Oddly Enough: "Colorful Fur Gems of Trading," From Animal Land to Furtown (Right to Crazytown)

In cleaning the office, I came across a book I bought in Minneapolis a few years back, when the kind folks at Rain Taxi had me up there to do my Ambergris multi-media at the Walker Center.This is a very strange book from the 1934 that tries to make the fur industry whimsical, gallant, and even humorous. I bought because of the eccentricity of it--the weirdness of the narrative voice, at least to modern ears. It's really somewhat macabre, and kinda gross to those of us who love animals. Crazy-town narrators in nonfiction always fascinate me, though, since they open up possibilities for characters in fiction.Here's a short excerpt from the intro, and some photos of the interior.

Mr. Fur Man: We, as the fur bearers of the world, in order to be enthusiastically welcomed in your fur industry must live a determined double life. First, we exist as "an animal" following the vigorous paths planned by nature. When we depart from this existence as creatures of the wild, we will then live in our second glorious and commercial being...a life as "a fur."...Let it not seem queer to see us dressed alike. It does not appear queer when the genius of your fur science transforms us to look alike despite the different origins of our families. As representatives, part of our mission shall be to applaud that genius. We praise your modern machinery and your art which converts our raw greasy skins into attractive fur pelts, and thus preserves us for a lasting existence in our second being. We admire your artistic skill when you cut, sew, and nail our skins to fit the patterns designed to meet the demands of modern fashions. We are flattered when the mixtures of your advanced chemistry, dye us in every shade of nature's picturesque rainbow, thereby harmonizing with the color schemes of the apparel of milady. We are convinced that these operations must be completed if we are to be your colorful fur gems of trading. So be it, Mr. Fur Man!