit Breeders e. V. has recognized 88 breeds in 370 colors for Germany, whose skins are differently suitable for use (status approx. 2012):

Department I.: Large normal-hair breeds: German giants , gray or other colors - German giants , white - German giant chicks - German rams (rams = rabbits with lop ears)
Department II: Medium Normal hair breeds: Meissner rabbits - Light Large Silver - United Chinchilla - Mecklenburg piebald - English Aries - German wholesale silver - Burgundy - Blue Vienna - Blue Gray Vienna - Black Vienna - White Vienna - Graue Wiener - Blanc de Hotot - New Zealand Red Rabbit - New Zealand White - Great American Sable Rabbit - Californian - Japanese - Rheinische Pinto - Thuringia - Weißgrannen - hare rabbit (physique resembles the hare ) - Alaska - Havana
Department III: Small Normal hair breeds: small check in - separator - German Klein Widder - Small Chinchilla - deilenaar - Marburger Feh - Saxony Gold - Rhoen rabbit - Luxkaninchen - Perlfeh - small silver - English Spot - Dutch - tan rabbit - American Sable Rabbit - Siamese - Schwarzgrannen - Russians - Maroon Lorraine (Brun marron de Lorrain)
Department IV

Refinement and trading

Dyed rabbit boards at the refiner (Germany, 2010)

Queuing for Kanin- Tschapkas .
GDR master furrier Rüdiger in Leipzig received a new allocation of rabbit fur and made earflap hats from it (around 1980)

As long as the rabbit fur was still a mass-produced item in Europe, specialist companies were not only engaged in trade, but also in dressing (tanning) and refining, especially this type of fur, mostly for imitating more valuable pelts. Rabbit finishing received a new, significant impetus with the introduction of the electric clipper. This method, which was developed for the manufacture of velvet, produced a shear effect that was not previously achieved, see also the main article → Pelzveredlung . At the same time, the closed hair surface significantly improved the abrasion resistance.

The resemblance of the rabbit fur to more expensive and rarer types of fur is often extremely great after dressing and coloring. In particular around Leipzig, the European fur center of Brühl, there were tobacco refiners who had been world-famous in the industry for the unique quality of their rabbit finishing since the 1920s. Until then, France had delivered the best finished goods, the second best came from Belgium; Both countries were also the only producers of the seal canine until the First World War . The French skins were dyed to the ground there. Rabbit products only regained increased importance in Germany when the first plucked rabbit fur in light, modern colors, called Ejarrée, came onto the market from France. These large-area skins made a wonderful coat trim. In Germany, the Louis Friedländer company took up the idea of the colored rabbit and dyed huge amounts of long-haired Australian rabbit in bright colors. Large quantities of it were exported as strips to the English clothing industry, where high customs made it difficult to import finished coats.

1956 says for Sealkanin: The color is matt with a tinge of green-gray and easily rubs off; the leather is usually brittle, but there are also good qualities among the French. The leather of the German Seal rabbit is softer and more elastic, the hair base is golden brown, the surface color is glossy black, the skins do not rub off . Only the high-quality finishing, not least by the companies in and around Leipzig, made the rabbit fur one of the most important articles in the fur industry. The results of the chrome line in the leather by the Leipzig refiners after the First World War, to whom we owe the brands Petzold, DKV, Arnold and others, after Marktranstädt had swum in the Franco-Belgian way for a while, had a truly revolutionary effect. Then the Americans and Italians came with their rabbit finishing . For 1934, the Jewish industry reporter Philipp Manes, who was murdered in the concentration camp, wrote in his history of the German fur industry: "Many new colors came out, the leopard and ocelot imitation on rabbit fur and cats conquered the market and became an important export item" . He relates how after World War II, when the Leipzig paint industry was again the world market open, the German Kanin itself with its trade-marks to (the refiner temple on the skins) the most distant countries conquered. When Louis Friedländer, discoverer of the Australian rabbit, brought out his Biberette creation, Leipzig couldn't create enough, this item became so popular . Originally intended as a beaver-like finish, Biberette developed into an independent name for all shorn brown rabbit fur in various shades. As "Biberette", probably a short time before, the similarly refined fur of the American opossum was also on the market. - At the moment, the specialist trade names the Czech Republic as a producer of well- prepared ready -made rabbits (2012).

Public broadcasting began in the German Reich in 1923 with the Berlin radio hour. "Radiokanin", "Wellenkanin" or "Wellin" was a wavy sheared rabbit in the 1920s, which, along with the radio waves that had just emerged, was very much noticed at the time and later hardly appeared. Mostly kept in lighter pastel colors, it resulted in a sought-after trimming fur, but jackets and coats were also made from it. In 1925, a poem in an industry magazine began like this:

“That offended rabbits.

It's like the world is crazy

Wherever you go, wherever you look

You can only see rabbit skins!

At this time the radio wave

Shouldn't one think that possible?

Because what was Kanin years ago,

That doesn't need to be told here

Because every child on earth already knows. "

- satyr. In: Die Felzkonfektion , March 1925

In 1943 another report was made of a moirated rabbit that the Leipzig smokers chemist A. Ginzel developed. In this context it is mentioned that the water resistance of the previous methods was mostly very limited and the pattern looked quite stencil-like. Artificially curled or moiré rabbit fur has been an article in the fur industry to a small extent since then.

At the warehouse of a Frankfurt rabbit fur trader (2009)

The most well-known product among consumers was Sealkanin until after the Second World War . With the beginning of the economic miracle in the Federal Republic of Germany and the turning of lower incomes to higher quality furs, interest in Kanin quickly waned. Sealfell had also gone out of fashion, so there was no longer any need for the inexpensive replacement material Sealkanin.

Even after the Second World War, the name “Seal electric” was common in the tobacco industry for black, sheared rabbit fur in addition to Sealkanin. The first machine for removing the upper hair was built in America by the Hadbavny company. Instead of today's cutting blades, it had an electrically heated platinum wire that seared the hair. The procedure had not proven itself, but the name Seal electric remained for a long time. With the name Sealkanin , which originated earlier, the trade still occasionally refers to sheared, black-colored rabbit fur. French rams and Belgian giants , among others, are best suited for this . Since Sealkanin was initially seen as a substitute for real seal fur, the fur was not simply dyed black for a while after the war. The leather of the real seal fur does not tolerate dyeing well, so the black color was applied from the hair side with a brush, the under hair remained reddish (see → fur seal under seal fur ). This was imitated with rabbit fur by first dying the skins yellow-brown, later wine-red, and then dying the upper hair black with a brush. Little by little, the consumer lost the knowledge of what a real seal skin looks like and the skin was dyed blue-black in the first dyeing process. The fur blanket was then given color, stretch and shine through a repeated aniline black line. The almost identical color of the upper and lower hair had the advantage for the end user that it considerably reduced the visibility of abrasion damage, particularly on the edges of the rabbit clothing.

Hunters with Unstretched Rabbits
(New Zealand, 1929)
Rabbit skins stretched to dry after home slaughter (Czech Republic, 2010)

All skins with a blue background are best suited for brown-colored Biberette rabbit fur. The name for black-colored, unsheared rabbit fur was Skunkskanin . Dyeing on lighter shades is best done with white skins, such as white rams , white giants or white wieners .

A special finishing effect is created with today's technical possibilities, in that the undercoat is colored in a different color than the upper hair; if the ends of the hair are almost white, the resulting colors are labeled with the addition of “snowtop” . If the different colored hair tips are partially sheared off in patterns or processed with lasers , impressive three-dimensional structures result with the appropriate colors.

Only very dense hairs can keep each other upright given the fineness of the hair. The fur of the French and German rams is considered to be the best quality , followed by the Viennese , French silver , Rhenish piebald , Japanese , Thuringian , chinchilla , Havana , Alaska .

The following requirements are made of good rabbit fur :

As large as possible with good quality
The animal must have been old enough, skins of young animals wear out faster
Uniform color of the natural fur
As many identical skins of the same type as possible

The basic forms of rabbit finishing are:

Upper hair (long hair) rabbit
sheared or machined rabbit fur
Plucked rabbit fur, formerly also called Ejarée rabbit fur

Patchwork blanket made from leftover rabbit fur (2018)

Suitability for sheared goods
Finishing type:
Seal	Best qualities of all colors without a saddle and derogatory dewlaps, with a strong undercoat; fully mature in the hair (dyed black).
Nutria (nutriette)	White, chinchilla and rabbit gray skins of the best quality, which are purely unicoloured after shearing and have no offspring (brown colored).
Beaver (Biberette)	Best chinchilla-colored and rabbit-gray, without offspring and purely unicoloured after preliminary training (brown-colored with grunt ).
Ocelot and leopard	Saddle skins or with acrid offspring with a light undercoat. Among other things, piebalds (printed).

The cutting height depends on the quality of the goods and how they are used. Seal and Biberette rabbits were usually shorn 10 to 12 mm high, white rabbits, especially in France, only 8 mm, so that they were better suited as an ermine substitute.

Suitability as top hair product (= unsheared)
Finishing type:
Feh (no longer in use: Squirrelette)	Pure white skins with a smooth cover, without a saddle (dyed squirrel gray).
sable	Natural, white, yellowish-white, yellow-brown skins and chinchilla canine, but only smooth skins without a saddle (brown colored).
Blue ore, Nerzilla (no longer in use)	Chinchilla, rabbit gray and white skins without a saddle. Compared to Nerzilla, blue ore has a bluer tint (mink-colored).
Miller's cat, wild cat	Chinchilla rabbit fur, which cannot be used for the colors sable and blue ore, if they are slightly saddled or afflicted with offspring spots (printed).
Wheel trolley	Hare-gray skins that are not suitable for blue ore if they are slightly saddled (printed).
Skunks	Upper hair canins that are not suitable for other colors are dyed black (upper hair canins are rabbit skins that are processed without being sheared).

Good quality rabbit fur in pure color or piebald can be used naturally if necessary.

Badly damaged, fluttering skins are processed into food.

Burned leather (technical term "raw burned", hard in the leather due to the rotting of the raw fur), heavily matted and bald, unsuitable fur are used as a "shot" in glue production. The same is true of the pelts known as washing rabbits , which are pelts in which the dressing was broken off because, due to their poor quality, they would not survive the further work steps of the dressing.

Saddle skins are transitional skins ("transitional" skins, in the change of hair ), in which the sides are flattering than the middle of the coat (the grunt) and possibly have offspring spots (twiggy). The sides stand out prominently, usually in a jagged or wavy line, from the middle of the coat.

Leather rabbit fur is hides that are used for fine leather .

Assortments

Canine fur is used as a trimming in some traditional carnival costumes (Rose Monday procession in Düsseldorf, 2011)

The following breakdowns into different qualities are largely only of historical relevance today. Sports breeding, which is particularly practiced in Europe, Asia and America, only rarely breeds from the point of view of the fur trade. Unless they are kept as pets, the animals are primarily used for meat production and are slaughtered when they are around three months old. The resulting skins are therefore all light-leather and almost the same size, the previous distinction between weight classes and the many different sizes has largely become superfluous.

Only the fur of the Rex rabbit is currently fetching prices that create an economic incentive for the breeder to pay attention to the quality of the fur. The rabbit fur used for use is almost exclusively exported to China, where Rex rabbit breeds have now also been established. Chinese importers visited the tobacco shops in Frankfurt's Niddastrasse at the end of the 1990s not only to buy fur, but also with the intention of buying breeding reindeer rabbits in order to import them to China.

Without wild rabbit, the annual delivery before the Second World War was several hundred million skins. The product ranges in the individual countries were correspondingly differentiated and varied. In Germany, the attack is now very low. Allotment gardeners, who were once the main suppliers, rarely keep rabbits. Probably for the whole of Europe it is also true that all raw rabbit fur in substantial quantities is now largely unsorted by the Chinese tobacco trade.

The main types of rabbit range are the furrier rabbit for fur processing and the cutter rabbit for the hair industry.

The proportion of pelts used for fur purposes is dependent

the degree of fur maturity at the date of slaughter. Most rabbits are slaughtered in the cold season, which is favorable for maturity. In the GDR, before 1967, the first quarter fell 35%, the second quarter 25% and the third quarter. Quarter 15% and on the fourth quarter 25%.
on the needs of the fur industry, which is dependent on fashion trends.

Violin playing rabbit made of rabbit fur ( music box museum Utrecht , age not specified)

Former German rawhide range

The skins were delivered to the raw skin trade. A distinction was made here between

I = GI: Biggest, best winter coats, white leather, including lightly stained, dense wool, weight over 280 g per coat.

G II: Large spotty, thickly woolly, white leathery or slightly spotty. About 220 g per fur.

II = G III: Large, very spotty, mostly upper hair. Over 250 g per fur.

M II: Medium-sized, spotty, densely woolly, white-leather to slightly spotty, slightly lighter in the hair.

III = M III: Medium-sized and small, heavily damaged pelts including slightly damaged upper varieties, dense stripes. About 180 g per fur.

M IV: Light upper hair, over 160 g per fur.

Lining I: Suitable for animal feed, all colors. Over 150 g per fur.

Lining II: All types that are supplied to the toy and glove industry. Fur not less than 110 g.

Lining III: rabbit under 110 g and wrinkled or otherwise badly damaged skins, no matter how heavy they are, are always classified as cutting rabbits.

The weights mentioned are average values per 100 pieces. The individual weight per fur can be up to 20 grams less.

Appeal Protects rabbit and small animal skins from spoilage! (before 1945)

Former range of the Kanin trading company in Leipzig

Variety Ia: So-called upper heads , extra large skins with white leather, well treated.

Variety I: As Ia, but somewhat smaller, that is, normal sized breeds up to Viennese.

Type II: Smaller skins, medium breeds, down to about White Viennese.

Variety III: Large transitional skins and winter skins of small breeds.

Variety IV: Undergrown animals (less than three quarters of a year old).

Variety V: Fodder rabbit, well treated young animal skins (a quarter to a half year old).

Grade VI: leather canopy, thick summer skins and thick, badly treated skins.

Type VII: cutting rabbit, untreated skins and rabbit mice (especially small).

Former raw hide range in France

France classified in

Forts extra: Largest, well-matured winter goods in the heaviest weight class, sorted without color differences. 240 to 280 g per fur.

Forts I and II: Large winter pelts, with skins of the same size of somewhat weaker quality. Weight 200 to 260 g per fur

Clapier I and II: Medium-sized heads of poor quality. 160 to 220 g per fur.

Entredeux: (transition) mostly incisors. 120 to 140 g per fur.

Rebut: (Failure) mostly cutter.

Demis: (young animals) only suitable for making felt.

The assessment was fluid everywhere, the sorting was accordingly different. Sometimes three types were formed and designated A to G; or just three: KI, IB and Stripes.

Former ranges of the auction companies

Skulls, Extra, KIG, KIM, K II G, K II M, stripes and lining. G are large and M medium-sized heads. They were also sorted by color: whites, grays, blues, piebalds, which are again subdivided into upper heads, furrier rabbit I and II gray, chinchilla, white, blue, Viennese.

Top heads and extra mean: the very best skins. Kürschnerkanin I are large, white-leather winter coats with a thick undercoat; Kürschner II is a medium product with not fully developed winter hair; Young animal skins were mostly sorted as feed rabbit, as they are particularly light. Damaged goods, wefts, poorly dried, hairy goods went to the cutting industry or the felt hat manufacture.

Kanin furrier range in the classification "5 xer black" (2009)

Former tobacco products range (furrier range, prepared = tanned, without the cutlery)

A specialty of the German ready-made assortments for the furrier were, in addition to the many very special further quality and color classifications, the classification stickers with the "x" in different numbers (xxx, xxxx, xxxx etc.) and colors. "10 xer" were 45 cm long, the smallest "3 xer" under 27 cm. A black label = 1st quality, blue = 2nd quality, red = 3rd, green = 4th, yellow = 5. A fur band with a black label with 6 × (xxxxxx) usually contains 10 or 20 pieces , good medium-sized (37 to 42 cm long) skins of the best quality.

10 ×	=	45 cm long		6 ×	=	37 to 42 cm		4 ×	=	27 to 32 cm
8 ×	=	42 to 45 cm		5 ×	=	32 to 37 cm		3 ×	=	under 27 cm

After rabbit breeding in the Federal Republic of Germany had been practiced almost exclusively as a sport breed for a long time, meat production fell drastically in 1990 with the reunification of the former GDR. In 1987, 1,250,000 skins were sold from the Interpelz auctions in Leipzig.

China

Delivery of the rabbit scarves, finished after transport from China, to the fur wholesale center in Frankfurt Niddastraße (2009)

Mostly white rabbit came from China; they were sold as tungchow rabbit . Chinese rabbit skins used to be delivered in boxes with 2000 pieces each, trimmed and sorted according to size and quality, without heads and without paws, divided into three weight classes. The skins were very light, they weighed only 80 to 120 grams. The best skins came from the Sichuan area and were loaded in Shanghai . There was also a Kanin called Dayan , which was exported via Tientsin . It came in white and blue, was mostly peeled off round and not well treated. Since the years before 1988, the skins have been delivered pre-made into panels (60 × 120 cm), but mainly the smaller III. and IV. varieties to Europe. At that time, the better goods were already being processed in China itself, but now only a few Chinese Kanin boards are wholesalers in Europe. They also no longer have the red factory marks with the Chinese characters that were once characteristic of this tradition. Trading markets for Chinese rabbits were Tientsin and Shanghai.

Overall, the vast majority of Kanin currently come to Europe as finished goods via China. The products are usually offered simply as rabbit fur, only parts made of Rex rabbit , which are particularly suitable for processing in the knitting technique with their thick, protruding hair and almost equally long upper and undercoat.

processing

Scarf made of braided, snowtop-dyed rex rabbit (Chinese work, 2009)
Muff from rabbit heads (Chinese work, 2008)
Pungcha, a traditional Korean hat (rabbit fur and weasel, women's version)

In 1911, a furrier's book mentions that the flesh of rabbit skins is associated with difficulties, "since the well-known seven hides of the hare also come to light in these barn hare", another book even speaks two years later of the hare's "nine skin" properties, one would not get anything done in the usual way ”.

The use of Kanin done to fur inner linings , fur blankets and all kinds of fur clothing, many finishing ways. In the last few years a lot of scarves, fur stoles , but also jackets and other small parts have been made from 3 to 5 mm wide strips that are knitted or braided in formwork nets. Similar processing techniques were used by the North American Cree Indians with strips of rabbit skin. A historical use, in addition to cat fur , is the laying of the shuttle path in silk weaving.

The large, strong leather qualities known as leather rabbits, which were almost exclusively used in the hair industry as early as the 1930s, were actually used for leather purposes earlier, especially during the First World War. During the war, attempts were even made to produce sole leather from it. Leather for women's shoes was made from it, the more supple skins saffiano leather for cigarette cases, wallets and similar leather accessories, the lesser qualities were still good for chamois leather.

White rabbit as an ermine substitute (with black stripes, imitating the tips of the ermine tail), Rector of the Technical University of Opole (1987)

White rabbit fur is often used as an inexpensive substitute for royal ermine fur. Even today it is even used for ceremonial clothing, for example on regalia, at some universities, to save money. The Chinese white rabbit, “which is a very small species and has fine, short hair that is so similar to real ermine, that the most wonderful sets, coats, jackets and capes are made from this hide, are particularly suitable for this Ermine imitations for festive occasions, visits to the theater, balls and others, depicting elegant, elegant clothing ”(1928).

In 1953, before her festive coronation, Queen Elisabeth II had her body tailor, Normann Hartnell, design a simple, cheap state robe in order to save the wallets of the countless noble guests. Instead of valuable brocades and expensive ermine fur, it consisted only of red velvet and a cape made of white rabbit fur , the headgear was no longer a diamond-studded browband or a crown made of gold-plated silver, but a cap, also made only of red velvet with rabbit border, gold trim and gold fools.

The processing of coats and jackets due to the prefabrication of the skins into boards does not place any special demands on the fur processor today. Only occasionally do creative furriers use special breeding colors to make coats from individual skins.

In the case of skins that have not been sheared, the goiter and neck should be observed. The goiter (also "backen", Austrian croup) is a two to three finger wide strip at the bottom of the neck of unusually thick and bulging hair. It is usually cut off; it used to be trimmed. The rabbit fur has a very short-haired, triangular place behind the ears, which is cut out if it is not too wide, or is removed with a so-called "tongue" when opening it in a furrier way. If the fur sides are not knocked off anyway, the teats should also be cut out. In the past, the skins were put on top of each other with a high-quality processing in a serrated pattern, the rabbit prongs, with a prong depth roughly the length of the rabbit under hair. This is unlikely to happen today, the skins are sewn in straight seams one above the other and next to one another.

So that the finished fur does not shine so much, the black-colored, sheared Sealkanin were usually worked "overturned", that is with the head side down and the haircut up. Before the torso, sleeve and collar parts are sewn together, the moistened hair is flicked down, thereby standing up and giving it a fuller look, similar to seal fur.

In 1965 the fur consumption for a fur board with 30 to 40 pelts sufficient for a rabbit coat was specified (so-called coat “body”). A board with a length of 112 centimeters and an average width of 150 centimeters and an additional sleeve section was used as the basis. This corresponds roughly to a fur material for a slightly exhibited coat of clothing size 46 from 2014. The maximum and minimum fur numbers can result from the different sizes of the sexes of the animals, the age groups and their origin. Depending on the type of fur, the three factors have different effects.

As with almost all types of fur, the fur residues that fall off during the processing of the fur are also used for rabbit fur . They are sewn together into panels by specialized companies in China and mainly processed into inner linings (especially the thinner, hairy sides of the fur).

Canine prongs for stacking the skins (1895)
Cut for a pelerine made of 7 skins (1895)
A skilled American worker combed the dirt out of 1,200 rabbit skins a day (1916)

According to information from 1961, 15 to 20 percent rabbit hair was used in addition to sheep's wool and viscose wool to manufacture jersey knitwear and certain other women's clothing materials. The addition of rabbit hair gives the fabrics a softness that allegedly cannot be achieved with the finest wool. What is meant is not the angora rabbit, but the hair of normal rabbits. Because of the short hair length and the bleaching process that is usually necessary, however, considerable difficulties arise. Therefore it was recommended to use the hair of the white fox rabbit with a usable length of the hair of 35 to 40 mm, a breed that became known in the 1920s.

Rabbit weaving at the Cree

In the winter of 1957/58 McIvor documented the weaving with fur of the North American Indians using the example of the Cree in Fort Hope in northern Ontario . A technique of fur processing that was once widespread among the Indians from Mexico to northern Canada. At that time, the local residents only made coats and jackets for small children. Originally, cloths and blankets were woven in which men and women would also wrap themselves. The material used was usually rabbit skin, in this example the skins of the snowshoe hares, the meat of which was previously the main source of food in the area.

Nothing is reported about any special processing of the leather side. The peeled-off fur is cut into strips about the width of a thumb, in a spiral shape in a single, long piece. The strip width varies depending on what is to be made from it. The strips of fur are wrapped with the hair facing outwards on a thin rod about one and a half centimeters in diameter and dried in this way. The further processing varies according to the landscape, the Cree weave the stripes into nets, just as it happens in the "newly developed" web-netting fur processing. The spiral shape ensures that the strips wrap around the net threads with the hair facing outwards, creating a hairy surface on both sides. The nets are now made from string, in the past from sinews or leather straps ( babiche ). The finished ceiling was hung in a specially made frame and stretched on three sides. For a smaller blanket, 85 heads were used. Blankets in particularly cold areas were woven more densely and accordingly required more skins.

The result is very warm and yet light, very stable and hardly ruffles. Older people wore the faux fur for three or four years, children got a new piece every year. Sometimes the fur was sewn concealed between two lengths of fabric, in the manner of a quilt, which not only improved the warmth but also the durability. The hair of the rabbit is not very durable and the furs showed bald spots very quickly.

Other names

Skunkskanin jacket (age unknown, photo 2012)

The German RAL regulations for fur clothing published in 1968 state that for an honest description of fur products in advertising and labeling, it must be clearly recognizable what type of fur it is. For example, if a rabbit fur has been refined as an imitation beaver, the correct designation is beaver rabbit or beaver rabbit or Biberette rabbit, the actual material always comes at the end of the word (not rabbit beaver). Until then, there were an infinite number of fantasy names to spruce up the cheap and little-regarded material. However, as early as 1930, a specialist book indicated that “the word Kanin must never be missing”. In spite of this, it is still relatively common, but not permitted in Germany, to refer to the fur on price tags by its French name as "Lapin". The exclusive use of the name Orylag without the addition of rabbit for the variety of Rex rabbits originating from France has so far remained unopposed.

As a result of the constant refinements, new names were constantly being created; by the middle of the 20th century, over 2000 names had already been “calculated”. Many clearly indicate the type of fur they are imitating. Different, disguising, sometimes strange-looking designations that differed from the designation prescribed today were among others:

Arcansas Seal, Australian Seal, Belgian Tiger, Biber ejarée, Biber Lutrin, Biberette (Louis Friedländer, 1917/18), Bisamin (Louis Friedländer, 1916), Bleuté-Squirrelette (blue-gray colored Fehkanin), Blocked Lapin (with ironed-in moiré or curl structure), chinchillette, electric-seal, electrics (mantel etc.), electric beaver, Erminette (imitation of ermine), foxalin (imitation of fox), French beaver, French nutria, Herminette (imitation of ermine, besides also, even more often for Hermelin- imitated weasel), ermine, lapin, meskinseal (American factory name for a seal canine), moline or electric mole, mink lineage, mink villa, Nordic beaver, Nubian seal (black on New Zealand canine, refiner A. Hollander & Son, New York) , Nutriette, Petzold (mantel) (after the refiner Petzold), Renardin (1922, as a substitute for Alaska fox, black-colored red fox), Renargette (Leipzig silver fox imitation), Seal, Sealine (“-ine is a popular ending for Handelsn amen “), Sealelektric, (Electric-Arctic, Baltic, French, Bay or Hudson Seal (the latter also for Sealbisam)), Silberbisamkanin (white center with brown shaded sides), Skunksette Squirlette (false imitation), Taupinette (mole imitation), Tigerette, Visonette (mink colored) (Fa. Louis Friedländer, 1921).

A price comparison for the year 1926 of original and imitation gives the following approximate price differences for average qualities:

Seal coat = 3000 marks, Seal canine coat = 600 marks

Real fox = 80 marks, fox imitation = 30 marks

Fehmantel = 3000 Marks, Fehkaninmantel = 600 Marks

Flying dog = 22 marks, imitation = 6 marks

Ermine = 30 marks, ermine canine = 8 marks

Chinchilla = 150 marks, chinchillona = 13 marks

Nutria = 30 marks, nutria imitation = 10 marks

Mole, per square meter = 100 marks, mole rabbit = 50 marks

Poetry

Rabbit boutonniere (Chinese work, 2011)

To envelop the beauty

in the winter clothes

you need fur-bearing animals in large numbers.

Foxes - blue, pale red, silvered -

Bears with their mighty shoulders,

Lynxes with black spots,

Ermine, white and shimmering;

soft skins, flattering fleeces,

Otters, beavers, skunks, sables,

Mink, Vicuna and Chinchilla!

And the rabbit says: divine lie,

I am all of this! ( Louis Marsolleau , 1864–1935)

Additional quotations, Emil Brass 1911

“A smart electric seal pallet. With pure silk lining and large shawl collar. 325 M., pocket muff 70 M. “
Stöckig & Co, Dresden, around 1912

“The fur [of the wild rabbit] is used to make fur felt hats and costs 10 to 20 pfennigs each, depending on size and quality. Lately the largest winter hides have also been used to make fur, even if the leather is thinner than the tame rabbit fur. "

"... the dried fur weighs 60 to 80 grams."

“Especially to England there is a large export of rabbit fur [(complete carcasses)] from Belgium, France, and now also from Australia in the frozen state, since a strong own production of wild and tame rabbit is not sufficient for the high demand. […] The most valuable are the silver rabbits bred in France, with a blue background and the awns partly white, partly silver-gray. [...] The best skins go to Russia and China, the others are dyed. "

"In France and Belgium there are numerous factories for processing rabbit skins, in Germany only two, one in Unkel on the Rhine [meaning Paul Profitlich & Söhne, tobacco-making and dyeing works ], the other in Leipzig."

“The Polish white rabbits are not dyed, but are dressed alaungar and processed naturally , sometimes also sheared. The centers of this industry are Lviv in Galicia and Polish Lissa in the province of Poznan. White rabbit fur is sold annually about 1 million, while colored rabbit fur about 60 million pieces. The lion's share of this goes to France with around 30 million pieces, Belgium supplies around 1 ½ million dozen, Germany not quite a million dozen. In Berlin alone almost a million dozen are processed in good years. "

“The catchers [(Australian rabbit catchers)] receive a small premium for every pair of rabbit ears, and about 20 million pelts are now shipped annually to England and about 10 million pelts to America and the rest of the consumer countries. In addition, several million meat rabbits arrive in England every year in the refrigerated ships. "

“About 3 million skins are exported to England from New Zealand. In London the skins are sorted into fully seasoned, fairly seasoned, incoming and outgoing, racks, suckers, milchy skins and kittens. Selling is by weight, in pence per lb. The best skins weigh 1 ¾ lb. by the dozen, the heavy-leather up to 2 ½ pounds, the suckers ¼ lb. by the dozen. Until recently, these skins were used exclusively to make hats. For some years now, however, large quantities of the smoky, fine-leather varieties have also been made usable for fur manufacture, sheared, dyed and electrified. That also had a tremendously stimulating effect on the price. So z. B. 1908 the so-called dressing skins for fur preparation around 30 pence per lb., in autumn 1909 however already 87d were paid for it. Now the pound is back at 40d. The price of skins for making hats varies from 6 to 24 pence, depending on the type and economic situation. New Zealanders are always around 10 percent more expensive than Australians. In addition to the common gray rabbits, there are also black and silver-gray rabbits, which are much smaller than the English silver-gray rabbits. Around 1 to 200,000 of these are exported annually. "

"The long-haired, white angora rabbits that are bred everywhere else are economically irrelevant, their fur is worthless and the meat tastes bland."

- Emil Brass

Images of various types and finishes of rabbit fur

Domestic rabbits, natural colors

yellow silver
gray white pages
hare gray dark
rabbit gray regular
rabbit gray reddish
Chinchilla bright
Chinchilla regular
Marburg Feh
Perlfeh
Japanese
Blue ears
Braunloh
Black tease
New Zealanders
Dalmatian Rex
Piebald rex
Sachsengold
Silver dark
Silver light
Thuringian
Blue Viennese
Blauwiener Loh

Finishing (coloring, prints and shearing)

Strip printing
"Nerzilla", colored with several grotes
sheared with ocelot print (board)
sheared with leopard print
sheared with wild cat print
Wheel cat print (jacket, Gütersloh 1985)
strong coloring (children's coat and hat, Russian work, 1997)
sheared, dyed with printed leather side (Mantel, Bremen 2011)
degradé colored hot water bottle cover (Frankfurt / Main 2012)

Old dye samples from rabbit fur of the inking works vorm. Master Lucius & Brüning, Hoechst am Main (later Hoechst AG )

Numbers and facts

In 1911 the furriers began to buy large quantities of [rabbit fur] ...
In 1918 , at the end of the First World War, the rabbit price was very high because the supply was very limited. This bull market continued in 1919.
In 1919/20 the government of the Australian state of Victoria spent 36,672.00 on rabbits, compared with ₤ 224,737 for rabbit fur and elle 780,038 for rabbit meat. Victoria was the first state where the rabbit spread. A complete system of rabbit control exists here, which has found legal expression in the association "Vermin Destruction Art". The Australian government stopped rabbit control support payments in 1918 .
In 1922 , almost three quarters of the world's animal skins were rabbit skins. On December 4, 1918 , the rabbit population in Germany was 9,181,296 animals; on December 1, 1921 there were 4,443,013. It was questionable whether all animals were covered.

1877 to 1922

The production of rabbit fur in the state of Victoria, Australia was
in the year	₤	in the year	₤
1877	5,790	1919/20	913.220
1885	23,548	1920/21	401,690
1905	183,560	1921/22	238,632
1918/19	210.130	1922/23	266.478

1908 to 1927/28

Rabbit fur export from Australia and Tasmania 1908–1927 / 28
in the year	piece	₤	in the year	piece	₤	in the year	piece	₤	in the year	piece	₤
1908	44.285.070	308,595.00	1911	62.332.296	499,355.00	1922/23	82,553,652	1,962,664.00	1925/26	90.169.824	2,880,360.00
1909	41,982,042	349,515.00	1912	59.136.204	577,050.00	1923/24	52.360.902	1,349,978	1926/27	85.280.538	2,837,663.00
1910	58,527,348	567,946.00	1913	58,743,972	621,630.00	1924/25	78.520.462	2,492,428.00	1927/28	75,663,822	2,492,522.00

1913 to 1928

Rabbit fur export from New Zealand 1873–1927
in the year	piece	₤	in the year	piece	₤	in the year	piece	₤	in the year	piece	₤
1873	34,516	1,248.00	1913	6.267.508	86,756.00	1924	20,444,390	740,975.00	1927	12,928,669	682,658.00
1881	8,514,695	84,774.00	1922	15,487,225	567,864.00	1925	19,708,585	843,416.00
1900	5,690,893	41,689.00	1923	14.223.417	472,491.00	1925	17.135.599	829,165.00

At the beginning of 1920 , the merger of important rabbit finishers in the Leipzig area in the umbrella company "Vereinigte Rauchwarenveredlungs-Werke G. mb H." was announced. The main goal and the underlying idea was to make the secret, strictly guarded dressing and finishing processes used by the companies, which made their product incomparable in individual properties, accessible to all participants. In fact, it was possible to produce a rabbit skin in a uniform dressing that was at least equivalent to, but rather superior to the product of the best rabbit finishers in other countries (especially France). The dressing process was such that the skins were suitable for any further dyeing and finishing applications without any further dressing. The companies U. Herzog, Wilhelm Jeute GM b. H., Theodor Kniesche, D. Fritz König, Marquardt & König and Theodor Thorer. Leopold Hermsdorf, Leipzig, assumed sole representation of the new company.

In 1920 , rabbit prices, which were at an all-time high, plummeted; towards the end of the year they fell by 75 percent.

In 1925 a delegation of German experts from the USA reported:

At a wholesale price of $ 42 a rabbit coat, the manufacturer made $ 4 to $ 5, with a minimum purchase of 24 pieces. In 1924 , rabbit fur was imported into the United States for $ 1,266,000. About 60 percent of New Zealand's exports went to the United States. One month's shipment reaches the number of 1,985,000 skins. Around 1 million rabbit skins were dyed in the dye works every month.

In 1926-27 , Australia led 14,213,123 lb. Rabbits and hares worth ₤ 2,837,663. Of that, 11,031,158 lb. valued at ₤ 2,235,260 to the US, 2,781,864 lb. worth ₤ 488,919 to England and lb. 184,323. worth 58,923.00 after Germany (third largest importer, ahead of Belgium).

In 1929 , 13,000 bales of rabbit skins were shipped to England from Australia and New Zealand, containing around 41 million skins. The total export from the two countries was 90 million pieces. Compared to 1927 that was a sharp decrease. In London the skins were mostly traded at auction and had been auctioned for many years by the brokerage firms Anning & Cobb and Goad Rigg , which in 1928 had a turnover of 1.5 million pounds sterling in private traffic. About 80 percent of the skins were exported again. Australian and New Zealand skins are so and so pence per lb by weight. sold .

In 1929 a delegation of Berlin tobacco companies visited the fur finishing company Chapal in Paris. At the time there were around 12 million rabbit skins in their warehouses.

In 1930 the price of rabbit fur was 5 to 6 times higher than in 1911 . - Chinese rabbits cost 1½ shillings that year. 3 d., Two years earlier the price was twice as high.

In 1930 the incidence of tame rabbit fur in France alone was estimated at 100 million a year; for England, Wales and Scotland to 60 million. They were divided into six grades, including rabbits whose meat was sold as food.

In 1930 , with general agreement, it was proposed that, from January 1, 1931, rabbit fur in Germany should only be bought without paws, since the paws are not needed for processing and the lower weight would save an average of 10 percent in transport costs, especially since German hat production prefers to buy abroad because she got the goods there paw-free. As a waste product, the paws would never have influenced the price of the skins anyway, and they have mostly remained with the dresser .

Before 1944 , the maximum price for rabbit fur was:

Chinchilla canine natural, a good 4 RM; middle 3 RM

sheared, dyed: seal or fantasy dyed, a good 6 RM; medium 4 RM.

In 1964 in the GDR the proportions of the total amount of rabbit fur according to type of use were:

33.8% for fur production

13.2% for leather production

53.0% for hat fabric production

1965 referred to an English professional as "the year of the rabbit". In England rabbit fur was offered under fancy names such as "Zippy", "Slinky", "Dany", "Dotty" and "Cuttly". As early as 1955, interested English circles suggested replacing the word “rabbitskin” with “coney fur”, not entirely unsuccessfully, because that had a less disparaging connotation. In contrast, Mme. Tessier, quoted by him, wrote in France Soir in 1965 : “This year the rabbit finally dares to mention its name - it no longer pretends to be something else… After the French rabbit in others for many years Countries… now the French furriers and customers have discovered for the first time the beauty and usefulness of their 'native' rabbit ”. While it was assumed that France would produce 60 million rabbits, the author considered a production of six million to be about the same. At the time, there were still around six processing plants in Europe that were able to process rabbit fur. Of these, one, the Chapal company, supplied around 80 percent of world production.

In 1966 , Kanin was, alongside hamsters, the largest (fur) export item in terms of quantity from domestic production in the GDR.

In 2012 it was reported from Kenya that rabbit breeding is developing very strongly there. The population was about 600,000 animals, the rabbit breeders association "RABAK" had about 3000 members at the time.

annotation

↑ The specified comparative values ( coefficients ) are the result of comparative tests by furriers and tobacco shops with regard to the degree of apparent wear and tear. The figures are ambiguous; in addition to the subjective observations of shelf life in practice, there are also influences from tanning and finishing as well as numerous other factors in each individual case. More precise information could only be determined on a scientific basis. The division was made in steps of 10 percent each. The most durable types of fur according to practical experience were set to 100 percent.

Individual evidence

↑ Duden. The dictionary of origin. Etymology of the German language. 2nd Edition. Dudenverlag, Mannheim / Leipzig / Vienna / Zurich 2007, ISBN 3-411-20907-0 .

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Without indication of the author: The development of the London rabbit auctions. In: “Die Pelzkonfektion”, 6th vol. No. 1, 1930, Leipzig, pp. 19-20.

^ Paul Schöps, H. Brauckhoff, Stuttgart; K. Häse, Leipzig, Richard König , Frankfurt / Main; W. Straube-Daiber, Stuttgart: The durability coefficients of fur skins in Das Pelzgewerbe , Volume XV, New Series, 1964, No. 2, Hermelin Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin, Frankfurt / Main, Leipzig, Vienna, pp. 56–58.

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Heinrich Dathe , Paul Schöps, with the collaboration of 11 specialists: Fur Animal Atlas . VEB Gustav Fischer Verlag Jena, 1986, pp. 88-91

↑ Paul Schöps, Kurt Häse: The fineness of the hair - the fineness classes. In: Das Pelzgewerbe Vol. VI / New Series, 1955 No. 2, Hermelin-Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Leipzig, Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, pp. 39–40.

^ Elspeth M. Veale: The English Fur Trade in the Later Middle Ages . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1966, p. 176 (English).

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r Christian Franke / Johanna Kroll: Jury Fränkel's Rauchwaren-Handbuch 1988/89 . 10. Revised and supplemented new edition, Rifra-Verlag Murrhardt, p.

^ ^A ^b ^c Wolfgang Bohne: Development tendencies of the fur industry. Inaugural dissertation at the University of Leipzig, March 1, 1930, pp. 12–22, 85. → Table of contents .

↑ Johann Samuel Halle: Workshops of today's arts , chapter The Kirschner . Berlin 1762, file: The Kirschner Page 311.jpg .

↑ Jürgen Rainer Wolf (eds.): The cabinet accounts of the Electress Anna Maria Luisa von der Pfalz (1667–1743) , Volume 2. Klartext Verlag, Essen, 2015, pp. 650, 804, 905. ISBN 978-3-8375- 1511-4 .

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Author collective: Der Kürschner. Technical and textbook for the furrier trade. 2nd revised edition. Published by the vocational training committee of the Central Association of the Furrier Handicraft, JP Bachem Publishing House, Cologne 1956, pp. 229–230.

^ Philipp Manes : The German fur industry and its associations 1900-1940, attempt at a story . Berlin 1941 Volume 4. Copy of the original manuscript, p. 355.

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Curt Grabs: The European rabbit. In: Rauchwarenkunde. Eleven lectures from the tobacco industry . Verlag Der Rauchwarenmarkt, Leipzig 1931, pp. 171–188.

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "ln": The different rabbits. In: Kürschner-Zeitung No. 19 of July 1, 1928, Verlag Alexander Duncker, Leipzig, p. 672.

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Alexander Tuma: Pelz-Lexikon. Fur and rough goods. XVIII. Tape. Verlag Alexander Tuma, Vienna 1949. Keywords “Femellen”, “Herminette”, “Kanin” to “Kaninfell”.

↑ ^a ^b ^c Max Trischmann: The Australian rabbit. In: Rauchwarenkunde. Eleven lectures on the product knowledge of the fur trade. Verlag Der Rauchwarenmarkt, Leipzig 1931, pp. 147–154

↑ Arthur Samet: Pictorial Encyclopedia of Furs . Arthur Samet (Book Division), New York 1950, pp. 290–209 (English)

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Max Bachrach: Fur. A Practical Treatise. Prentice-Hall, Inc., New York 1936. pp. 174-187 (English)

↑ Alexander Tuma: Pelz-Lexikon. Fur and rough goods. XX. Tape. Alexander Tuma publishing house, Vienna 1950. Keyword "junior staff"

↑ animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site , primary source: Chapman, J., J. Dunn, R. Marsh. 1982. Lepus townsendii. Pp. 124-137 in J. Chapman, G. Feldhamer, eds. Wild Mammals of North America: Biology, Management and Economics. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press (English). Retrieved June 5, 2012.

↑ F. Stather: On the microscopic anatomy of some native fur skins . In: Collected papers of the German Leather Institute Freiberg / Sa. Issue 4, Sachsenverlag Werk Freiberg, 1950, p. 4, 11.

↑ O. Lindekam: The Angora rabbit fur in the fur industry. In: Der Rauchwarenmarkt No. 51, Leipzig, July 3, 1935, pp. 3-4.

↑ Without author's indication: Fur animals and smokers' knowledge (cont.) . In: Die Kürschnerfibel No. 9/10, Verlag Alexander Duncker, Leipzig October 11, 1940, pp. 53–55.

↑ ^a ^b mthe, Paris, March 1944: France's tobacco market during the war . In: Der Rauchwarenmarkt No. 3, Leipzig, March 1944.

↑ Signed Ed .: Echoes of the "Rexrummel". In “Der Rauchwarenmarkt”, Leipzig October 10, 1941, p. 7.

↑ G. Thiebault: Great demand for French rabbit fur. In: Rund um den Pelz International January 1971 No. 1, Rhenania Verlag Koblenz, pp. 18-19.

↑ Wikipedia France, Orylag (French)

^ ^A ^b Anton Ginzel: 60 years of tobacco product refinement. In: The fur industry . Verlag Die Pelzwirtschaft January 1, 1965, Berlin, p. 44.

^ Advertisement from Iris- Pelze : Kanin no longer hairs! We now bring in sheared rabbit fur, grooved and gallon : […] . Winckelmann Pelzmarkt, September 14, 1979, p. 7.

↑ ^a ^b ^c Paul Cubaeus, Alexander Tuma: The whole of Skinning . 2nd revised edition, A. Hartleben's Verlag, Vienna, Leipzig 1911. pp. 158, 238

↑ ^a ^b ^c Hermann Deutsch: The modern skinning. Manual for the furrier, dyer, bleacher, cutter and garment maker . A. Hartleben's Verlag, Vienna and Leipzig, 1930. pp. 83-86.

^ Philipp Manes : The German fur industry and its associations 1900-1940, attempt at a story, Berlin 1941 Volume 1 . Copy of the original manuscript, p. 175 ( G. & C. Franke collection ).

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Alexander Tuma jun: The practice of the furrier . Published by Julius Springer, Vienna 1928, pp. 154–157, 293–298.

^ Philipp Manes : The German fur industry and its associations 1900-1940, attempt at a story, Berlin 1941 Volume 3 , copy of the original manuscript , pp. 137, 144.

↑ ^a ^b Without indication of the author: Rabbit finishing - top performance of the Leipzig industry. In: “Der Rauchwarenmarkt” No. 45, Leipzig November 7, 1941, pp. 1–2.

^ Philipp Manes : The German fur industry and its associations 1900-1940, attempt at a story . Berlin 1941 Volume 4. Copy of the original manuscript, pp. 398–399 ( → table of contents )

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Alexander Tuma: Pelz-Lexikon. Fur and rough goods. XXI. Tape. Verlag Alexander Tuma, Vienna 1951. Keywords "Renargette", "Radiokanin", "Rohkaninmarkt", "Taupinette", "Tigerette", "Tung-Chows", "Visonette", "Wellin"

↑ Without an author's name: A novelty in the field of fur technology. In: "The tobacco market" XXXI. Vol., No. 7/8, Leipzig February 12, 1943, p. 3

↑ W. Künzel: From raw fur to smoking goods - forays through the smoking goods refinement , Alexander Duncker Verlagbuchhandlung , Leipzig, undated (around 1935?), P. 82

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Alexander Tuma: Pelz-Lexikon. Fur and rough goods. XIX. Tape. Verlag Alexander Tuma, Vienna 1950. Keywords "rabbit hair" to "rabbit week", "meskinseal"

↑ Lt. Information on rabbit fur dealer Wolfgang Czech. For information on Niddastraße, see Wikimedia Commons → Rauchwaren-Handelszentrum Niddastraße . For Czech see on Wikimedia Commons → For wholesale dealer Wolfgang Czech

↑ Klaus Löhle, Ulf. D. Wenzel: Rabbits and noble fur animals . VEB Deutscher Landwirtschaftsverlag Berlin 1978, 2nd unchanged edition, pp. 180, 250

↑ ^a ^b Horst Keil: The trade in raw fur hides in the GDR . Central control center for information and documentation of the Institute for Registration and Purchase of Agricultural Products, Berlin (Eds.) 1967, pp. 28-29.

↑ Richard König : An interesting lecture (report on the trade in Chinese, Mongolian, Manchurian and Japanese tobacco products). In: Die Pelzwirtschaft No. 47, 1952, p. 50.

^ H. Werner: The furrier art. Publishing house Bernh. Friedr. Voigt, Leipzig 1914, p.

↑ ^a ^b Without indication of the author (to photos by AB McIvor): Rabbit Skin Robe. In: The Beaver , Winter 1958, Hudson's Bay Company, pp. 46-47.

^ Paul Schöps, in collaboration with Leopold Hermsdorf and Richard König : The range of tobacco products . Hermelin-Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Leipzig, Berlin 1949, p. 12. Book cover .

^ Marie Louise Steinbauer, Rudolf Kinzel: Marie Louise - furs . Steinbock Verlag, Hanover 1973, pp. 191–192

↑ Paul Schöps u. a .: The material requirements for fur clothing. In: Das Pelzgewerbe Vol. XVI / New Series 1965 No. 1, Hermelin-Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin a. a., pp. 7-12. Note: The following measurements for a coat body were taken as a basis: Body = height 112 cm, width below 160 cm, width above 140 cm, sleeves = 60 × 140 cm.

↑ Dietrich Altmann: Kaninhaar in the textile industry. In: Das Pelzgewerbe Vol. XII / New Series, 1961 No. 4, Hermelin-Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin a. a., p. 169 (on Fuchskaninchen primary sources F. Joppich: Rabbit races, assessment provisions, Zuchtwinke. In: Our rabbits . Berlin 1942, pp. 446-464; Joppich: Das Rabbit . Deutscher Bauernverlag, Berlin 1959; P. Starke, M Wischer: Practical rabbit breeding . Neumann, Radebeul, Berlin 1950).

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Alexander Tuma: Pelz-Lexikon. Fur and rough goods. XVII. Tape. Verlag Alexander Tuma, Vienna 1950. Keywords "Arcansas Seal", "Belgian Tiger", "Bleuté Squirrelette", "Blocked Lapin", "Erminette"

↑ ^a ^b Editor (without author): Biber ejarée - Marder O. - Iltis O. and others. Interesting details about imitation fur. In: Hermelin Heft 3, Hermelin-Verlag Vienna, Paris and Leipzig May-June 1932, page 32.

^ ^A ^b ^c Louis Friedländer & Co .: The Kirschner . Company brochure with a facsimile of an old text ( Johann Samuel Halle : “Workshops of the modern arts”, Berlin 1762). Berlin 1922, foreword .

^ Prospectus of the Herpich company, Berlin 1910, p. 6

↑ ^a ^b Prospectus of the Herpich company, Berlin 1910, p. 13

↑ Editor: Nubian Seal. In: Der Rauchwarenveredler No. 26, p. 7, supplement to Der Rauchwarenmarkt No. 26, June 18, 1932.

^ "M" (Philipp Manes): Leipzig Easter Fair 1922 . Quotation from the report on the Berlin company Arthur Wolf: "The new season item» Renardin «aroused particular interest, and all you could hear from all sides was words of appreciation for this really effective, solid and inexpensive substitute for Alaska fox or skunk-colored scales " . In: Der Rauchwarenmarkt No. 99, Berlin, May 5, 1922, p. 3

↑ Advertisement from the tobacco wholesale company Sealelektric-Kanin-Gesellschaft mb H.

↑ Arthur Hermsdorf: News . In: Philipp Manes : The German fur industry and its associations 1900-1940, attempt at a story . Berlin 1941 Volume 4. Copy of the original manuscript, pp. 396–397.

^ Advertisement from the Leipzig fur wholesaler B. Buslik

^ Otto Feistle: Rauchwarenmarkt and Rauchwarenhandel. Verlag W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1931, p. 28. → Table of contents .

^ Walter Fellmann : The Leipziger Brühl . VEB Fachbuchverlag, Leipzig 1989, p. 105

↑ Emil Brass : From the realm of fur . Publishing house of the "Neue Pelzwaren-Zeitung and Kürschner-Zeitung", Berlin 1911, pp. 624–627

^ Ernst dancers: The fur of hares and rabbits (book cover) . Verlag Arthur Heber & Co., Leipzig 1926, p. 3.

↑ Wolfgang Bohne (see there), pp. 16, 85. Primary source yearbook for New South Wales 1922 ; there again according to Australian Statistics Oversea Trade, 1908–1927 / 28 according to reports of the rabbit inspectors of the "Pastures Protection Board".

↑ Wolfgang Bohne (see there), p. 85. Primary source New Zealand's Official Year Book 1913–1928 .

↑ Without mentioning the author: Significant merger of Leipzig finishing and dyeing shops. In: Der Rauchwarenmarkt , No. 1, January 2, 1920, pp. 1–2.

↑ Max Nasse: America's fur industry - results of a study trip by German furriers and fur manufacturers. Berlin 1925, pp. 39-40.

↑ Wolfgang Bohne (see there), p. 87. Primary source Australian Statistics, Oversea Trade, 1925/27 .

^ Philipp Manes : The German fur industry and its associations 1900-1940, attempt at a story . Berlin 1941 Volume 1. Copy of the original manuscript, p. 214 ( G. & C. Franke collection ).

↑ Editor: For the paw-free delivery of rabbit and rabbit skins. In: Der Rauchwarenmarkt No. 128, Leipzig October 28, 1930, p. 3.

^ Friedrich Malm, August Dietzsch: The art of the furrier. Fachbuchverlag Leipzig 1951, p. 42.

↑ ^a ^b Mr. Kisilevsky: 1965 - The year of the rabbit. In “Brühl” No. 6, December 1966, VEB Fachbuchverlag Leipzig; P. 6

↑ Without an author: Pelzwirtschaftliche Nachrichten. In "Hermelin Pelzmodelle" 1955 No. 3–4, Hermelin-Verlag, Berlin a. a., p. 34.

↑ Kistner, director from Brühlpelz : The rabbit fur in the tobacco industry in the GDR. In “Brühl” No. 6, December 1966, VEB Fachbuchverlag Leipzig; P. 5.

↑ Inventory number according to Evans Makokha, Assistant director of livestock production, Ministry of Livestock Development ( Memento from March 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (English), accessed on February 2, 2016.

[Anmerkung1-4] The specified comparative values ( coefficients ) are the result of comparative tests by furriers and tobacco shops with regard to the degree of apparent wear and tear. The figures are ambiguous; in addition to the subjective observations of shelf life in practice, there are also influences from tanning and finishing as well as numerous other factors in each individual case. More precise information could only be determined on a scientific basis. The division was made in steps of 10 percent each. The most durable types of fur according to practical experience were set to 100 percent.

[1] Duden. The dictionary of origin. Etymology of the German language. 2nd Edition. Dudenverlag, Mannheim / Leipzig / Vienna / Zurich 2007, ISBN 3-411-20907-0 .