Friday's With Fred-Young Fred and Tige the Pitbull

Fred Astaire didn't start his film career until he was in his thirties, but he was already a seasoned performer.  He began dancing on the vaudeville circuit with his sister Adele when he was only 5 years old!  The picture below of Fred with a pit bull was probably taken when he was about ten years old.   He looks so cute, already dapper in his buster brown collar.  Though he is very young can still recognize that distinctive long face, homely but handsome (or at least I think so).   Im not sure if this dog was Fred's own or a fellow performer, dog acts where very popular in vaudeville.  I remember reading in Fred's autobiography Steps in Time that he and his sister Adele used to open for a dog act.  One copy of this image  listed the dogs name as Tige, but I have know idea if its accurate or not.  Regardless, the photo is a lovely reminder of a time when pit bulls where recognize for the great, intelligent, and  loving family dogs they are.  

Happy Birthday Strong Heart

Most people have heard of the famous silent era canine film star Rin Tin Tin

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but how many have heard of Strong Heart? 

Strong Heart, the 97th anniversary of his birth is today, was the first major canine film star, pre-dating the better remembered Rinty. 

Strong Heart was born in Germany and initially trained as an attack dog before being acquired by dog trainer Larry Trimble at the age three.   He appeared in his first film, The Silent Call, in 1921 and was instantly a big star.  

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 Due to his large size and somewhat intimidating appearance he often played wolves and wild dogs, but at home with Trimble and his wife he was apparently a perfect, loving, and gentle pet.

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The public adored Strong Heart and he spent 9 years staring in films and traveling the press circuit. 

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He fathered many puppies with his wife Lady Jule, a female German Shephered and a fellow film star.  Jule and Strong Heart where profiled in movie magazines much like any other Hollywood power couple.

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He received a star on the Hollywood walk of fame and inspired a line of dog food.                                              

 

            

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In 1929 when he was 12 Strong Heart was burned by a movie light and developed a tumor at the sight of the burn.  He died a short while later.



Strong Heart was greatly missed after his death.  His friend the spiritualist, animal communicator, and Hollywood produce J. Allen Boone wrote several books about Strong Heart.   Letters to Strong Heart is the most well known and is still in print, it consists of a series of letters Boone wrote to Strong Heart after his death and is perhaps the first book on pet loss ever published.

Sadly nearly all of Strong Heart's films have been lost, below is a clip from The Return of Boston Blackie 1927, his only surviving film.  In the clip he can be seen "attacking" an actor.  Trimble said that Strong Heart was so gentle that he never ever injured an actor, not even a scratch, even when filming attack scenes.

Hopefully the renewed interest in Rin Tin Tin brought about by the publication of Susan Orlean's book will spark an interest in this forgotten canine star.


Historical Hounds-Bobbie The Wonder Dog

These days responsible pet owners all have their dogs leashed or under tight verbal control, an off leash dog wandering alone would, at least in most parts of the country, elicit concerned calls to animal control.  Such was not the case in the 1920s when many farm dogs wandered unaccompanied.  One such free-wheeling canine was Bobbie the Wonder dog

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Bobbie was a collie mix farm dog who belonged to the Braziers, a typical 1920s family: mom, dad and kids.   Bobbie loved  country life and was, according to Mr. Brazier, a natural heeler, able to coral horses, cats, chickens, and cows with ease.   Well loved by his family and enjoying the freedom of country life he lead an idealized existence for his first year.  Then the Braziers bought a café in an Oregon town and feeling city life was not a good match for Bobbie they reluctantly sold him to some farm owning friends.   Bobbie, however, had different ideas.  He escaped his new home repeatedly and would turn up at his old owners café.  Eventually the Braziers realized Bobbie was meant to be with them.  They decided to take a trip back east and to take Bobbie with them.  After buying Bobbie back from the family they had sold him too they set off on their journey, with Bobbie riding on the back of their car on top of the luggage.

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Bobbie purportedly had a lovely time on the trip but while Mr. Brazier was filling the car at a gas station Bobbie jumped off the running board to chase some wild animals.  At first Mr. Brazier was unconcerned, since Bobbie frequently had such adventures and always returned.  However, by the next day there was still no sign of the dog.  The family searched but to no avail.  Mr. Brazier took an add out in the local paper asking Bobbie to be shipped back to them if he was found and the dejected family continued on their journey.

Six months later the Braziers, now back in Oregon, had given Bobbie up for lost or dead, when an amazing thing happened. While walking down the street the youngest daughter spotted a dirty, limping dog coming towards her and was shocked to discover that the dog was in fact Bobbie.   An investigation of several distinguishing scars on Bobbie's body proved he was in fact the same dog.  He had walked 2500 miles to return to  his family.   The Braziers set busy spoiling Bobbie, who had became emaciated during his journey,  with steaks and cream.  Amazed by Bobbie's voyage and wanting to confirm his route, Mr. Brazier contacted several filling station attendants and restaurant owners and was able to confirm that many had seen, and fed, Bobbie during his journey.  Though his research Mr. Brazier was able to chart Bobbie's route, he followed the route taken by the Brazier car and stopped at many of the same rest stations as they had, until finally making his way home.  Word  of   Bobbie's amazing journey made him a local legend and briefly a national canine celebrity in the 1920s:

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Bobbie was given a silver medal  by the Oregon humane society. The town of Silverton also built him a fancy dog house and presented to him in a ceremony.  When Bobbie died at the too early age of 6 the town marked his grave site with a testament to his famous journey.

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  The dog house, complete with a monument and plaque honoring Bobbie and his journey still stands in Silverton and is a popular roadside tourist attraction.

I really like Bobbie's pink flamingo
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War Dogs-Gander the Newfoundland

Dogs have been used in battle for centuries, with many tragically loosing their lives in an effort to save their human companions.  One such dog is Gander the Newfoundland:

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Gander, originally known as Pal, was, like many other WWII dogs, a family pet before being given by his owner to the Royal Rifles, a regiment of the Canadian Army, in order to assist in the war effort.  Gander was immediately popular with the soldiers, serving as both a military dog and an unofficial service dog.  The soldiers gave him the honorary rank of sergeant and brought him with them to Hong Kong in 1941.  While there Gander participated in several battles, before loosing his life.  He was killed when he picked up a Japanese hand grenade and ran towards the Japanese soldiers with it, dying in the explosion and saving several wounded Canadian soldiers. 

In the year 2000 Gander was awarded the Dickin Medal.  This medal was created by the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals, a UK veterinary charity, to honor military animals that have shown outstanding acts of bravery.   Gander's citation reads:

For saving the lives of Canadian infantrymen during the Battle of Lye Mun on Hong Kong Island in December 1941. On three documented occasions, Gander, the Newfoundland mascot of the Royal Rifles of Canada, engaged the enemy as his regiment joined the Winnipeg Grenadiers, members of Battalion Headquarters "C" Force and other Commonwealth troops in their courageous defence of the island. Twice Gander's attacks halted the enemy's advance and protected groups of wounded soldiers. In a final act of bravery, the war dog was killed in action gathering a grenade. Without Gander's intervention, many more lives would have been lost in the assault. Source

Gander's name is also listed on the Canadian Veterans Hong Kong war memorial:

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Popular Dog Breeds in America By Decade-1930s

As everyone knows the 1930s where a difficult period in American life.  The country grappled with economic and ecological disasters that turned vast sections of the country into barren waste lands and during the worst years saw a quarter of the American work force unemployed.  In the face of such calamaties what better time to turn to a  devoted canine companion for comfort and support?  Apparently plenty of Americans in the 1930s did just that and pictures from the decade document it.


Unsurprisingly all American pit bull type breeds where extremely popular 1930s companions.  Images from the period show them in a wide range of socio-economic situations.  The two pictures below are a good example, the first picture showing a group of men, perhaps farm workers or hobos with their dogs, and the second two well dressed men who may have been students or professionals.





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In the thirties pitbulls also enjoyed a reputation as the perfect family breed, something that is sadly no longer the case.  Quite a few images from the period show children   with pitbull type dogs.



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And of course nearly everyone knows that the beloved Petey of Little Rascals, a popular cinema serial in the 30s was a pitbull.

According to some AKC records Boston Terriers where the most popular breed in the US during the thirties. In addition to appearing in family photographs they pop up in plenty of advertisements and publicity shots from the decade.  If the images below are any indication they seem to have been very popular with stylish women.

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Movies where incredibly popular in the 1930s with nearly three quarters of the population attending the cinema once a week, so its no surprise that the dogs that appeared on screen often made an appearance in fan's homes as well.  The Thin Man movies in which canine star Skippy portrayed the charming Asta helped popularize the Wire Fox Terrier  making it one of the decades top breeds.

 

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Another popular terrier during the 30s was the adorable Sealyham terrier.  Sadly these charming dogs popularity has declined sharply making it one of the rarest breeds today.

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Of course there were plenty of other breeds about in the 1930s as well.

 

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These are just a smattering of the images you can find, there are dozens more.  I love them all because looking at these pictures you are reminded of no matter how much the world has changed, our lover for our dogs remains the same.



Happy Birthday Gil Elvgreen

 

 

 

Today marks the birthday of an important vintage pin up artist, the Norman Rockwell of cheese AKA, Gil Elvgren.  If you have ever admired a picture of curvaceous 40s, 50s, or 60s pin up, usually with her skirt askew from some improbable mishap, then you have seen Elvgren's work.

Elvgren was born on March 15, 1914 in St.  Paul Minnesota.  He studied art at the Minneapolis Institute and the Chicago Academy of American Art.  Elvgren was heavily influenced by classic American Illustrators like Charles Gibson and like Norman Rockwell he favored a realistic, pretty approach to art. Like Rockwell, he worked with live models



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for all of his pictures.  From the 1930s through the 70s Elvgren illustrated for Coca-Cola, General Electric and made calendars for Brown and Bigelow.
Elvgren didn't just paint beautiful women though, dogs were a frequent feature in his art.  Often the cause of a beautiful women's clothing coming to disarray.  Below are some of Elvgren's illustrations featuring dogs.

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Famous Women and Their Dogs

In honor of women's history month I thought it would be fun to write about some famous vintage ladies and their dogs.  First up flapper icon Clara Bow.

I recently discovered that Clara was a devoted dog owner.  According to her biography, Running Wild, Clara was so crazy about her dogs that she had a room in her home specially made up for them, complete with dirt for them to play in.   During her hey day when she was one of the most recognizable stars in Hollywood, she sped around town with her chow dogs.

 

There are also quite a few images of Clara Bow with the same brindle mutt, or perhaps a Great Dane?  I am not sure if he was a pet or a co-star but they sure look happy together.

 

 

"The More I see of Men, The More I like Dogs"

    Clara Bow

Historical Hounds-Football and Bulldogs

English bulldogs have long been associated with Football.  Very early photos of American football teams show dogs seated with the players

This photo of a turn of the century team shows a Bull Terrier type dog seated on a players lap.   Dogs as mascots for college sports teams became popular in the late 1800s.  Handsome Dan:

a bulldog owned by Andrew B. Graves became the mascot for Yale University sports team when he began following his owner to sporting events and became a popular fixture in the stands.

The most famous dog and team association occurred later with the University of Georgia.    The original University of Georgia mascot was a goat, but in 1894 a white bull terrier named Trilby owned by a student began spending time with the team and enjoyed catching footballs thrown by the students.  She quickly became the teams mascot and may have began the teams association with bully breeds and white dogs.

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After Trilby a wide variety of dogs served as University of Georgia mascots, sometimes changing from game to game.  Then in 1944 a local physician began attending University football games with his brindle and white bulldog, Mr. Angel. 

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 Angel enjoyed meeting players and spectators alike and became the teams mascot from 1944-46, cementing the teams association with English bulldogs.  Mr. Angel's reign was followed by English bulldogs Butch and Mike.  Then in 1955 the current UGA line became with UGA I "Hoods Ole Dan" who attended games in a red jersey.

Since UGA I there have been 9 UGAs, all white English bulldogs.  Concerns about the health of the line have been raised as UGA 7 died of a heart complication and UGA 8 died of lymphoma.  The UGA's receive excellent veterinary care and spend games in a climate controlled dog house, due to the breeds tendency to over heat.  The current UGA, known as Russ, has served as mascot since 2012 and has many fans.

While I'm not a football fan, Im obviously a bulldog fan thanks to my darling Bob:

So if I was going to root for a team it would definitely be Georgia.