Evening star., 1939-05-30
Fox
The Rarest
Pelt
Norway Confines
Living Animals
To That Land
BY HELEN VOGT.

Hey, father, if you have a slight
surplus of two or three thousand
dollars lying around, you could make
mother awfully happy! You could,
perhaps, buy her new fur pelt
that has excited the interest of
scientists as well as fashion ex-
perts.
This latest sensation known as
platinum fox has recently come
into the news via the favor of two
prominent ladies. The Duchess of
Windsor owns one and so does
Crown Princess Martha of Norway,
and the pale, blush gray skins are
even more rare than the luxurious
chinchilla!
This is a typical story of the
ugly duckling who turned into a
beautiful swan, for this history of
the platinum fox is the tale of
an outsider in the world of foxes.
Since the birth of this rare animal,
the rage for them has spread like
Wildfre. They are now considered
the most luxurious and unusual fur
of the moment, and all because a
Norwegian farmer had an idea that
turned into gold mine.
All the excitement started seven
years ago in purely accidental
manner. The first platinum fox,
Mons, was born on the farm of
poor fisherman in Norway. 1t was
so light in color that they consider
ed it worthless and planned to
destroy it, for the fisherman owned
but few foxes and considered it
detrimental to the breed. However, a
neighboring farmer had ideas about
this rare creature and bought it
for the amazing sum of $3.50! 1t
was then mated with medium silver
females and the offspring proved to
be platinums and silvers in equal
numbers.
The live animals are confined by
government edict to Norway and
because they are so rare receive
special attention from birth. In
comparison to some 100000 silvers
on 10000 farms, there are only
about 300 platinums in all Norway.
These rare animals thrive on a
menu of meat, fresh fish, dry bread,
are put in single cages because
they have ferocious natures and
are apt to turn on each other. But
even through they are so savage,
due to high breeding the platinums
are more delicate than silvers and
have a higher death rate. These
animals are sold by contract before
they are born at a rate of $4,000
to $4,000 dollars each. Some of the
best are named in the same manner
as predigreed dogs.
We understand that Fritz Lutch-
erath, a gentleman farmer of Nor
way, who breeds foxes as hobby
has so animals including puppies
and is considered one of the six lead
ing breeders. He recently told how
these rare male platinums sold for
1000 to $500 each last fall and
even now three-pelt cape might
sell for $4,000.
But, as we have explained, while
the fox is of interest to the world
of fashion, it is equally as important
to scientists. Having discovered that
breeding male platinums with female
silvers produces an equal ratio OF
platinum and silver offspring, ii
stands to reason that when both
mates are platinum there should be
one out of four of the offspring with
only platinum color determinants
which would in turn breed only
platinums. This latter type, which
has not yet appeared, would have
only platinum and never silver off,
spring.
While this new fur is definitely
fashion news, it should be quite q
number of years before it will be-
come popular. At the moment, plati-
mum foxes are SO rare and so val
liable that only a chosen few will
be able to possess them. However
we can remember the time when
silver foxes were considered some
thing super-special, too, but now
they are within the reach Of most
Of u.