The Junior Historian, Volume 11, Number 6, May 1951 Page: 9
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THE JUNIOR HISTORIAN
feathers has presented many serious
problems. Although Katz had all the
necessary machinery for drying feath-
ers, he could not turn them out fast
enough to meet the demand. He de-
cided to buy a long-range dryer similar
to that used in drying cement. Hearing
of an available one in Oklahoma, he
hastened to investigate. Finding the
company practically bankrupt, he
bought the dryer at a great saving.
Although it dried the feathers with
sufficient speed, the new dryer pre-
sented another dilemma: it was too
large for Katz's building. Needless to
say, the building had to be enlarged.
With tons of feathers ready to ship
to the Chicago market, he found the
frieght charges prohibitive. What could
he do to reduce the cost? Since the
feathers were not to be used for mil-
linery purposes but were intended for
bedding material, they had to be
ground. Where could one find a feather
grinder? Fortunately, while visiting the
Bewley Flour Mills one day, Katz ob-
served a feed grinder in operation. He
wondered whether it could be adapted
to grind feathers. To test the matter,
he bought the machine, and adjustment
of the blades made the grinder satis-
factory for the grinding of feathers.
Grinding the feathers made shipping
easier, and the freight to Chicago was
brought within profit-range. Feathers
again had won a victory for Katz, for
a major part of his business today is
the marketing of processed turkey and
chicken feathers.
On his many trips to New York, Katz
had observed the making of pillows
and comforters. Since he had heard of
no Texas producer of such merchan-
dise, he and his wife Lea began experi-
menting with coverlets in their spare
time. A long-unused skill in lettering
was again put to work designing the
stitching scheme by which the comfort
filling is held in place. Many obstacles
retarded the first efforts in this phase
of the feather business, but trial and
error promised success about the timethe depression of 1929 struck. Another
glimpse of attractive profits vanished
into the panic.
Katz and associates have experienced
many setbacks through the years, ad-
versities which would have conquered
less determined men. Fire, against
whose destruction a feather merchant
can get no insurance, has struck a
number of times to damage or destroy
the merchandise. Each setback has
proven more difficult to surmount.
World War II was another obstacle.
Materials were extremely inferior and
scarce, machine parts were difficult to
replace, and weeks of delay retarded
delivery and reduced the volume of
business. To bridge this difficult period,
Katz again resorted to feathers alone:
pheasant feathers from Canada were
sold to New York buyers; downs, half-
downs, turkey and chicken feathers
found a good price and a ready market.
The non-competitive years of the
comfort business before the war van-
ished with the return of peace. Depart-
ment stores began stocking great quan-
tities of coverings manufactured in the
East. Katz met this competition by
putting out larger and fuller comforts.
A former salesman is said to have copied
Katz' stitching designs in his comfort
factory in Oklahoma City; another
former employee opened a pillow fac-
tory in Houston. Some say that compe-
tition is the life of trade; Katz finds
that it can also be the death.
Of the many shortages created by
World War II, one of the most serious
was fertilizer. Katz had sought some
profitable use for the quills or stems
and other waste parts throughout his
feather-handling career. A chemist
analyzed some feathers and found that
the waste, which represents about fifty
per cent of the raw feathers, contains
valuable fertilizer elements. Then Katz
shipped a quantity of feather waste to
the International Fertilizer Company of
Norfolk, Virginia, where it was dis-
covered that a crystal could be made
[continued on page 22]
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Texas State Historical Association. The Junior Historian, Volume 11, Number 6, May 1951, periodical, May 1951; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth391577/m1/11/?q=%22mex-tex%22: accessed July 9, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.