Dames & Dogs #12

You're getting another Alice White edition of Dames & Dogs because Alice White apparently really, really liked dogs -- and I really, really like Alice White photos.

Dog Playing Bass

Maybe he should join the piggy playing violin, and start an animal string section.

Dames & Dogs #11

Cheap Plastic Poodles

Sometimes I forget the stuff I've got; like these three kitschy plastic poodles I bought. All three in a baggy for a quarter at a rummage sale -- who could resist?!



I remember having these as a kid. Carnival prizes, hard-earned, and for far more than a quarter each. Even back then.

The red one retains its plastic loop for hanging and is marked "Made in Hong Kong" on the side. The rest have no markings.

Mustache Menagerie!

Movember is, apparently, a big deal in the mustache community: the Movember foundation uses the month of November for fundraising to help men's health issues, particularly testicular and prostate diseases. Pepsi has provided this helpful guide to mustache creation, appearing like polystyrene model parts on sprues:

You may recognize that the ad appeared in Maxim; yes, I have one of those fun 'for professionals' free subscriptions — what's your excuse for reading Maxim, hmmm? I already have a mustache, which is my excuse for not using the promised 'time-lapse' Facebook mustashe-growing app, which I was unable to find.

Anyhow, even being a woman is no excuse for not having facial hair. The appropriately-named I Made You A Beard is fully and completely ready to undertake the task of providing women a beard of their very own:


Would it be wrong of me to think women in Crayola-colored yarn beards are totally hot? Theoretically, I mean, if somebody were to think such a thing, that is. I mean, if somebody spent all day thinking at great length about what it would be like to kiss a woman wearing one of these - again, theoretically - what, I , well, if that...never mind, I'm not sure where I'm going with this thought process.

Anyhow, woman aren't the only mustacheless people to benefit from a fake mustache. That other kind of people: dogs.
Yes, dogs can participate in Movember by gnawing on the rubber ball end of the Humunga Stache. This is provided that you can get the dog to chew on it the right way; one of our dogs is horribly stupid, and would probably injure herself trying to use the toy improperly. The Humunga Stache appears to be only available in the UK, hence the British bulldog who appears to have lost his pith helmet and monocle while on a tiger hunt in darkest Burma.

Dames & Dogs #10

Louise Brooks had a nice pair -- but those puppies were fake.

Dames & Dogs #9

Most Memorable Scene, March, 1970

It's the "most memorable scene of the week," but as this retro clipping comes from the March 1970 issue of Modern Screen magazine, I can't vouch for what week. Or if this story of "a pink robbed lady with her hair up in curlers" is even true...

Pink Dogs For Sale At Kroger

I wish. "Pink Dog" 8x10 Print at Twolia.

Dames & Dogs #8

Photo by Nina Leen, for Life Magazine.

Dames & Dogs #7

Georgia O'Keeffe and her Chow; photo by John Loengard.

Audrey Hepburn & "Mr. Famous"

A photo I didn't squeeze into my post about Capri pants.

Dames & Dogs #5

Via Infomercantile.

Dames & Dogs #4

Mysweetiepiepie says, "Each photo in this knitting book features a different dog. Sweaters and dogs, what more logical combination is there?"

Doggie Lovers, Dare To Minaudiere?

With all the folks dressing their dogs and treating their pets like fashion accessories, I find myself often muttering, "It's a pet, not a fashion statement." So, if you have so much disposable income that you must throw it around, why not blow $4,875 on a Austrian crystal beaded Scottie Dog Minaudiere by Judith Leiber.



("Minaudiere" must be what the uber rich call a cute purse too small to hold anything.)

Dames & Dogs #3

Before Wallis Simpson lured King Edward the VIII from the throne, she loved the little doggies -- as evidenced by this front cover of The Sketch magazine from March 1935 featuring a portrait of Mrs. Ernest (Wallis) Simpson. Who can blame her? I love my little (idiotic & neurotic) Cairn Terrier too.

Dames & Dogs #2

John Rawlings photograph from the April 15, 1945, Vogue; via A Tad Too Much Tan For Taupe.

Dames & Dogs #1

Lady Diana Cooper & Major, her Blue Bedlington terrier.

Vintage black rhinestone poodle pin with red rhinestone nose.

Reminds Me Of Sarah Palin

I totally remember kitschy retro bathroom decor -- and being embarrassed by it whenever some friend's mom had put 'potty people' on display in her bathroom. Mainly it was wall plaques of folks taking baths, little boys with bums sticking out of drop-bottom pjs, and lots of things with toilet paper themes. I did not find them cute, but wildly inappropriate. I remember on more than occasion pondering just how badly I had to pee -- and was it worth going into that bathroom with the 'potty people'.

I still cringe and say Eeeeiiwwww. Which is why when I spotted a pair of such wall plaques at the thrift store, I did not buy them.



I was both brave enough & amused enough to take photos of the girl applying lipstick to the family dog tho. (Even if she has exposed her bare bottom.) For some reason both the little girl applying lipstick to her dog -- and wildly inappropriate bathroom decor -- remind me of Sarah Palin.

The Boys Refused To Do Their Homework

For some reason, they refused to do book reports on Old Yeller.



Via Flickr

Would You Believe A Talking Dog?

Teach your dog to talk! Record & book tells the whole 'doggone' story.



Ad found in the February 13, 1979 National Enquirer (which explains why the dog looks a lot like Benji).

Butts In The Air, Like They Just Don't Care

Vintage pottery animals with their butts in the air and holes where their tails ought to be.



I only have two, so it's not a collection yet. The cat is a rather popular planter motif and typically they had cactus planted to be their kitty tails. But the dog is more of a mystery -- despite a partial label on the bottom.



The hole is too small for the pup to be a planter; hubby suspects it had a bobble-tail which wagged. The tag reads Little Pete (or, it could be Little Peter), but exhaustive searches have turned up nothing. Know something about Little Pete or his missing tail? Let me know.

Meanwhile, I keep my eyes opened for a third vintage pottery animal with it's hole-y butt up in the air.

Our Kids Asked To Be Left Alone, Please

A reminder-slash-warning at one of the local thrift stores to watch your children, or they "will be given an espresso and a free puppy".

No White Spots On Your Scottie Dog

We know it's after Labor Day so you may be adhering to the old "no white" rule, but FYI, if you need a product to whiten your shoes that won't rub off on your dog...



We don't think Carbona Shoe Whitener should have promoted kicking or "rubbing" dogs with shoes by making such product claims, but it was 1941. Things were different then.

Shoulda Been A Beagle

Wendy should have been a beagle. Her father, drunk and cruel, would tell her how she would have been smarter, prettier, and would find a rich man and get out of that hell-hole...if only she had been a beagle. A beagle, certainly, but Wendy? No, not Wendy.

Wendy's actual story is devoid of family cruelty, according to a 1969 Women's Household magazine:

"Our dog, Wendy was given to us about four years ago. We were told that she was a six month old beagle. The vet said she was a three months old "you name it" and she proceeded to grow and grow! Her tail is almost a lethal weapon and she delights in wagging it in circles."

Oh, she should have been a beagle, but she ended up being something else, big, clumsy, easily amused. She should have been a beagle -- things would have turned out differently.

Big Dreams Of The Big-Eyed

You've heard of Big Eyed Art, right? I never owned any big-eyed art, but I did have a crying basset dog bank that I sorely want back.


(Feel free to bid on it and send it to me.)

But did you know there was also a big-eyed doll in the 60's -- complete with tear?



Little Miss No Name by Hasbro Toys (1965) was designed by Deet D'Andrade. Little Miss No Name wore a burlap dress, had a hand made for begging, and that large plastic tear... I'm guessing I never heard of her because few little girls wanted to play adopt the homeless begging orphan (Little Orphan Annie had a lovely red dress -- and too much spunk to let herself go like that). Fewer still wanted to plan & play a day in the life of a pitiful waif (also probably why the Kate Moss dolls never came to fruition).

But I want her.

I'm guessing when I find her, she'll be more expensive that replacing my old retro sad dog bank... But it won't stop me from fancying the two, together, in my office.

It's better to have big dreams of big eyed art -- and be left with a giant plastic tear -- then to never have dreamed at all.

Scrap Rug Fun - Doggy Tissue Cover

From the February, 1971, issue of Pack-O-Fun, instructions to make a doggie tissue box cover. (This is actually practical too because cutting up old rugs is sure to make you -- and others -- sneeze.)

Barking Mad For Books

With the number of books and magazines we have 'round here, we certainly would need a Pack of Dogs -- and I don't think stacking them would be appropriate with kids around.

Behold The Bejeweled Pink Poodle Paintings

From eBay, of course.

Bedtime with Blackout and Jocko

I go to sleep.
Blackout and Jocko go to sleep with me.

If you removed just a few words, it would tell a very different story.

From a vintage children's book; via Flickr.

Dogs a La...

Hot pads!



Wouldn't want to burn the pooches with hot pots, but they are cute!

(And there's a cat there too.)

From a 1944 Star Potholders Book.

Ventriloquist's Dummy Is A Real Dog

I'll Get You, And Your Pretty Pink Puppy Too

I promised Thom of Fabulon I'd steal his pretty pink poodle. He found it via Flickr, but it apparently followed him home. And now I have stolen it.