Department Store Removes Furs After Demonstration by Ecologists

Raymond's a Boston department store, removed coats made of the skins of rare animals from its fur department last Saturday after a peaceful demonstration by the New England Ecology Action Committee.

It was the first time than an American department store has withdrawn its merchandise at the request of an ecology group, said Gregory C. Wilson, chairman of the Endangered Species Group of Ecology Action.

Wilson, who is curator of the Theodore Roosevelt Collection in Harvard Library, said that the demonstration was "the first in what will be a series of contacts with furriers who are carrying the skins of endangered species."

Advertised

Ecology Action chose Raymond's because it advertised a sale of unusual furs in Boston newspapers.

About 20 members of Ecology Action gathered at Raymond's on Washington St. at 9:30 a.m. Saturday and set up a non-obstructive picket line.

Frank Rickey, manager of the fur department, came out of the store and asked what the demonstrators were doing. They explained that they did not intend to harass Raymond's or its customers, but rather to bring attention to the problem of animal species whose existence were endangered by the fur industry.

Rickey invited them into the store, and agreed to remove the furs which they found objectionable if they would remove the pickets.

The group then picked out 14 coats and asked that they not be sold in Raymond's. Wilson estimated that the retail value of the coats was $2500.

Wilson said that endangered species included seals, otters. alligators and leopards.

Cute Toy

He added that Ecology Action would seek out stores in Harvard Square which carry products made from these animals, including the Coup, which sells alligator belts, and toy stores which sell stuffed koala bears and leopards.

"To get that cute little toy, you have to slaughter the animal itself," Wilson said.