Found in the move

Before I apologize for leaving you all sit well over a month, I offer up this vintage print of Easy that I found among the boxes when I moved. I never knew Easy to have a dog so much as a cat but there it is in black and white :)

Lady

Lady

Tubby

 This is a beautiful dog named Lady who long ago (back when we were shooting film), belonged to a ride jock named Timothy Bell (we called him Tubby). He found her in Tampa and she almost made it through the season but got hit by a car in Jacksonville, Florida. According to Shirley, who was kind enough to identify her for us,  "Tubby was a hot mess losing her. She was such a good girl."

 As I told Shirley on facebook, Tubby asked me if I had a picture of this dog once, some years later, but I don't think I could find it when he asked me. It hung on the darkroom wall for a while but I never saw him after that. Maybe he'll run across it one day here.

Vintage carny dog

Tennessee State Fair, Nashville, Tennessee; The Mighty Bluegrass Shows, 2003.

 

 

Don't remember ever seeing this until now.  

Carl and Trish

Carl and Trish on  the deck of the Skywheel after work.

NOtes etc.

Recently I was given an opportunity to sift through every single item in my house (another story). This of course will take weeks to get through but I thought I should share with you some notes I found from the first two weeks of life here at Casa de Stella. It seems she wasn't always the good dog she is (mostly) now. It seems time erased some of the bitter cursing of those early days and now suddenly again I'm reminded that she was once living on a carnival lot eating leftover, lamp-singed chicken-on-a-stick. It's hard to believe we made it all this way.

 9/24/08 - spent an hour in the crate. Barking.
                  ride in the car
                  Barney's house, he petted her- fine, Dale petted her-
                  electrician walked in - no barking yay.

*Stella has been trying all day to rip out the underside of the chair in my office. Slept in the bathroom while Michele and I walked. 
COMPLETELY CRAZY. wouldn't listen, wanted to run and jump and bite me, barked incessantly at neighbor John. generally obnoxious. exhausted (me)

9/25/08 - awake 6:30 (outside pee break) - back to bed.
               8:30 - crazy, tearing up the side of the bed/my pants
                          constantly testing the limits. gnawing things
                outside to pee. back in - peed in front of the crate. Drove to   B's house in Kentucky. Stella slept. B got in the car with us, no problem. Smiley growling at her all day pretty much. Long walk, checked out cows, cemetery, tobacco field. Ran around until we left. Came in the house. Peed. Slept. Woke up, peed before I could get to the door. help.

9/26/08 - awake 6:00 (went outside - thank you God) still wrecking underside of office chair. Pulled her out four times - she peed in the living room while I ripped off the chair liner and threw it out. then barking at cat. I am an idiot. cleaned up pee six(?) times today.  * buy more Nature's Miracle now

 I can't imagine the dog Stella would be if she'd stayed on the carnival all this time. The odds weren't in her favor but dogs are a lot heartier than we think. Apparently people and office chairs are too.

We have winners!

 I think this photo was taken by my friend Kathryn Reed. This is her dog Futz. He's made an appearance here before. Rad road dog - without question. Not sure who the black dog is (UPDATE: it's Tiny and they were in New Jersey), maybe she or husband Rod would know. Old Futz is long passed but hasn't got off the road yet. I love that.

So we have two winners from the FIVE (WOW!) entries in our calendar contest..... Winner #1 is our great virtual friend, Susan Rose, photographer and fellow blogger among other things - and Winner #2 is Stalker Laura!!!! Congratulations, both of you. I wanted to send everyone who entered a calendar but that meant I'd have to order more. Thank you for playing though and thanks for dropping by occasionally. I really appreciate your comments and stories. And pictures. Send pictures anytime - or add them to Facebook - if you have or know of a great road dog.

Note to the winners: So happy you spoke up, congratulations! Go over to my main page and scroll all the way to the bottom. There's a contact link there where you can send us your mailing address privately. Your calendar will arrive shortly.

The new calendar is here!

 ..and it is pretty swell, if I did produce the entire thing myself. I know January is almost over but if you'd like to win one, leave us a comment below and we'll employ one of those random generated number things to pick a winner, a week from tomorrow. That would be Friday, January 20th at 9am. It isn't a popularity contest so you don't have to call all your friends or anything unless of course, you just want to.

I should say a couple of other things about this 2012 calendar. There was only one dog from last year who managed to reappear. It's Eight Ball. Some of you may remember him from the Bumper Cars. This time around I dug out Eight-Ball's puppy pictures. He deserved to be in there twice. He was awesome and is sorely missed.

If anyone knows Kelli of Fred and Kelli please let her know they made it in there too.

Last update: (she said) Someone already wrote and asked me if the  calendars are for sale. I hadn't planned on selling them this year but if a person were to drop $25. in my paypal account along with a mailing address, I imagine one might end up at your house before too long. I looked around for cheaper ones this year but the ones I found really were cheaper all around. 

*Stay tuned for the Diesel report - which includes horse kicking!
(no dogs were harmed)

Muffin and Tony

We met Muffin back when the fair was here in town. She's a cross between a King Charles Spaniel and a Bichon Frise and she lives on North American Midway Entertainment's living lot. She loves to ride in the trucks and is also a big fan of the Euroslide. She likes to run up (I assume) part of the way and then slides back down. Tony, her owner says she listens to everybody but him.

We know the feeling Tony.

Spike

Spike - yes that is his real name, he's awesome isn't he? - is indirectly related to Skippy. He's a Basset Hound - Golden Retriever mix Surely there's a clever name for that, a Goldenasset Hound maybe? Anyway, he lives on the lot with his extended family but likes to go over and visit his Aunt Pat at her motor home (two doors down) first thing each morning. Apparently she's the cool aunt. Check out the tail.

Skippy

Skippy with Jean

Jean and her husband got Skippy from a breeder who gave him away for free. Apparently he was freakishly big to be considered sellable in the world of Yorkshire Terriers. Despite his AKC "birth defect" he may have ended up the luckiest of his litter mates, as he now travels all over the country with a loving family and has many more friends than most dogs could ever dream of.

Fred & Kelli

Fred and Kelli, living and working at the Tennessee State Fair, 2011

Max

This is Max, whose mom Lore, will be thrilled to get back home at the end of this season so Max can actually get a good solid free run in the yard. Apparently he's been storing up energy all summer and can now pull that bicycle he's standing in front of at about thirty miles an hour. Unfortunately we didn't get to see that in action and we fear Max may get a sitter for the next summer route, but he sure is an amazing and beautiful canine. Friendly, like a big Siberian Eskimo Bear. (There's no such thing of course but if there were....) Many thanks to Lore for leashing him  up and bringing him back out of the motor home after my stalking them all the way across the fairgrounds. He was impossible to miss.

Lizzie Ann and Annie O.

This is Jim Phelps, who was kind enough on Sunday to let us meet his two road girls, Lizzie Ann and Annie O (in the background). Annie O is fifteen years old and feels right at home on the lot with Jim and her much younger sister. We're hoping to get the chance to spend more time with the three of them next year and wish them all the best making their way to Mississippi.

Meanwhile, we'd love to run your pictures and or updates here on the blog or on our Facebook page (simple to load) so DON'T BE SHY. We know all of you have a camera phone now so you're welcome to submit a picture of your own dog or any carnival dogs you happen to see out on the road. Sometimes there are even prizes...

Hope lives on

I was delighted to find our latest cover girl Hope and her master Frank Chrisco at the fairgrounds today. Hope has spent her entire life on the midway, she'll be eighteen on Valentine's Day and although she's got cataracts and is nearly blind, she never lets on and still knows her way around the photo joint.

United road dogs of America

This one is an old shot of Lucky and James taken in 2005. Lucky isn't with us anymore but James is (last I heard anyway).

One of my very own New Year's resolutions (this time around) is to locate and photograph as many carny dogs as possible over the next year. In years past I haven't made the dogs a priority, focusing instead on the owners and their lifestyles but it's always fun to change it up a little and the fact is, for a lot of carnival workers/showmen, just like the rest of us, their dog is family. In many cases, maybe more so because on a carnival lot, you can't just let your dog out in the back yard and forget about it. You have to be engaged and thinking of the dog's welfare twenty-four hours a day or things can go downhill fast. I've known a few guys that backed over their own dogs with a truck or left them tied up too close to one of those oh-so-delectable power lines. Talk about having your day ruined..

Many of you already know, there are all variety of dogs that travel with the carnival. Owners too. Some are spoiled rotten and some fend for themselves. They can be overfed, underfed, silly, angry, bored, and happy; happy to be bored, neurotic, athletic, entertainers. There are thoroughbreds and mutts and everything in between. As I've said before though, they're generally the most social dogs you'll ever meet. They have friends galore.

Having said that, I'm off to make them their very own Facebook Page. Please go over for a visit and "Like" it (them) and pass the link along to anyone you think might also like to see some magnificent road dogs from time to time. If you are one of those special people who actually owns a carny dog, we'd love to have you post a photo on the page as well and tell us in the caption a little bit about your dog. You never know, Stella and I might very well show up and photograph your best friend for next year's Carny Dog calendar!

Note: The calendars arrived last night and they are brilliant. My arm is cramping from patting myself on the back over it. In case anyone wonders, they start with February and go through next January. That way when you forget to get a new one next year, you'll still have an extra month of knowing what day it is ;-) Giveaway rules are forthcoming.

Ramblin' man

Well my father was a pitbull down in Tampa
He wound up on the wrong end of a gun
And I was born in the back seat of a Greyhound bus
Rollin' down highway 41      The Allman Brothers Band (kinda')

I had occasion to sift through a ton of carnival pictures the other day and happily ran across a picture of Stella's daddy (above) along with her little brother (below, left). When these pictures were taken you understand, I didn't realize that I'd leave there with a dog or I might've made some effort to snag some family photos before we headed out. You know, posterity and all. I don't know his name or anything but I'm reasonably sure that it's him seeing as he was described to me by his owner Julian (the gentleman in the green shirt), also seen below holding the puppy that looks like a mini-version of the dog above.

I was moved to dig into the carnival pictures after (somewhat impulsively) deciding to make a Carny Dog calendar. It was loads of fun to make and it's filled with shots of some of the coolest dogs on America's midways. It should arrive sometime this week and I ordered an extra one to give away to some one of our regular readers which will no doubt be more fun than actually making the thing :) Stay tuned.




Say "Cheese-burger"

Look at that smile. This Jack Russell Terrier's name is Blue. Best I could tell he is wily and tenacious, and well-loved. I hope his owner will stop by here and tell us a good story about him. For the few minutes I spent with him on the livin' lot, he was both engaged and engaging. Without a doubt, he'd rather run than have his picture made. This was a lucky shot that only happened because of a nice woman named Linda.

Polly

Like most dogs, she has a variety of tennis balls but for Polly, there's really only one of them she wants to fetch. Polly's family tree is mixed but Retriever is her middle name. Once she knows you'll throw the ball, you're pretty much hooked. I was thoroughly impressed with her etiquette. Unlike some dogs (ahem), ninety percent of the time she drops the ball so gently in your hand it's a pleasure to keep the game going. Polly has a pool to relax in next to her motor home (Home Depot, don't ask me what department). Vern, her owner says she has a bigger version of it at home, but this is their travel size. She also goes for a dip on command which is pretty entertaining all in itself.

Road dogs

It's been a while since we met any new carny dogs. Stella and I have been hanging around with the North American Midway Entertainment folks this last week though and they're awfully good to their dogs over there. Some of you may remember Dolly from last year. She's doing great and has grown into a beautiful and totally lovable (OMG) dog. It's safe to say that when she found Kathryn & Rod, it was the luckiest day of her life and despite the fact that she occasionally snacks on their furniture, she's a keeper.

Dolly isn't the only canine we ran into. There was Polly and Blue, Yoshi and a rumored ten Poodles which (unfortunately) I wasn't able to verify with pictures. Stella and I did walk by their motor home early on though at which point they tried to tear the blinds off the windows. Stella just stood there looking dumbfounded. It was like somebody turned on a tornado inside that big bus.

Not to be outdone, I should mention that we met some carny cats while we were there too. Casey, Birdie, & Ruthless. All of these creatures and their humans are currently on the way to a fair in St. Louis but I'll post a few of their pictures here in the next couple of days. People who don't live on the road often assume that carny dogs and cats have it rough. Some do of course, but most of the time that isn't the case. Most of the time they're above average, well-loved and well adjusted, social butterflies with a lifestyle and privileges that suburban dogs could never know or understand. Oh, and they do have rather idyllic access to french fries and other canine culinary delights.

As for the photos, until today I had no idea there was a population of seemingly intelligent people with good paying jobs no less, who spend time thinking about why Goofy leads a relatively human existence while Pluto is forever relegated to being a dawg (link). Understand the same could be said of yours truly for reading it. There's no clear answer to this question of course but I if you look around on the midway next time you're there, you'll find both characters kicking it down in Kiddieland. Disneyland is sweet and all but Pluto and Goofy - they're carny dogs at heart.

The Family Tree

photo by Melissa McGee, 2008

The best ground score I ever found on a midway
(title inspired by a question on Facebook)

There once was a bitch living at the winter quarters of a carnival in Tampa Florida. Now before anyone starts firing off names.. this particular bitch was of the canine variety. She belonged at the time, to a carnival electrician named Juan. I'm not sure how it all happened but eventually she met a nice male dog and they got along fine until he got her pregnant at which point I'm almost a hundred percent sure he ran off looking for some other bitch.

Same as it ever was. (I'm kidding of course)

Time moved on.

A couple of weeks before the carnival was set to leave for Streator Illinois, this girl (I hope someone will stop by and offer up her name) gave birth to a beautiful litter of bouncing baby puppies. They all went on the road together and I wish I could tell you that each one of them lived happily ever after but the only thing I really know for sure is that that tiny little white stripe in the middle of the dog pile, traveled through ten states, ate a lot of pizza, lived in a truck, was given to a girl named Stephanie, made a gazillion friends, was almost stolen in Lincoln Nebraska, came to Nashville, and moved in with a tail-free cat and a woman who proceeded to write and photograph every mundane bullshit thing she ever did after that.

It can't possibly be as exciting as it used to be for Stella but (as someone said) she still gets up every morning wagging her tail and I'm reminded of all the wonderful characters that (to me) she represents.

Many thanks to Juan for the heads up on the photo, to Melissa McGee who shot it and to Stephanie & Billy (on the right) for letting her go. Anyone who was there is welcome to correct any factual mistakes I've made or add any details to this post in the comments.

Meanwhile, take a ride on the Skywheel. It's almost as good as the real thing and guaranteed not to mess up your hair.