Orville Wright bought his St.Bernard from Nina Dodd’s White Star Kennels in Long Branch, New Jersey in 1917. He paid $75 for the dog which today, would be about $1400. He collected the dog he would name “Scipio” with his nephew, telling the boy only that they were going to the train station to meet “Mr. Bernard.” By then, his bother, Wilbur, had been dead for five years, having succumbed to typhoid fever.

We think it means something that so many pictures of “Scipio” were taken. There are photos of “Scipio” stretched out on a Persian rug, photos of “Scipio” frolicking among the hawthorn trees, photos of “Scipio” snoozing on a front porch, or riding in a canoe on Lake Huron. Even more revealing is that when Orville Wright died many decades after his beloved “Scipio,” there were pictures of the dog tucked in his wallet.

We think there’s another important aspect of these pictures. Breeders have done a fine job of preserving type.

Photo of Orville Wright with “Scipio,” his Saint Bernard, in 1921