Good morning! IT'S FRIIIIIDAAAAAAY! Thank the Lord. Which means it's time for another edition of Photo Friday from the Doris and Ray collection. Once again, though, the star of this particular photo essay will not be our main characters, but a littler, cuter member of the extended D & R family. See if you can spot a tiny little guy in the next photo. Not the eagle, not the cute girl in the Charlie Brown character shirt. Hint: see Ray's knee...
Ladies and gentlemen, I present Ralph. Who, outside of maybe French comics or the Wizard of Oz, has got to be one of the cutest, teeniest dogs I've ever seen. I'm not the kind to go nuts over a particularly small dog (I happen to love any and all medium to small size dogs), but look at his little face. In 1971, he must have been a new pup. And on this trip to visit Doris's son from her first marriage (dramatic organ music: I didn't even tell you about Sonny yet! I'll have to introduce him in the next post) and his wife in Maine, Doris and Ray were so impressed that I think they took more pictures of Ralph than of a subsequent visit to Niagara Falls! If you've seen one waterfall, you've seen 'em all...but how about that pup!
One of the funnier aspects of the photos to me is how timeless the dog looks (a dog is a dog is a dog), versus how very early 70's all the decor in Sonny and Diane's apartment looks. See the avocado, olive drab, and white knit circular rug in the photo above, or the green vinyl chair in the photo below. My grandmother had a couch made in exactly that style that sat in her den for most of my childhood. I remember coming in from playing in the yard and getting "stuck" to the couch in my shorts, backs of the thighs red from temporary attachment. I was glad to see that one go and be replaced, eventually, by a cloth couch that was probably five years newer but still thirty years out of date. Perfection.
Does he not look like he should be on a U.S. stamp? See the no doubt hand-me-down fifties' or early sixties' skinny legs on the side table there, and Ray's pale blue pants and sneakers. We're trying to look at a pup here, Ray! Quit hogging the frame!
Here, the top of the little guy's precious head. Don't you feel like you could reach out and pet him?
Not just a pretty face, Ralph shows that he can do some tricks. I assume. I hope he was doing a trick and that's why they decided to take a photo, not just that they couldn't stop taking photos of this guy. Are those stacked up chairs in the background? I can't tell.
The pictures get kind of strange from here. Do you know how in this, our digital age, we spend a lot of time throwing away or deleting photos that didn't quite come out like they were supposed to? It's funny to think (and I can cite several family photos that should have never seen the light of day, and yet are still floating around my mom's house) how you would keep every developed photo back in the day, because by gum, you took it, you paid to develop it, and that's just the way it is. Take the next few, for example:
That pale blue and white print in the background is a person, but who?! Faces would be helpful here!
Secretly, my second favorite of the bunch. Did you see his eyes? Did you see his crazy eyes? Plus random bare foot. This could be a David Lynch limited edition art print.
THERE we go. Finally back to a semi-normal shot, the small pup looks wistfully off camera.
I'm interested to see if I can find more pictures of this dog! He has such character in his face.
Did you have a family dog who was the star of your family's picture albums as a child? Did you have parents who went nuts over their first "grand-dog" when you were out of the house? How cute is this Ralph guy? Let's talk!
I'm out to the sales; wish me luck! See you guys on Monday.
It's official. I'm going back to 1971 and puppynapping Ralph. My grandparents actually have a couch that is very similar to the one in the top photo. It's still in their living room, which also includes orange velour armchairs and various chinoiserie accents. Their house was decorated c. 1970 and that's the way it's stayed, which is pretty awesome. They had to replace the shag carpet when I was a kid, though, and that made me sad. Thankfully, my grandma did her best to find the most shag-like mid-90s carpet. Too bad they couldn't wait a few more years for shag to come back.
ReplyDeleteI love him! I can't resist a vintage dog photo. There is something so charming about a dog that looks totally current next to a lady in a 50's house dress. And I am totally one to fawn over a tiny dog. Or any dog really.
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