From about 1926 to 1959 Sears ran a service by way of the Sears Raw Fur Marketing Service in which trappers could ship their furs to Sears, they would be graded and a check sent to the trapper for the furs. Sears had a fur buying operation in Philadelphia and Sears was as close as your mailbox. All handled through the mail and generally the price paid and the grading of the furs was fair. They also had an option of receiving store credit for the furs instead of a check. Since Sears sold trapping supplies it worked out well all the way around. Actually Sears supplied only their name as the Raw Fur Marketing service was a third party organization that handled the buying of furs.
Many trappers (including youngsters) from the Delmar area worked the woods and marsh areas around the streams for muskrats, fox, raccoon, rabbit, groundhogs etc. By the 1950s the price of furs dropped and it was no longer worth trapping plus Sears had changed their business focus from a rural market to an urban market. .
There were a number of local fur buyers, but Vernon L White on Quantico road comes to mind, J W Mears, and Benjamin and Alan Givarz. Prices in 1948 were $20 for mink and $2.50 for Muskrat.
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