Take A Letter, Miss Bunny

TO ALL SPORTSMEN: DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE FROM HUNTING AND FISHING BY LEARNING TO MOUNT YOUR BEST TROPHIES…

IT’S EASY!

YES! It’s Easy to Learn, Right in Your Own Home, to MOUNT ANIMALS, FISH and BIRDS!

WILD GAME in growing scarcer. Every specimen you get from now on is doubly interesting and valuable. Mount them for yourself and your friends. Learn quickly in spare time to Restore and Recreate birds and animals no they appear actually ALIVE. Our old reliable school, with over 260,000 pupils, can teach you. Write for free book Today.

FUN and PROFIT,Too!

Taxidermy is a fascinating art and hobby. Profitable, Too! $30, to $80 a month reported by many students from spare time work. Sportsmen want their trophies mounted. They pay well. Learn this money-making art. that is also entertaining. Mount and Tan for others. Turn spare time to FUN and CASH.

ANYONE CAN LEARN No experience necessary. Complete double coarse teaches Taxidermy and TANNING from the beginning. Craft and Novelty Taxidermy, using common or domestic animals, is tremendously interesting and profitable. You can mount humorous groups like the squirrel and rabbit shown above. Great fun.

Get this FREE BOOK Now I Send the coupon for this fascinating book, 100 unique photos. Tells how YOU can learn at home in SPARE TIME. State your age.

FREE BOOK Northwestern School of Taxidermy, 4739 Elwood Bldg., Omaha, Neb.

Send me your free illustrated book. “Flow to Mount Game”. Also tell me bow I may learn this fascinating art easily and quickly by mail. No obligation. State your age.

Mounted Animals Mimic Humans

HUNTERS are using taxidermy more and more to preserve game specimens as mementos of enjoyable hunting trips. Mounted animals are being worked into useful articles for the home, such as table lamps, book ends, gun racks, and ash trays.

Interesting groups picturing animals at some humorous occupation are finding great popularity as store window exhibits as well as for the hunter’s den. Rabbits, squirrels, birds, and even frogs can be mounted and arranged to represent human activities such as shaving, hunting, smoking, or studying.

Taxidermy is New Field for Home Craftsmen

TAXIDERMY, an art fast growing in popularity, is opening a new field of interest to the home workshop fan and revealing a new source of ornamentation for household articles.

The many useful articles that are built by the home craftsman can be ornamented with mounted birds and animals, thus adding new interest and charm to commonplace objects.

Lamps, book-ends, door-stops, hat-racks, picture frames, gun-racks, are a few of the objects that lend themselves well to ornamentation. When decorated with taxidermy work, they immediately possess new life, interest and attractiveness.

The most common of birds and animals are employed in taxidermy. Squirrels, rabbits, frogs, pigeons, in fact, any easily secured specimens may be converted into highly interesting, useful or humorous creations. In the accompanying photographs

are shown a specimen of the unique and ornamental art-pieces that attract instant attention and bring the out-of-doors atmosphere into the den, library or nursery.

Not only is taxidermy a fascinating hobby for the home craftsman, but it is a source of income for those who go into it deep enough to learn to turn out artistic pieces. As wild game has grown scarcer, and the open season restricted more and more, the true sportsmen have turned in increasing numbers to the taxidermist to preserve their trophies.

Creating groups of common animals to represent human situations is one of the most popular departments of novelty taxidermy. A pointed example of this is presented in the photo of the squirrels getting married. It is easy for the ingenious workshop fan to imagine many similar creations.

Taxidermist Gives Eternal Life To Birds

ARMED only with a forked stick, a hunter walked warily through the squat bushes of the San Fernando valley in Southern California the other day. Suddenly he froze in his tracks, warned by a series of rattles that hidden danger lay waiting.

He advanced slowly, saw a Pacific rattle snake lying coiled and ready to strike. With the skill acquired from many such hunts, he pressed the stick down over the snake’s neck, stuffed the reptile into a box, and hastened back to his Hollywood studio.

There John Schleisser, famed naturalist-taxidermist—for it was he who captured the deadly reptile—chloroformed the rattler. A few minutes later he could be seen taking exact measurements by making a plaster cast of the body. Then he skinned the rattler, made a mannikin of papier mache duplicating the late deceased, and a few days later fitted the skin, perfectly tanned, back over the artificial body.

Simple though this sounds, the unusual gift of this man is his ability to restore reptiles, birds, and animals to lifelike poses, giving them the appearance of life even after death.

Schleisser for 39 years has been giving life to the dead, at least in appearance. How many thousands of specimens he has captured or killed in far-away parts of the globe not even he can calculate. His “restorations” may be seen in famous museums of the world, from African animals of the famed Count Samuel Teleky’s collection in Budapest to Col. Peary’s northern Caribou in the New York Museum of Natural History.

But the list does not end here. Walk into the Brooklyn Museum and you will see Canadian moose and wolves to which he has given eternal personalities. In the St. Louis Museum are great pythons and anacondas given permanent form under his skilled hands.

Such an ordinary creature as a barn owl is one of his prized recreations. In this size of bird he removes the skin, duplicates the body with wound excelsior, replaces the skin and paints the features with the natural colors of life. Large birds such as the ostrich he “builds” with papier mache, using the skin and feathers as covering.

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World’s Largest Gorilla Preserved by New Art of Sculpturdermy

In the Remarkable Series of Pictures Reproduced on these Pages, You See How Sculpture and Taxidermy Were Combined To Re-Create a Rare Animal Specimen

AMAZINGLY lifelike, the mounted body of the world’s largest gorilla, a 500-pound giant, is being put on exhibition at the Academy of Natural Sciences, in Philadelphia, Pa. The enormous brute, together with its mate and baby, were bagged by a recent West African expedition led by George Vanderbilt, New York sportsman and explorer. The delicate work of mounting the gorillas was accomplished at the Jonas Brothers Studios, in Mt. Vernon, N. Y. On these four pages, you find pictured the successive steps, combining sculpture and taxidermy, which “brought to life” the jungle family. As an initial step, the experts assembled the bones of the skeleton by means of wires and steel rods. On this framework, Louis Jonas modeled the body of the brute in clay. Coating this with a lubricant, he applied successive layers of plaster of Paris. After this mold was dry, it was removed in sections and into each part an assistant pressed layer after layer of wet paper which dried to form a light, tough, papier-mache body, the parts of which were glued and nailed together.

Before the skin was put in place, the papier-mache was coated with a flexible plaster containing nine secret ingredients. This material remains plastic for a considerable time and enables the taxidermists to press and pinch the skin into the wrinkles and lines which give the finished work its amazing realism. The technique which has been developed at the Mt. Vernon studios is called sculpturdermy.

Scientists who have examined the Vanderbilt gorilla estimate it is thirty-five years old. It stands six feet high and, with both arms extended, has a reach of fully nine feet. Its neck is twenty-eight inches in circumference and its chest measures sixty-eight inches, contracted, and seventy-eight, expanded. Surprisingly little is known about the life of gorillas. They are shy vegetarians, dwelling in the deep forests and soon dying in captivity.

Don’t forget to make your very own squirrel lighter. Nothing says pleasure like lighting your pipe with a dead rodent!

Fred’s Workshop Now Brings New Pleasure and Profit. He Learned Taxidermy – You Can also – Send this Coupon for free book

Learn at Home to Mount Birds – Animals – Game Heads – Fish

Learn to TAN FURS AND MAKE LEATHER
We teach you easily, quickly,
RIGHT IN YOUR OWN HOME.

Sportsmen, save your valuable trophies. Decorate home and den. Learn in your spare time. Highly fascinating. You can positively learn the grand art of taxidermy From experts. Old reliable school — 200,000 graduates. By all means investigate! Success guaranteed.

Taxidermy Craft-Work
Learn to make unique and USEFUL articles, such as the rabbit-lamp, squirrel-lighter, and owl-book end shown to the left. Dozens of others. Great for sportsmen’s dens. Use COMMON specimens—even frogs. HERE’S A DELIGHTFUL NEW AND PROFITABLE HOBBY.

Make Money, Earn fine profits in spare time. Have a side-line business. Mount for sportsmen—and sell your craft and novelty creations. Many students earn from $50 to $100 and more per month from SPARE TIME. So can YOU. Don’t delay. Write TODAY. STATE YOUR AGE.

FREE BOOK
Learn all about the beautiful art of Taxidermy. Coupon brings fine Free Book.
Tells how you can learn to mount and preserve, as in life, all living creatures. Hundreds of pictures. Send for your free copy today.
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NORTHWESTERN SCHOOL OF TAXIDERMY
3398 Elwood Bldg. Omaha. Neb.

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Dead Horse “Lives” in Marvel of Taxidermy

Great Australian Racer, Exhibited in Rare Mounting, Looks Ready for One More Contest

CROWDS packing the grandstands at Belmont Park, famous Long Island racetrack, received their biggest thrill recently from a horse not entered in the races—a horse that had died six months before!

Phar Lap, legendary wonder horse of Australia, rode by on a motor truck, neck arched, alert ears slanted forward, chestnut coat a silken sheen. Every muscle, every vein, every ripple of the skin was there. The magnificent animal had been “brought to life” by one of the most amazing pieces of scientific taxidermy on record.

After appearing at American tracks, where he had been expected to run this year, Phar Lap is going home. In Australia, the famous horse will be placed on permanent exhibition.

The career of Phar Lap—whose name is Javanese for lightning and means, literally, “wink of the sky”—is one of the most dramatic in turf history.

In 1927, the huge gelding, towering above other horses at the post, was shipped from England to Australia and sold at auction for $800. Within four years, his winnings had reached a total of $332,250, a mark exceeded only by Sun Beau’s all-time record of $356,044!

In fifty-one starts, Phar Lap won thirty-seven races and came in second three times. Before he crossed the Pacific, last winter, for his American invasion, his huge leisurely stride had carried him to a secure place as one of the greatest race horses of all time.

Five attendants guarded him day and night after someone attempted to shoot him near Melbourne, two years ago. Because he was particularly fond of rolling in a certain kind of sand, a pile was provided for him wherever he went, and when he sailed for America, riding in a specially-built cabin, enough of his favorite New Zealand oats accompanied him to last for three months.

In his first appearance on this continent, he walked away with the $50,000 Agua Caliente Handicap.

Then came the end, sudden and dramatic as a flash of the lightning for which he was named. He had been taken to the Ed Perry Ranch, at Menlo Park, Calif., to rest between races. Early one morning, only two weeks after the Agua Caliente triumph, Tommy Woodcock, his trainer, who always slept within a few feet of his stall, found Phar Lap lying down. His owner, David J. Davis, was called from San Francisco. His veterinarian, Dr. Walter Nielsen, rushed to the stable. In spite of every effort, the great horse grew steadily worse and that afternoon, with tears in their eyes, the stablemen announced that Phar Lap was dead. Acute colic is believed to have been the cause of his sudden end.

A few days later, his owner announced that he would send Phar Lap’s heart to an anatomical museum in Melbourne. The handsome chestnut hide he planned to have mounted by a taxidermist.

Then the difficulty arose of finding a taxidermist skillful enough to do the job. Although the skeleton of Sysonby, noted on American tracks a generation ago, had been placed on exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History, in New York City, no one had ever mounted a world-famous race horse.

On the other side of the continent, at Yonkers, N. Y., three brothers, Louis, John, and Leslie Jonas, had been doing remarkable work in preparing wild animals for exhibit, using new methods that increased the lifelikeness of the, subjects. Davis heard of their work and turned the reproduction of Phar Lap over to them.

Twice a day for two months, in preparation for the work, Louis Jonas visited the Empire City Track, in Yonkers, to watch the horses in their workouts. He studied them in every detail, paying special attention to the muscles of the legs. In addition, albums of photographs of the famous Australian racer were gone over as part of the painstaking study that preceded the four and a half months of intensive labor required for the actual mounting. Photographs, made during this time exclusively for Popular Science Monthly, illustrate the different phases of the work.

As a first step, the bones of Thar Lap’s skeleton were carefully fitted together and held in place by means of wire and steel rods. Then a thin layer of plaster was applied. This was allowed to harden and then sculptor’s clay was spread over it.

Combining the art of the sculptor with that of the taxidermist, Louis Jonas then modeled the clay until every tendon and muscle was reproduced exactly as it had appeared in real life. Next, over the clay, the three brothers spread an inch-and-a half-thick layer of plaster of Paris. U-shaped steel bars were attached to each side to prevent breakage. When the plaster was thoroughly dry, it was removed in sections, some weighing 270 pounds, to form the negative mold in which the permanent base would be built up.

The inside of each section of the mold was carefully coated with wax and strips of roofing paper, which had been soaked in paste, were pressed along the entire inside. Three other layers of paper followed, then two layers of burlap, soaked in a special composition plaster, and finally, an additional three layers of paper.

For a week, the paper and burlap remained in the mold to dry. At the end of that time, it was easily removed, forming a hard shell of unusual strength which reproduced every minute ridge and depression of the original clay model. In the meantime, the clay model had been taken down and the skeleton prepared for shipment to Australia, where it will be placed on permanent exhibition.

The sections of the hardened paper and burlap were then joined together by means of nails hammered into wooden supports that form part of the wood-and-steel framework which braces the interior of the shell. Coatings of shellac were painted on the exterior, sawdust was sprayed on, and other coats of shellac applied. The main base was complete. Only the fine touches remained to be put on.

One of these fine touches was reproducing the veins, especially in the legs. To do this, pieces of rope were immersed in paste and then glued to the form in the exact positions where the veins of the original animal had been. Close-up photographs of Phar Lap’s “million dollar legs,” as well as extensive anatomical charts, aided in this phase of the work.

When it was finished, the final step began. This was placing the skin on the completed mounting. An important new discovery, made by the Jonas brothers, was employed at this stage to increase the remarkable fidelity of their reproduction.

It is a special flexible plaster. It contains nine secret ingredients and was spread over the entire completed mounting under the skin. As it retains its flexibility and elasticity for some time, the new plaster permits the taxidermist to sculpture over the hide after it has been attached. By skillful pressure of the fingers and by pushing and pulling the hair this way and that, he can produce lifelike lines and ripples.

Besides attaching the skin to the form, the new plaster also protects it from future attacks by insects or other parasites.

Putting on the ears and tail, and making a few minor touches here and there, completed the work, an achievement that is receiving recognition as one of the outstanding feats of modern taxidermy.

FUN!
MAKE THIS Squirrel Lamp

Yes sir, out of a real squirrel! Also make ash-trays, book-ends, etc., using rabbits, frogs, etc. LEARN AT HOME TO MOUNT BIRDS, ANIMALS & FISH; tan skins and make rugs. Decorate your room.

It’s FUN! BIG profits in spare time! Free book tells how.
FREE BOOK!
Write TODAY for beautiful free book telling bow to learn this fine hobby. Book is free. Contains many fine pictures.
STATE YOUR AGE.
N. W. SCHOOL OF TAXIDERMY, Dept.4736 Omaha, Nebr.

Pioneer Seeing Eye Dog Is Preserved

Almo, said to have been the first police dog brought to this country as a “seeing eye” for the blind, has been . preserved as in life for his master, Dr. W. A. Christensen, of Hollywood, Calif. When the animal died, John M. Schleisser, California naturalist, first measured him, both before and after the skin was removed. Next, he modeled Almo in clay, made a cast over the clay, and inside this cast molded a form of papier-mache. Then he fitted the skin, which had been tanned and mothproofed, over the form. Finally he returned the original jawbone and teeth to the mouth. Wearing his harness, as shown at right, Almo now looks as alive as when he trotted across Hollywood street intersections ahead of his master.

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Here’s an unusual photographic hobby:

Table-Top Photos of Grasshoppers

CREATING LIFELIKE SCENES in miniature is Dr. Lehman Wendell’s way of relaxing. The Minneapolis dentist arranges his insect “actors” with dime-store props. Their stage is the top of a tahle in the basement; lighting is supplied by two ordinary bulbs, one cm each side. Dr. Wendell snaps the scenes with a single-lens reflex camera and does his own processing.

Big Fun – Big money

Learn to MOUNT Birds and Animals
Be a TAXIDERMIST

Learn this WONDERFUL new, fascinating and PROFITABLE art at home by mail. This old famous school, with over 100,000 students GUARANTEES success. Thousands of Popular Mechanics readers have already enrolled. Mount and preserve GAME ANIMALS AND BIRDS like life. Mount common and domestic animals in highly amusing and human-like groups. The actual squirrels shown above, MOUNTED AND DRESSED up. cost but a few cents for materials, but sold for $40 for a window display. Rabbits, frogs, mice. cats, pigs, sparrows, pigeons—ALL can be mounted in funny and interesting groups, imitating human situations. Great fun, tremendously fascinating, extremely profitable.

Quickly Learned by Mail

Men, women, boys, all learn easily and quickly, at home BY MAIL, from our marvelously clear course of 40 lessons. Begin ACTUAL WORK with the first lesson. You become a TAXIDERMY ARTIST, well known and popular. You learn an art of vast interest, and one that will turn spare time to big profits.

Hunters—Anglers!

Preserve your trophies. Save your fine specmens. Have your own MUSEUM, Also mount for others ana sell your spare specimens at fancy prices. Every SPORTSMAN and Nature Lover MUST know taxidermy, or lose half the pleasure and profits of the sport. Taxidermy is sweeping the country. INVESTIGATE! Send right NOW for our fine FREE BOOK.

Big Sparetime Profits

Do you want or need to earn more money? Investigate this rare opportunity. Many s:udents report earnings of $60 to $100 per month in spare time. Others go into business for themselves— Taxidermy, Tanning, and Making up Furs—establish profitable and permanent businesses. Remember we teach all these subjects in one course—TAXIDERMY, GENUINE KROME TANNING, MAKING UP TANNED FURS INTO GARMENTS. Here is a wonderful craft loaded with profits. Investigate!

FREE BOOK:
48 pages, dozens of pictures or mounted game specimens, and full particulars about our lessons and how YOU can become an EXPERT TAXIDERMIST, at home in SPARE TIME. Send the COUPON RIGHT NOW-TODAY. State AGE.

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Gentlemen: Please send at once, your free 48 – page book on Taxidermy without any obligation on my part. Tell me how I can learn Scientific Taxidermy at home.

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LOBSTERS ARE LIKE PEOPLE

Jean Sulpice, Parisian restaurateur, believes that lobsters and people have similar features. These “portraits” seem to prove the artist’s contention.

With a few props (a cigar, glasses and hats) and his lobster shells, the Frenchman created these caricatures of two famous international figures.

ANYONE WHO HAS seen Paris knows about Place Pigalle—and knows that almost anything can be found there. That is why it is no surprise to learn that in the city of artists, one Pigalle restaurateur is an artist who hangs his work from the ceiling. More surprising is his medium—lobster shells!

Page 2 Captions:
Left, no label is needed to identify De Gaulle. Right, not so easy to recognize is the figure of the French president. Vincent Auriol

Fine wire holds the various parts of the figures together in their lifelike poses

Hanging from the ceiling in a somewhat frightening array are scores of examples of the artist’s work in a variety of subjects

Stuffed Frog Makes Novel Lamp
NOVELTY taxidermy, in which mounted birds and animals are arranged in special poses to serve as useful articles, is fast becoming a fad in this country. One of the most popular subjects is the frog lamp.

A stuffed bullfrog reclines lazily against his toadstool shade, holding a tiny fish-pole. Swamp grass glued to the base makes a realistic shore line, while a bit of mirror serves as the pool.

Mounted bull-frog fishing on bank of pool under shade of giant toadstool makes attractive table lamp. Taxidermists find great demand for specimens mounted in natural settings such as this. Tiny electric light bulbs are under the shade.