revolutionary dog truce

british library flickr

Germantown, Pennsylvania, October 1777:  American and British troops face each other across the battlefield. They've been doing this since the 4th of October under the commands of Sir William Howe (British) and George Washington (American).  Washington's plan was to surround and entrap the British from all four sides.  Because the American forces weren't as experienced as their opponents, this didn't quite work, and resulted in a defeat for the American forces.
The Battle of Germantown may have been an overall loss, but there was one small win for the Colonies on October 6: a short cease fire was called so the Americans could return a small dog to his owner...his British owner, Sir William Howe.  A terrier with Howe's name on his collar had been found unharmed but grubby on the battlefield.  Washington had the little guy cleaned and fed, then escorted back to Howe under a flag of truce with a note:

General Washington's compliments to General Howe - He does himself the pleasure to return him a dog, which by its collar appears to belong to him accidentally fell into his hands, and by the inscription on the collar appears to belong to his Excellency Sir William General Howe.  

Strikeouts are as in original note (and the habit of addressing nobility obviously dies hard, it seems). Want to see it?  I found it here. 

PS: Your friendly Curator has been in the middle of a major move for a while now and that's not going to settle down quite yet.  Stay tuned, and I'll post as I can. 

in which alexander pope appreciates his dog

From a letter the poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744) wrote to a friend, identified as "H.C. Esq.":

...Now I talk of my Dog, that I may not treat of a worse subject which my spleen tempts me to, I will give you some account of him; a thing not wholly unprecedented since Montaigne (to whom I am but a Dog in comparison) has done the very same thing of his Cat. Dic mihi quid melius desidiosus agam? (This seems to mean something like "How can I do any better and I'm lazy anyway" - curator) You are to know then, that as 'tis Likeness that begets affection, so my favorite dog is a little one, a lean one, and none of the finest shap'd. He is not much a Spaniel in his fawning, but has (what might be worth any man's while to imitate from him) a dumb surly sort of kindness, that rather shows itself when he thinks me ill-used by others, than when we walk peaceably and quietly by ourselves. If it be the chief point of Friendship to comply with a friend's Motions and Inclinations, he possesses this in an eminent degree; he lies down when I sit, and walks when I walk, which is more than many good friends can pretend to...

-- from Letters of Mr Pope, and Several Eminent Persons, from the year 1705, to 1711, Vol. 1 London: Printed and sold by the booksellers of London and Westminster, 1735. pp. 112-3.

greek and roman household pets

Today I'm going to send you to a fantastic article I've found, dating from 1949: "Greek and Roman Household Pets," by Francis D. Lazenby.  There you'll find a treasure trove including:

- Supposedly Ajax had a pet snake that followed him like a dog
- Quails were a favorite pet of patrician boys
- The ancestor of our domestic cats may well be the cream-colored Nubian cat
- Cats and weasels are most often interchangeable in ancient sources (that is, you can't really tell what animal exactly they're talking about)

Don't be put off by the footnotes and quotations - there's so much here!  Read it now.

the book collector and his feline friends

Dewitt Miller (American, 1857-1911) was wholly a man of letters.  An educator, speaker, and minister, he is perhaps best known as a book collector.  Like many (most?) of us book enthusiasts, he had a soft spot for cats.  Here's what his friend Leon Vincent recalls:

Other animals besides those of the human  race were the objects of Miller's benevolence. He delighted in parrots, squirrels, cats, and dogs, and had a profound respect for a horse. I well remember his satisfaction when the high-bred Angora cat that dwelt at the Glen jumped on his knee for the first time of its own accord; he had not looked for so great an honor. His face beamed as he stroked the little creature's head with his ample hand. They made a comical pair of comrades, Miller being so very large and the cat so exceedingly small.
Two or three of his cat-friends always received at Christmas time postal money-orders (made out in the name of their respective masters), to the end that they might properly celebrate the day with extra portions of cream or chunks of liver. On the occasion of his last visit to Boston he insisted on leaving fifty cents to buy holiday meats for the cat that guards the Old South book-shop.
What a charming way to be remembered.

- from Vincent, Leon H. 1859-1941. Dewitt Miller. Cambridge: Printed at the Riverside press, 1912. pp. 134-5.

official card-carrying us navy mascot

His name was Apache, 25 pounds, black eyes and black and white hair, rated Dog1c.  Or in any case that's what his Navy ID card said.  In honor of Veterans' Day, I'd like to send you to the Naval History Blog's article introducing us to Apache and others: the journalist Scoop, the freshly buzzcut Musume, and Rickey at attention.  Here you go.
And to all veterans, human and animal, thank you for your service!

teddy roosevelt wrangles the pets

Theodore Roosevelt's letters to his children are a pleasure to read (except for descriptions of big-game hunting, at which you chalk it up to the times, wince, and move on).  They are affectionate, funny, thoughtful, and wide-ranging; there is a passage on Dickens as a writer vs. Dickens as a man which is not at all complimentary toward the latter.  The letters are also full of animal news, as the Roosevelt family was fond of pets.  Here's a couple of passages from January 1908 about two of the White House zoo, including a kitchen cat that invited itself to an official reception.
***
White House, Jan. 2, 1908.
. . . Mother continues much attached to Scamp, who is certainly a cunning little dog. He is very affectionate, but so exceedingly busy when we are out on the grounds, that we only catch glimpses of him zigzagging at full speed from one end of the place to the other. The kitchen cat and he have strained relations but have not yet come to open hostility. 

White House, Jan. 27, 1908.
DEAR ARCHIE:
Scamp is really a cunning little dog, but he takes such an extremely keen interest in hunting, and is so active, that when he is out on the grounds with us we merely catch glimpses of him as he flashes by. The other night after the Judicial Reception when we went up-stairs to supper the kitchen cat suddenly appeared parading down the hall with great friendliness, and was forthwith exiled to her proper home again.

-- from Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919. Theodore Roosevelt's Letters to His Children. New York: C. Scribner's sons, 1919. pp. 217-8.

vintage wednesday

image courtesy of LOC, assumed PD
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.38874

"Stray dog seated at a desk in the congressional office of Representative Charles Wilson."

mrs custer and the dogs

Elizabeth Custer (1842-1933), the wife of George Armstrong Custer, had been raised in comfort and privilege as a judge's daughter.  Even so, she readily followed her husband wherever he went on his military career despite the discomforts of travel.  After Custer's death, "Libbie" Custer devoted her energies to his image, publishing popular books on his life and the adventures she had shared with him. From her first, Boots and Saddles (1885), here's a passage about camping on the plains and how the family dogs found the comfiest digs:

While we were all getting accustomed to the new climate, it was of no use to try to keep the dogs out of my tent. They stood around, and eyed me with such reproachful looks if I attempted to tie up the entrance to the tent and leave them out. If it were very cold when I returned from the dining-tent, I found dogs under and on the camp-bed, and so thickly scattered over the floor that I had to step carefully over them to avoid hurting feet or tails. If I secured a place in the bed I was fortunate. Sometimes, when it had rained, and all of them were wet, I rebelled. The steam from their shaggy coats was stifling; but the general begged so hard for them that I taught myself to endure the air at last. I never questioned the right of the half-grown puppies to everything. Our struggles to raise them, and to avoid the distemper which goes so much harder with blooded than with cur dogs, endeared them to us. When I let the little ones in, it was really comical to hear my husband’s arguments and cunningly-devised reasons why the older dogs should follow. A plea was put up for “the hound that had fits;” there was always another that “had been hurt in hunting;” and so on until the tent would hold no more. Fortunately, in pleasant weather, I was let off with only the ill or injured ones for perpetual companions. We were so surrounded with dogs when they were resting after the march, and they slept so soundly from fatigue, that it was difficult to walk about without stepping on them.

-- Custer, Elizabeth Bacon, 1842-1933. "Boots And Saddles": Or, Life In Dakota With General Custer. New York: Harper & brothers, 1885. p. 57.

brass

www.philamuseum.org 1957-95-1
Gift of Walter M. Jeffords, 1957

"Thomas, Phipps; Philadelphia 1786." says the engraving on this brass dog collar. It's thin metal, and I assume (and hope) it was able to flex open just enough for Thomas Phipps to pop his dog's neck within its confines.

the mimic dog

public domain

This is a "Mimick, or Gethulian-Dog," as recorded by Edward Topsell in his natural history of c. 1600.  It's described as "being apt to imitate all things it seeth, for which cause some have thought that it was conceived by an Ape; but in face sharpe and black like a Hedge-hog, having a short recurved body; very long legs, shaggie hair, and a short tail..."  Apparently in ancient Egypt this sort of dog was taught all manner of tricks.  Whatever breed could this have been?

Topsell, Edward, 1572-1625?. The History of Four-footed Beasts And Serpents... The whole rev., cor. and inl. with the addition of two useful physical tables, by J[ohn] R[owland] M.D. London: Printed by E. Cotes, for G. Sawbridge [etc.], 1658. p. 127.

the cat as doctor

thanks reusableart.com

C. Howard Young suffered from a number of ailments during his life, and even so managed to live a decent span of days (1853-1927).  His 1897 memoir, Sunny Life of an Invalid, isn't as grim as you'd think (a little of it is).  In fact, most of it is chatty, informal, witty and self-deprecating, and appreciative of every comfort that came his way.  He dedicates an entire chapter to "Cats as Doctors: A Debt of Gratitude Paid to Cats."  Here's one of the tribute tales:
* * *
I should allude more at length to the pussy who cared for me at Asbury Park, NJ.
Sitting on the veranda, one summer eve, a poor, woe-be-gone cat slunk by, with pitiful appeals. It was soon to become a mother.
We called it, but in vain. It feared. All men's hands, it felt, were against it. And men's feet, too.
My sister, who had sympathy for all that suffered, always had good influence on all animals. She followed it, and talked soothingly, and soon came back with it. We petted it a few days, and then my sister prepared a bed for it in the woodshed. Large oyster shells were placed around the interesting patient, with various delicacies in them, and the feline population of the United States of America was soon augmented by six.

The next day, that cat appeared in my room with one baby kitten in her mouth. As there was another bed in my room I had it covered with journals. The kitty waited patiently, sprang up, and laid number one on the bed; then emigrated to import the other five kittens.
That cat then took care of the six kittens and myself, and at times brought them over for a visit to my bed. It seemed to regard me as a kind of godfather. Also seemed to regard my bed as possessing superior accommodations for cat housekeeping. "Cast your bread upon the waters." Well, it was this same cat (cats seem to apply the injunction to increase and multiply) that later, with a new family under the stoop, chased away a burglar, by fastening her claws in the calf of his leg at midnight. Possibly, or even probably, she thought the intruder was after her feline family, as well as her adopted human family, but "One good turn deserves another." From the oaths I heard on the veranda, I can see that the burglar felt that one bad turn deserves a scratch. Several!
* * *
Young, C. Howard 1853-1927. Sunny Life of an Invalid. Hartford, Conn.: Press of The Case, Lockwood & Brainard, 1897. pp. 163-4.

of the dog called the setter

John Caius wrote the first book on English dogs in 1576 (we've seen him before, writing of terriers).  Here he speaks of a breed we love well here at the Museum, for as longtime readers know, the "staff" includes Briar, the English Setter.  I have left it in the original English of the time, so sometimes you'll see a "v" is used for "u" and vice versa, as in "vpon" (upon) and "indeuour" (endeavor).
* * *
Another sort of Dogges be there, seruiceable for fowling, making no noise either with foote or with tounge, whiles they followe the game. These attend diligently vpon theyr Master and frame their conditions to such beckes, motions, and gestures, as it shall please him to exhibite and make, either going forward, drawing backeward, inclining to the right hand, or yealding toward the left, (In making mencion of fowles my meaning is of the Partridge and the Quaile) when he hath founde the byrde, he keepeth sure and fast silence, he stayeth his steppes and wil proceede no further, and with a close, couert, watching eye, layeth his belly to the grounde and so creepeth forward like a worme. When he approcheth neere to the place where the birde is, he layes him downe, and with a marcke of his pawes, betrayeth the place of the byrdes last abode, whereby it is supposed that this kinde of dogge is called Index, Setter, being in deede a name most consonant and agreable to his quality. The place being knowne by the meanes of the dogge, the fowler immediatly openeth and spreadeth his net, intending to take them, which being done the dogge at the accustomed becke or vsuall signe of his Master ryseth vp by and by, and draweth neerer to the fowle that by his presence they might be the authors of their owne insnaring, and be ready intangled in the prepared net. . .

* * *

Caius continues with a story which he offers as proof that setters can behave in a "cunning and artificial" way if it serves its master's purpose, in this case as part of an animal show in which a hare thumped and nipped at a patient dog. 

* * *

. . . which couning and artificiall indeuour in a dogge (being a creature domesticall or householde seruaunt brought vp at home with offalls of the trencher and fragments of victualls) is not much to be maruailed at, seing that a Hare (being a wilde and skippishe beast) was seene in England to the astonishment of the beholders, in the yeare of our Lorde God, 1561 not onely dauncing in measure, but playing with his former feete vppon a tabbaret, and obseruing iust number of strokes (as a practicioner in that arte) besides that nipping & pinching a dogge with his teeth and clawes, & cruelly thumping him with y' force of his feete. This is no trumpery tale, nor trifling toye (as I imagine) and therefore not vnworthy to be reported, for I recken it a requitall of my trauaile, not to drowne in the seas of silence any speciall thing, wherein the prouidence and effectuall working of nature is to be pondered.

-- Caius, John, 1510-1573. Of Englishe Dogges, the Diversities, the Names, the Natures And the Properties: a Short Treatise Written In Latine And Newly Drawne Into Englishe. [Washington: Reprinted from the original by M. G. Denlinger, 1945. pp. 15-16.

prayer to stop a dog from barking

I found a book of charms, prayers and magic songs from the prehistoric Finnish people.  There's words of healing power (for hiccups, a lizard bite, when torn by a wolf or bear); words to chant to attract love, to repulse love, to avoid the cowhouse snake; prayers against wasps and elf-shots.
Here's a prayer to silence a dog:

Field maiden, farmyard girl! O golden king of earth,

here where they need thee, come from the field with thy

family to close the mouth of a dog, to plug the nozzle of a

whelp. Bind silk across its eyes, tie a bandage round its

ears, a mushroom up one nostril thrust, an apple up the

other one, lest it should scent the breath of man, perceive

the smell of a full-grown man, lest it should hear a passer-

by, lest it should see a wanderer.

Try it and let me know if it works!  There's two more in the book, if this one doesn't do the trick.

Abercromby, John Abercromby, baron, 1844-1924. The Pre- And Proto-historic Finns, Both Eastern And Western, With the Magic Songs of the West Finns. London: D. Nutt, 1898. p. 216.

a faithful parrot

The American symbolist painter Elihu Vedder (1836-1923) spent part of his childhood in Cuba.  After a while his parents thought the climate too hot for his health, and he was sent back to the care of his grandparents in New York.  As he writes in his memoir The Digressions of V., he left one particular friend behind him:

...I began to look sallow, and was packed off North. But I left one broken heart behind me, that of poor Cottorita, my parrot. She had been given me very young, and loved as only a parrot or dog can love. I have always been sorry that I did not take the dear thing with me, for she went about for three days after my departure, calling, " Nino Elijio! Nino Elijio! " and then flew away and was never seen again. When I went to the Spanish school she would station herself at the house-door and wait patiently until I came back, and then, climbing up, never quitted my shoulder. When I remember that a parrot can live a hundred years, there is no reason why she should not be rubbing a dear old head against my cheek at this present moment. Grandpa's old parrot, who had passed his youth among sailors and who used to ask, "What o'clock?" and when told the time, would reply, "You be damned!" amused me, but never consoled me for the loss of poor Cottorita.

-- Vedder, Elihu, 1836-1923. The Digressions of V.. London: Constable , 19111910.p. 76.

a lonely hippo

Bayard Taylor (American, 1825-58) was a diplomat, traveler, and poet.  His adventures included backpacking through Europe for two years, writing a song for Jenny Lind, tracking part of the Nile, sailing along on Perry's voyage to Japan, and being appointed to the U.S. diplomatic service in Russia. Tired yet?  He did far more.  You can read about it here.
One small little adventuresome act is my post for today.  On a visit to Barnum's Museum, Taylor spotted a lonely-looking hippo.  Being a man of great sympathy with animals, he decided to reach out:

"In the first place, animals have much more capacity to understand human speech than is generally supposed. Some years ago, seeing the hippopotamus in Barnum's Museum looking very stolid and dejected, I spoke to him in English, but he did not even move his eyes. Then I went to the opposite corner of the cage and said in Arabic: 'I know you; come here to me.' He instantly turned his head toward me. I repeated the words, and thereupon he came to the corner where I was standing, pressed his huge, ungainly head against the bars of the cage, and looked in my face with a touching delight while I stroked his muzzle. I have two or three times found a lion who recognised the same language, and the expression of his eyes for an instant seemed positively human."

Note: Don't stroke a hippo's muzzle. I'm glad it worked out in this case, but normally that's a really good way to get your arm ripped off.  Just FYI.

- From Sanborn, Kate, 1839-1917. My Literary Zoo. New York: D. Appleton and company, 1896. pp. 10-1.

a dog for your matches

Dog in Feathered Hat and Ruffled Collar Matchsafe, late 19th century; England;
silver; 5.9 x 2.7 x 1.5 cm (2 5/16 x 1 1/16 x 9/16 in. ); Gift of Stephen W. Brener and Carol B. Brener; 1982-23-1324
collection.cooperhewitt.org

Before matchbooks were common (they were developed in 1892), here's how you carried around your matches.  Friction matches - the kind we know, that you scratch against a surface to ignite - were originally very touchy, and could light up simply from jostling about in your pocket.  What better to keep them safe than a metal box?  I wonder if any ever lit up inside their box and made an inadvertent handwarmer.  If you'd like to learn more about matchsafes, you might enjoy this site on their history.

This box dates from late 19th century England.  The additional images found at its record page at the Cooper-Hewitt show a dog dressed up in Cavalier-style hat and ruff.  Is this meant to be a Cavalier King Charles spaniel?  

vintage wednesday

status assumed PD

I was sent this image by a reader (thanks, Mr. May!).  Doing a little digging for story, and finding it, I learned that this was taken on Lafayette Street, New York City, in 1928 (or at least that's when it was published in the New York Times).

victoria the post office cat

Washington D.C., 1919:  a young Italian strikes a blow for equality as a single mother and immigrant in the employ of the US Postal Service.  Victor Emmanuel, a tortoiseshell left behind by a foreign official, was adopted by the city post office as a staff mouser, only to surprise her employer with the value-added gift of four kittens and a fast rethink on gender.

-- Angell, George T. (George Thorndike), 1823-1909, and Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Our Dumb Animals. [Boston]: Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, v. 52 no. 2 (July 1919), p. 27.

zoo boy jr

I've been tripping happily through a series of American field dog stud books published from 1901 to 1923.  Why? For the sheer entertainment of the names:

Waddle

Shadeland Flashlight

Bang Bang Fred

Sheriff

Spotiferous

Zoo Boy Jr.

Bird Graphic

Smut

Princess Nicotine Buckellew

Ornithologist 

The Abbot

Kate Perry (an English Setter from Hot Springs AR)

Queen of the Stubble

. . .  and that's from ONE year.

- Rowe, Nicholas, Mrs. The Field Dog Stud Book: an Authentic Register of Names, Colors, Ages, Pedigrees, Sex, Winnings And Owners of Field Dogs On the American Continent. Chicago: American Field Pub. Co., for Mrs. Dr. N. Rowe. v. 3 (1902), 1903.

vintage dog license application

Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Printed Ephemera Collection
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.rbc/rbpe.07303000

Reading, Massachusetts, the 1860's:  here's your application for your MALE dog's license.  I wonder why they didn't simply provide a space to write that in.