The History of Fur Farming in Central Wisconsin

This week we devote an hour to the history of fur farming in North Central Wisconsin. Host Glen Moberg welcomes Gary and Jon Mason, co-owners of The Fox Tale and Silver Fox Retreat in rural Hamburg, southwest of Merrill. The retreat and conference center is on the site of the old Fromm Brothers Farm, at one time the center of the world fur farming industry. The silver fox pelts that were bred at the site were purchased for an unheard of $1.3 million dollars by the New York Auction Company in 1929, were later featured at the Chicago World’s Fair, and worn by Marlene Dietrich, Rita Hayworth, Jackie Kennedy and the Vanderbilts. The auctions on the farm attracted celebrities that included New York’s Mayor Fiorello Laguardia, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Albert Einstein. The Fromm Brothers also pioneered the science of ginseng farming in central Wisconsin, and helped create a canine distemper vaccine that is still in use today.