Long before the Internet, Life Magazine chronicled the 20th century, and connected people to each other in the most effective way possible – through photographs that covered every aspect of life. Topics in the June 13, 1938 issue, for example, included opera singer, Marian Anderson, coming home to sing in Philadelphia, spectators killed by lightning on a golf course at a Kansas City tournament, and the actress, Gertrude Lawrence, at her theater make-up table. It also ran a large feature on the Morris and Essex dog show at which “$1,500,000 worth of dogs had their day…”

In 1935, Pannonia Pandur and Andrashazi Dorka were the first two Komondorok imported into the United States, and their picture (seen here) appeared in this Life Magazine spread.  Other photos that appeared were of a Kerry Blue Terrier, the Borzoi (then called the Russian Wolfhound), a Collie, Kuvaszok, and many other breeds that warrant a look.  These pictures were the first time many Americans had ever seen certain breeds.

And here we digress.

The Morris and Essex Dog Show was founded by Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge in 1927, she, the architect of the separation of the breeds now known as the American and English Cocker Spaniels.  She named the grand dog show held on her estate after the two New Jersey counties from which organizers and kennel club members came.  In its heyday, more than 50,000 spectators flocked to the estate to admire dogs of all breeds, a show even covered by Sports Illustrated. The show was held until 1957 when Mrs. Dodge, then 75 years old, could no longer plan and oversee it.  In 1996, Wayne Ferguson, Cherrybrook founder and well-known dog-world philanthropist, discovered the Morris & Essex Kennel Club archives while attending a board meeting at Mrs. Dodge’s St. Huberts Giralda . Mr. Ferguson was so taken by the magic of the Morris and Essex legacy that he gathered a group of influential dog people with an eye to revive the show. Four years later, the first “new” M&E show was held near the grounds of the original show, and every five years henceforth, the elegance, glamour, and style of Mrs. Dodge’s original show will be revisited. Only 1,184 days remain until the next event.