Home Taxidermy for Pleasure and Profit: A Guide for Those Who Wish to Prepare and Mount Animals, Birds, Fish, Reptiles, etc., for Home, Den, or Office Decoration

In Short

Albert B. Farnham provides an exhaustive, practical handbook designed to teach hunters, trappers, and naturalists how to skin, tan, preserve, and mount wild game. Spanning everything from small songbirds and panfish to large ungulates and reptiles, the book details the construction of artificial armatures, the application of chemical preservatives, and the finishing touches required for home decoration or commercial sale. It survives as an authentic record of early American woodcraft, reflecting an era when self-reliance, wilderness harvesting, and taxidermic display were central to outdoor life.

The Story

The book opens with a foundational survey of taxidermy as both an art and a practical trade, immediately establishing that high-quality work relies on proper equipment, careful field collection, and sound chemical preservatives. Farnham outlines the essential toolset, ranging from basic pocket knives, skinning blades, and pliers to heavy-duty workshop implements like drawshaves, bit braces, and anvils. He introduces chemical formulas necessary to arrest decay and relax tissues, including arsenical solutions, salt-and-alum pickles, and carbolic acid-glycerine washes. Field protocols emphasize preventing damage at the moment of capture, instructing collectors to plug shot holes with cotton and protect delicate plumage or scales immediately upon harvesting.

From basic field preparation, the guide advances to the mechanics of skinning, tanning, and constructing scientific bird skins. Farnham details how to dismantle flesh from bone without tearing hides, treat the interior surfaces with preservatives, and build interior supports using wrapped tow, wire, and clay. He moves into fur processing, describing how to tan mammalian hides with sulphuric acid and salt solutions, degrease them with gasoline, and clean the fur using warm cornmeal or sand. Detailed directions show how to turn these dressed furs into backed floor rugs, complete with scalloped felt borders, padded interlinings, and sculpted facial features.

The central chapters address the complex art of mounting full-bodied specimens and game trophies. For small and medium animals, Farnham details how to build custom wire and tow armatures, attach cleaned skulls, and secure skin using clay and pins. Large game animals and wall heads require heavier mechanical structures, such as hollow wooden frameworks, papier-mâché forms, and cast plaster manikins. Specific chapters guide the reader through difficult non-mammalian subjects, describing methods like the Baumgartel technique for mounting fish on wooden panels, techniques for dissecting frogs through the mouth, and methods for securing turtle shells.

The concluding sections focus on the commercial and decorative applications of the craft. Farnham addresses novelty items—such as antler hat racks, foot-handled riding whips, and bird-adorned screens—and provides detailed instructions for casting anatomical forms using gelatine and plaster molds. He closes with practical advice on market trophy hunting, pricing services, and running a profitable home business, presenting taxidermy as a rewarding blend of artistic skill, natural history, and commercial enterprise.

How It Unfolds

Equipping the workshop The book opens by detailing the necessary tools and chemical formulas required to begin taxidermic work. Pocket knives, pliers, tow, and clay are gathered alongside pickling solutions of salt, alum, and sulphuric acid.

Harvesting and field preservation Farnham explains how to trap and shoot specimens without damaging their hides or feathers. Immediate field care, such as plugging wounds with cotton and wrapping fish in paper, prevents staining and decay.

Skinning and tanning hides The process shifts to skinning quadrupeds and birds, followed by chemical tanning and fur dressing. Hides are soaked in pickling jars, degreased in benzine, and tumbled in warm cornmeal to restore natural luster.

Building armatures and mounting The author describes constructing artificial bodies out of wire, tow, thread, and clay. Skins are stretched over these forms, glass eyes are set in wax, and details like noses and eyelids are carefully modeled.

Handling difficult specimens Specialized techniques are introduced for game heads, fish, reptiles, and skeletons. Fish are cast in plaster molds or mounted on wooden medallion panels, while frogs are skinned entirely through their mouths.

Commercial execution and novelties The final chapters cover decorative novelties like antler furniture, screen mounts, and paper-mâché casting. Farnham outlines how to price finished work and build a profitable trade serving local hunters and collectors.

The People

While the text contains no fictional characters or narrative protagonists, it is driven by distinct real-world figures who define its practical world.

• Albert B. Farnham acts as the authoritative instructor and seasoned practitioner. He wants to demystify taxidermy for amateurs, seeking to replace crude "stuffing" methods with systematic, anatomical precision. He guides the reader through every technical obstacle, sharing field-tested shortcuts and practical workbench remedies.
• The Amateur Trapper and Sportsman serves as the primary reader figure. Driven by a desire to preserve field trophies or earn extra income from wild catches, this figure faces the constant threat of spoiled hides, slipping hair, and ruined specimens. Through Farnham's instructions, this novice transforms into a skilled craftsperson capable of producing durable, naturalistic mounts.
• The Commercial Market Hunter represents the surrounding economy of the era. Seeking to turn harvested game, horns, and hides into profitable goods, this figure encounters changing conservation laws and shifting market demands, ultimately adapting by selling fully prepared trophies and mounted heads to urban buyers.

In Its Own Voice

"If it is capable of taking and holding a good edge the small blade of a pocket knife is equal to a surgeon's scalpel..."

Farnham highlights the accessible, highly practical nature of the tools required for basic field skinning.

"Never fill any part of a mounted bird with cotton unless it may be the sockets as it is impossible to force a sharpened wire or pin through it."

This explicit workshop warning demonstrates the author's emphasis on proper technique over improper shortcuts.

"There is no way to accomplish this without work."

Farnham plainly reminds the reader of the physical effort needed to pull, stretch, and soften a tanned hide.

What It's Really About

Underneath its step-by-step instructions, the book argues for the thorough utilization and preservation of natural resources. Written during a transitional period in American environmental history—when market hunting was giving way to modern conservation laws—the text presents taxidermy as a way to respect harvested game by preventing waste. It emphasizes that a dead animal should not be discarded as offal, but rather preserved as an educational specimen, a functional household object, or an enduring trophy. The underlying message encourages self-reliance, keen observation of animal anatomy, and technical mastery over raw biological materials.

Why Read It Today

Home Taxidermy for Pleasure and Profit appeals to readers interested in historical crafts, traditional outdoor lore, and environmental history. It offers a clear, unvarnished window into early twentieth-century American wilderness culture, recording the practical skills once common among woodsmen, trappers, and museum collectors. The prose is grounded and direct, reflecting a period when home workshops routinely handled chemical preservatives, raw hides, and heavy hand tools.

Modern readers should be prepared for period attitudes regarding wildlife harvesting, as well as the routine use of toxic substances like arsenic, carbolic acid, and gasoline for hide preservation. The text makes no apologies for market hunting or animal trapping, treating wildlife primarily through the lens of utility, sport, and specimen collection. What remains compelling is Farnham's quiet dedication to craftsmanship: his insistence on observing living nature closely so that its form can be faithfully reconstructed. It stands as a vivid piece of Americana, celebrating handiwork, patience, and deep familiarity with the natural world.