T. J. McConnaughay

Best known for Barbers' Manual (Part 1); Text Book on Taxidermy (Part 2), this author published a distinctly practical handbook in Chicago in 1898. The book was written for working people and learners, combining instruction in barbering with guidance on taxidermy and related shop work.

In the book's preface, he says the material came from long experience rather than theory. He writes that he had run his own barber shop for thirty-one years and had connected taxidermy with his shop work for twenty-three years, preserving and selling hundreds of specimens and also working with hide tanning.

Very little biographical information seems to be widely documented beyond what can be gathered from his own book and catalog records. Even so, the surviving text gives a clear sense of his voice: practical, confident, and focused on helping others turn skilled handwork into useful knowledge and income.