Vintage dog shows
Good breeding, dear sir, is integral.
Alex Q. Arbuckle
c.1900s-1940s
Faymor Angela, believed to be one of the smallest dogs in England, and the smallest entrant in the Pekin Palace Dog Show.
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Everybody was fashionably dressed and wore an air of good breeding. - NEW YORK TIMES, c.1905
The first known dog show was held in 1859, when a group of hunters assembled in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, to judge 60 dogs from the pointer and setter classes. The judges had no complex standards by which to judge the assembled hounds, but simply evaluated how well the dogs did their jobs.The shows rapidly gained popularity in the UK, and expanded to include more breeds and classes. As kennel clubs formed, standards were codified for each breed, with lists of ideal characteristics.A prize-winning purebred dog was considered valuable breeding stock (not to mention a status symbol) and could be sold for huge sums. The rich, the nobility and even royalty flocked to these competitions. J.P Morgan once tried to purchase a Pekingese for £32,000 and was refused. Deerhounds bred by Queen Victoria herself were said to be worth $50,000 apiece.In the United States, dog shows were popularized by P.H. Bryson, whose doctor had recommended hunting with a dog as good exercise to recover from his Civil War wounds. Bryson later competed against that same doctor in a 1874 show, where he won the world’s first Best in Show award.The famed Westminster Kennel Club show was first held at the Westminster Hotel in 1877 and is today the second oldest annual sporting event in the U.S., after the Kentucky Derby.
A judge evaluates the contestants at a dog show in London.
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An Old English Sheepdog is examined by a judge at the Championshp Show of Old English Sheepdogs at Aldridge, St. Martin's Lane.
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Mrs. Langton Dennis with her prize dog at the Pomeranian Dog Show.
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A party of prize winning Sealyham Terriers at the Cruft's Dog Show in London.
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Rambling Gold makes a world record high jump of 12 feet and 2 inches.
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The most desirable purebred dogs routinely started at $1,000 and ran to $5,000. - Mark Derr, A Dog’s History of America
Ivy Lord with her second prize winning Pekingese at Cruft's Dog Show.
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An exhibitor sprays her dog before going into the ring at the Championship Dog Show in London.
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Winning Dalmatians sit proudly on their chairs at a dog show in Hyde Park, London.
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1926
George Spinney with his Bulldog at the Middlesex Hospital Open Championship Dog Show.
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1928
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42-time first prize winner Beauty the Bulldog arrives at the London Bulldog Society Championship Show with its owner.
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Three Pekingese dogs — Szechuan, Humming Bee and Hsusa — winners of the first prize at the Sleeve Dog Association Ribbon Show are exhibited at the Prince's Hotel inc London.
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Three Dalmatians and their happy owner after they won the first prize at the London Dog Show.
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Mrs R.A. Hopwood with her dogs at the French Open Bulldog Show in London.
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Mrs. V. McCall-Smith's litter at the Pekin Palace Dog Show.
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The parade for the fancy dress competition at the Comic Dog Show, held at the Kennels Purley to benefit Purley Church.
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Miss M. Tucker on her way to a dog show in Tunbridge-Wells, Kent, with her two Old English Sheepdogs Watcher's Jim and Tenet Peter.
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Pierrot of St. Margaret's examines his reflection at the Griffon Bruxellois Dog Show in London.
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There will be no biting of spectators at the Garden show this year, nor will there be any sticking of fingers in dogs’ eyes by a too interested public. - Popular Dogs Magazine, Jan. 11, 1929
Terriers are primped for a dog show in New York City.
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A Standard Poodle celebrates after winning first prize at a dog show in Berlin.
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