One of the best I ever knew was when I lived in Oh. His name was Lester Fitzgerald. I believe he was inducted into the OSTA hall of fame.
He taught me how to properly skin, flesh, and stretch fur. That was over 50 years ago.
I owe him a lot

Although he wasn’t the local fur buyer,,, I remember selling lots of fur to Ed Bauer in smithboro, Illinois. I can still remember how looked and smelled,,, I sure do miss it

Locally I sold to Lincoln Barbour. You had to count on being there at least an hour, because he loved to talk trapping and fur. If you got there around lunch time, he insisted on taking you to a local restaurant to have lunch with him. I saw him at the NCTA convention this year. He's getting frail, but still the great gentleman I remember. He quit buying fur a few years ago. In the day, he was huge in buying fur. I always enjoyed visiting him and E.J., Lincolns brother who worked in the fur house. Both men treated me well over the years.

When I was living in Maryland in the late 80's, I took over a hundred foxes and various other furs home to Ohio. Dad took me to Paullette fur company in Carrolton, OH. He treated me well too. It was the most I had gotten for my fur up to the time.

All these stories, an end to an era?

Yes those were the days. Thought they would never end!

I used to sell and work with Frank Kostecki in Ohio , he used to tell some interesting stories.
I remember him telling me about a trapper he bought fur from ,that trapped out west a lot.
J.C. Connors , he used to stop at Franks fur house and Frank would go the JC's house.
Frank sold to NY in the early days then sold to FH.
He taught me a lot about putting up fur.
He told me about some interesting adventures on the trapline and explained a few sets.
He was a good friend, went elk humting with him in Colorado .

Learned a lot in those fur house gatherings.
That was the good old days.

Wow some great memories there. Tracy Gourley was a good friend as was Rich Regan (Except Rich beat me when we were both running for President of the Iowa Trapper's Assn LOL.) Sold a few to Larry Shuever in the early 80's before he killed himself. He was not in Chelsea, he was in Goodell I think. I Sold a LOT of fur to Lavonne Tostenson of Kensett from the early 1970's through the mid 1980's when he retired. It was always an event for me and my high school buddies to drive over there and sell our stuff and dream about buying traps by the dozen rather than singles.

Trying to think of the guy in Britt that had a good run buying fur. Sold quite a bit of stuff to him since he was only 15 minutes away from home.

Izzy’s barber shop and river city bait and tackle and hinnets fur shed.Dicks sport shop that Wiebke later bought.

Goldberg rented a banquet room in a motel here in Moses Lake. Most of my fur went to Pacific Hide and Fur in Spokane. Roger Schearer was the buyer and a real gentleman to do business with.

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Gary Schroeder or Lars Eidnes at Moscow Hide and Fur (later, Lars at Eidnes Fur in St Maries, Id.). They were both volume buyers in the 1970s, and responsible for many hundreds of thousands of pelts going to the furriers. Both of them treated me good through the years, and taught me a lot about the worldwide fur market. Schroeder is still buying fur today. Unfortunately, Lars has passed on.

Jack

I believe my Dad and I sold to Gary Schroeder in the 60s or 70s in the UP when he was buying for Hudson Bay. Might have the wrong name but I think it was him.

Ya my mistake about Larry he was the first buyer I sold to after I moved to Ventura 79 I believe. I sold alot to Richard when it was convenient to dump at the end of the day. I lost track of those Guys when I moved out west. I moved to our family farm in KS then to AZ for a couple of years fighting fire the back to KS for a spell. Then on to WY in 94 been hear since. Heard you had goon to AK for the Hall O Bit or something like that.

I also sold to Sterling Fur in Ohio on a couple of occasions when I would go home on leave. Humphrey would usually be in the back processing fur, and it was always fun visiting with them.

I also sold to Ohio River Fur Co in Ohio.

Wow some great memories there. Tracy Gourley was a good friend as was Rich Regan (Except Rich beat me when we were both running for President of the Iowa Trapper's Assn LOL.) Sold a few to Larry Shuever in the early 80's before he killed himself. He was not in Chelsea, he was in Goodell I think. I Sold a LOT of fur to Lavonne Tostenson of Kensett from the early 1970's through the mid 1980's when he retired. It was always an event for me and my high school buddies to drive over there and sell our stuff and dream about buying traps by the dozen rather than singles.

Trying to think of the guy in Britt that had a good run buying fur. Sold quite a bit of stuff to him since he was only 15 minutes away from home. [/quote]
Ya my mistake about Larry he was the first buyer I sold to after I moved to Ventura 79 I believe. I sold alot to Richard when it was convenient to dump at the end of the day. I lost track of those Guys when I moved out west. I moved to our family farm in KS then to AZ for a couple of years fighting fire the back to KS for a spell. Then on to WY in 94 been hear since. Heard you had goon to AK for the Hall O Bit or something like that.[/quote]

Sounds like you're someone I would probably know. I fished salmon in Alaska (Purse seine) in the summer, trapped in the fall and winter. Some of the hardest working, but best, days of my life. Oh to be young again.

Randy Jernigan of Grand Blanc,Michigan,Bud Stewart of Fenton Mich.,and Maynard ? of the Clare,Farwell area.Randy was a young guy who worked a day job and bought fur at night.A fun guy to sell to and shoot the trapping breeze with.Bud and Maynard were both old timers in the trade,and fair.Buds shop was always a hot bed of activity during November when muskrat season opened,he was called the 'rat man and for good reason,I'd love to see the total number of rats that man bought thru the years.He was also big into hand carving fishing lures which today bring good money in the vintage lure market.I never knew Maynards last name,but he was,to me,the classic northern fur buyer.His operation wasn't as big as Buds,but he bought alot of beaver ,something that was scarce in southern Michigan at that time.His fur shed looked like what you'd envision a buyers place would look like,wood stove and all.His place wasn't as hectic as Buds so he had a little more time to talk to a couple of teen age trappers like ourselves.The sights and smells from those businesses are something you never forget,and most likely gone for good.Glad I got to experience it.

Work for Richard for 9 years, sold to Bob Mohle in Sheffield, Ludy Sheda in Chelsea, Bill and Harvey, Phil Huffman in little cedar bought for a while.......

Evans Steel and Wool, Zimple Fur, Sundrud Hide&Fur, Schlaben Hide, Koep family, Runnigen Furs. Good Northern Minnesota buyers back in the day.

As far as I know Runnigen is The last Man standing.

The good old days.

Bill Henry in eastern Ohio.early 70’s then Lester Fitzgerald.
I remember taking a load of red fox to bill and it was when the interest ( price) was ticking up, probably ‘76 he was so excited because he had an order for reds and not enough we’re coming in and my pile made his order. About a week later he called and said he could really use some more, and did I have any. I had a few and if he would hold the price for a couple of weeks I would get another collection together and we made the deal. After Bill passed I sold to Lester until he retired from buying. Lester taught how to skin and put up coon for maximum money.