No Dogs Allowed?

Bothered by those pesky “no dogs allowed” signs found so much more frequently today? Here’s a solution we found from the June 1939 issue of Popular Science (article text reprinted below photos):

Signs reading “No Dogs Allowed” man nothing to Miss Jeanne Lorraine, of New York City, since she taught her twelve-year-old pet toy collie, Jiggs, to drape himself around her neck and masquerade as a fur piece. The trick first worked on a clerk at a residential hotel that barred pets and Miss Lorraine has been using it ever since to take her dog through subways, past customs officers, on railroad coaches, and into other places where canine companions are not welcomed.  To heighten the illusion, Jigg’s mistress selects costumes in shades of brown that blend with her dog’s coloring, and then attaches a “pinned” flower corsage to the dog’s fur by means of an elastic band around his belly. The animal them promptly relaxes every muscle so that he can be draped gracefully around his owner’s neck, like a fox, mink, or marten skin. For periods of up to one hour at a stretch, Jiggs will hardly bat an eye, his only movement being an occasional tail-wag, which his mistress covers up with a nonchalant stroke of her hand.

Of course, having dog that is not only small and well-trained — but also somewhat elderly and/or sedate is of huge benefit when perpetuating such subterfuge.  This is not a trick I’d have ever gotten away with when I had the Leonbergers…