In the first entry of this special blog series – The Archives, I chose to start it off with a white pit bull dog on a Cabinet Card photograph from the 1890s. That timeframe would have been when the American Pit Bull Terrier breed name was born. This entry – Archive #2, of a pit bull dog laying at the feet of a gentleman smoking a pipe dates even further back to the 1870s!
So, if the American Pit Bull Terrier breed name didn’t exist until the late 1890s when the United Kennel Club was founded, what were these dogs called then?
Back then, dog breeds – as we know them today, were a fairly new phenomenon. For even more context, the world’s first kennel club didn’t officially begin operation until 1873!
Here in the United States, we wouldn’t see our first kennel club form until 1884 when founding members of the American Kennel Club met to write the official show dog rules. And, pit bull dogs were not invited into this fraternity.
Working dogs of this post-American Civil War era were described more for their ability and/or for the function they were bred to perform with broad or general breed labels (i.e. hound, spaniel, bulldog, etc).
In that Civil War period of time, the dog pictured in the Ferrotype photograph laying at a feet of a man smoking a pipe would have likely been referred to as a bull-and-terrier. Or, even the all-encompassing term – ‘bull dog‘.
As previously mentioned, who the dog and gentleman were remain a mystery to me. And, for that matter, the photographer as well.
Despite that – there’s still significance of this piece. Before anybody knew what an American Pit Bull Terrier was, there were bulldog and terrier combinations already existing here, in the United Kingdom, and elsewhere.
The type of image is called a Ferrotype. Although, the more common name used is Tintype, due to the ‘tinny’ feel of the photograph. It was created in the 1850s, became popular in the 1860s – especially during the Civil War, and on through the 1870s.
The invention of the tintype allowed photographers to speed up the development process, in an inexpensive way where a hardcopy could be produced within 10-15 minutes.
Again, Science and Media Museum blog has a great summary of how to spot a ferrotype (aka tintype) found here in this post – How to spot a Ferrotype, also known as a Tintype.
The Archives is a special blog series that looks at the complicated history of pit bull dogs through photographs, newspaper articles, and other historical items. This blog is part of the documentary film – Once In A Lifetime.
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