Dachshund Dearest

TURMOIL AT THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT ALL HEAD OFFICE. Chicago, IL: While sunning herself on vacation, your new hostess 'Bette' has been catching up with all The Long and Short of it All archives and notes all the seemingly unnecessary attention to "legendary film star" Joan Crawford.   She must agree with her namesake, actress Bette Davis, who once quipped amongst other similar sentiments:  The best time I ever had with Joan Crawford was when I pushed her down the stairs in 'Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?' 

Bette's sure got some spunk.

Dachshunds in Pop Culture: Anna May Wong

Who?  Anna May Wong (Chinese: 黃柳霜; pinyin: Huáng Liǔshuāng) (January 3, 1905 – February 3, 1961) was the first Chinese American movie star, and the first Asian American actress to gain international recognition. Her long and varied career spanned both silent and sound film, television, stage, and radio. Born near the Chinatown neighborhood of Los Angeles to second-generation Chinese-American parents, Wong became infatuated with the movies and began acting in films at an early age. During the silent film era, she acted in The Toll of the Sea (1922), one of the first movies made in color and Douglas Fairbanks' The Thief of Bagdad (1924). Wong became a fashion icon, and by 1924 had achieved international stardom. Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles she reluctantly played in Hollywood, Wong left for Europe in the late 1920s, where she starred in several notable plays and films, among them Piccadilly (1929). She spent the first half of the 1930s traveling between the United States and Europe for film and stage work. Wong was featured in films of the early sound era, such as Daughter of the Dragon (1931) and Daughter of Shanghai (1937), and with Marlene Dietrich in Josef von Sternberg's Shanghai Express (1932).  Source.

Oh yeah, she was also a stylish Red Smooth Dachshund Lover.

Celebrity Dachshund Watch: Hanging Out With Andy Warhol

 

Andy Warhol with his Dachshund 'Archie' in the entrance hallway of his house at East 66th Street, New York.  (Photo by Pat Hackett). 

 

Photo distributed by Los Angels Times Syndicate.

 

Related:  Andy Warhol, Dachshundist

Dachshunds in Pop Culture: Christine Kaufmann

 

Who?  Christine Maria Kaufmann (born January 11, 1945 in Lengdorf, Styria, Austria) is a German actress. Her father is German and her mother is French. In 1961, she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress, the only German to be so honoured.

Kaufmann started her film career at the age of seven in the 1952 adaptation of Im weißen Rößl (White Horse Inn). The film which brought her fame was Rosen-Resli, released in 1954, when she was only nine. She gained international recognition when she starred with Steve Reeves in The Last Days of Pompeii (1959) and with Kirk Douglas in Town Without Pity (1961). The following year she appeared in Escape from East Berlin.
In 1963, Kaufmann married Dachshund Lover Tony Curtis, whom she had met during the filming of Taras Bulba (1962). They had two daughters, Alexandra and Allegra. They would divorce in 1968. Kaufmann resumed her career, which she had interrupted during her marriage. Kaufmann is also a successful businesswoman, promoting her own cosmetics products line that sells well in The Motherland. She has written several books about beauty and health, as well as two autobiographies.

Dachshund Love Stories

Remembering Miss Patti Page

Our hearts go out to the family and friends of a legend - Miss Patti Page - who passed away Tuesday at the age of 85.  Regular readers of the Long and Short of it All will know our fondness for her fine voice, often featured amongst our boring old posts over the years.

As we stated in 2008 in Dachshunds in Pop Culture:  Patti Page:   While we don't think that Ms. Page was ever owned by her very own Dachshund, her accomplishments certainly require that she has a special place in Dachshund history. The above promotional photo was taken in January of 1953; she is "holding a dachshund in a pet shop, trying out her new song, How Much Is That Doggie in the Window."

Miss Page would go on to re-release and re-name that iconic song in November of 2008. Have a listen:  Patti Page Releases "Do You See That Doggie in the Shelter"

We would even romanticize our friend Geneva's 15th Birthday on Cape Cod:  Dachshund Relaxation: Geneva's 15th Birthday!



Which leaves us with one of the finest songs ever recorded, Tennessee Waltz.  What a huge impact Miss Page left on so many peoples lives through her art.

Dachshunds In History: The Little Hindenburg

Who?  You've heard that name forever linked to chaos and catastrophe - oh, the humanity - but this is about the man, Paul von Hindenburg, as seen here with his wife and his trusty Dachshund dog.  Via wikipedia:

Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg, known universally as Paul von Hindenburg, 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934, was a Prussian-German field marshal, statesman, and politician, and served as the second President of Germany from 1925 to 1934.
Hindenburg enjoyed a long career in the Prussian Army, retiring in 1911. He was recalled at the outbreak of World War I, and first came to national attention, at the age of 66, as the victor at Tannenberg in 1914. As Germany's Chief of the General Staff from 1916, he and his deputy, Erich Ludendorff, rose in the German public's esteem until Hindenburg came to eclipse the Kaiser himself.   Hindenburg retired again in 1919, but returned to public life one more time in 1925 to be elected as the second President of Germany.
Hindenburg is commonly remembered as the man who as German President appointed Nazi leader Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany.  Hindenburg personally despised Hitler, condescendingly referring to Hitler as that "Bohemian corporal".  Hitler repeatedly and forcefully pressured Hindenburg to appoint him as Chancellor, Hindenburg repeatedly refused Hitler's demand. Though 84 years old and in poor health, Hindenburg was persuaded to run for re-election in 1932, as he was considered the only candidate who could defeat Adolf Hitler. Hindenburg was re-elected in a runoff. Although he was opposing Hitler, the deteriorating political stability of the Weimar Republic let him play an important role in the Nazi Party's rise to power. He dissolved the parliament twice in 1932 and eventually appointed Hitler as Chancellor in January 1933. In February, he issued the Reichstag Fire Decree which suspended various civil liberties, and in March he signed the Enabling Act, in which the parliament gave Hitler's administration legislative powers. Hindenburg died the following year, after which Hitler declared the office of President vacant and, as "Führer und Reichskanzler", made himself head of state.
The famed zeppelin Hindenburg that was destroyed by fire in 1937 was named in his honor.


Oh yeah, he was a Dachshund Lover.

Vintage photo circa 1919, source unknown.

Town & Country Dachshund: Kick Kennedy and Cupid

Thanks to An Anonymous Dachshundist for letting us know that there's a Dachshund on the front cover of the December 2012 issue of Town & Country Magazine!  And this isn't just any long dog, this is a Kennedy.  Via the magazine: 

Kick Kennedy - RFK's granddaughter, committed environmentalist, budding actress - is shaking up the compound with laughter and her own sense of purpose.
Kick and her dachshund Cupid at the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port.  Michael Kors sweater ($1,395) and shorts ($795).

You can find another photo of Kick and Cupid in the magazine on sale now. 

Related:  Mary Richardson Kennedy (is Cupid one of the Dachshunds with Kick's father's second wife?)

Related:  John F. Kennedy

Dachshund Dearest

"No. WIREHAIRED. DACHSHUNDS!!!"  ~Joan Crawford


(She never actually said that, but that's the best we could do for today's Wirehair Wednesday)

Photo source unknown. 

Dachshunds in Pop Culture: Carol Lynley

Who?  Carol Lynley (born February 13, 1942) is an American actress and former child model.  She is seen here in this March 30th, 1957 International News Photo with a caption that read:  SOME FUN!  For relaxation, lovely Carol Lynley, 15, finds time to play with her pet dog, a Dachshund, between her many engagements as model, and show time.  The talented lass is headed for stardom,  'tis said, by Broadwayites. 
Ms. Lynley would go on to star in over 30 films including Return to Peyton Place, Under the Yum Yum Tree, Bunny Lake is Missing, The Cardinal, Harlow, and the original The Poseidon Adventure, in which she performed the Oscar-winning song "The Morning After" (but her singing voice actually was that of studio singer, Rene Armand).  She has also appeared in over 200 television programs.

Ms. Lynley had her own paper dolls fashioned after her and appeared in many teen magazines including one of our favorites, the January 1959 Calling All Girls.

Carol would also pose for Playboy magazine in March, 1965.




Sing along The Morning After with Carol Lynley.

Dachshunds in Pop Culture: Will Joyce MacKenzie Give Up Her Black Velvet?

Who's a Handsome Boy?

Huh?  Joyce MacKenzie (born October 13, 1929 in Redwood City, California) is an American actress who appeared in films and television from 1946 to 1961. She is best remembered for being the eleventh actress to portray Jane. She played the role opposite Lex Barker's Tarzan in 1953's Tarzan and the She-Devil.
And oh yeah, she was a Dachshund Lover - sort of.  In this press photo and release from July 28, 1953, Ms. MacKenzie is struggling with giving up her Dachshund.  How could you say 'Bye" to those eyes? 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  A SWITCH ON "LOVE ME, LOVE MY DOG" -- HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA -- "BLACK VELVET" PET DACHSHUND OF ACTRESS JOYCE MACKENZIE PUTS ON HIS MOST APPEALING MANNERS HERE, BUT TO NO AVAIL.  THE POOCH IS ON THE LOSING END OF THE "LOVE ME, LOVE MY DOG" PROBLEM.  MISS MACKENZIE, RECENT BRIDE OF SOCIALLY PROMINENT TIM LEIMERT IS LOOKING FOR  A NEW HOME FOR "VELVET" AFTER SHE DISCOVERED THE POOCH WOULD HAVE NO PART OF EITHER HER BRIDEGROOM OR THE BRIDEGROOM'S COCKER SPANIEL.  SO IT'S A NEW HEADQUARTERS FOR VELVET.

Apparently Black Velvet had good reason to be suspicious, as the MacKenzie-Leimert marriage would last only a few years - proving once again that Dachshund knows best.

Joyce MacKenzie and Lex Barker

Dachshunds in Pop Culture: This is Not Audrey Hepburn

UPDATE:  See how internet rumors get started?  An anonymous Dachshundist sent us this photo of what was claimed to be Audrey Hepburn, and we found the photo on several sites which also suggested that it was Audrey Hepburn.  But a little research prompted by an anonymous commenter, which we should have done before we posted it, showed that, no, it is instead Coiffure, for Harper's Bazaar by photographer Lillian Bassman, who passed away earlier this year.  Source:  Artnet.

Regardless, it's a beautiful photo, and we're still going to sing-a-long with Moon River.



Audrey in Breakfast at Tiffany's



You've heard Moon River covered a thousand times, even by the likes of REM, but, endulge us, Morrissey covered it best.

Dachshunds in Pop Culture: Orson Welles

Photo via Corbis

Who?  Surely you must know.  George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, writer and producer who worked extensively in theater, radio and film. He is best remembered for his innovative work in all three media, most notably Caesar (1937), a groundbreaking Broadway adaption of Julius Caesar and the debut of the Mercury Theatre; The War of the Worlds (1938), the most famous broadcast in the history of radio; and Citizen Kane (1941), which many critics and scholars name as the best film of all time.
So let's ask ourselves....was he also a Dachshund Lover?  Of course he was.  He is seen here with his third wife Italian actress Paola Mori, daughter Beatrice, and pretty little red longhair 'Columbina.'  The Corbis photo notes:

12/27/57-Hoboken, New Jersey: Actor Orson Welles is shown on deck of the American export liner SS Exchorda with his wife, daughter Beatrice, 2, and toy long hair dachshund, Columbina, before sailing today. The actor originally had passage booked on the Liberte and was to have sailed this morning, but plans had to be changed at the last moment when it was learned that Columbina could not be admitted into France.

There was also an AP story which appeared in several newspapers around the county at the time which had more detail about the trip:

Data-AssetId

10368575

And finally, in The Six Degrees of Dachsaration, it should be noted that Mr. Welles' second wife was Dachshund Lover Rita Hayworth.

Remembering E.B. White

E.B. White and his Dachshund 'Minnie'

Yesterday would have been E.B. White's 113th birthday.  Perhaps most famous for penning "Charlotte's Web" and "Stuart Little," Mr. White was also a regular contributor to The New Yorker, and co-wrote "The Elements of Style." 

Dachshund Lovers know him for his poetic descriptions of the beloved Dachshunds that he had in his life.  In 1951, he was accused by the ASPCA of not paying his dog tax and, as a result, "harboring" an unlicensed dog. This was his poetic response:

12 April 1951

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
York Avenue and East 92nd Street
New York, 28, NY

Dear Sirs:

I have your letter, undated, saying that I am harboring an unlicensed dog in violation of the law. If by "harboring" you mean getting up two or three times every night to pull Minnie's blanket up over her, I am harboring a dog all right. The blanket keeps slipping off. I suppose you are wondering by now why I don't get her a sweater instead. That's a joke on you. She has a knitted sweater, but she doesn't like to wear it for sleeping; her legs are so short they work out of a sweater and her toenails get caught in the mesh, and this disturbs her rest. If Minnie doesn't get her rest, she feels it right away. I do myself, and of course with this night duty of mine, the way the blanket slips and all, I haven't had any real rest in years. Minnie is twelve.

In spite of what your inspector reported, she has a license. She is licensed in the State of Maine as an unspayed bitch, or what is more commonly called an "unspaded" bitch. She wears her metal license tag but I must say I don't particularly care for it, as it is in the shape of a hydrant, which seems to me a feeble gag, besides being pointless in the case of a female. It is hard to believe that any state in the Union would circulate a gag like that and make people pay money for it, but Maine is always thinking of something. Maine puts up roadside crosses along the highways to mark the spots where people have lost their lives in motor accidents, so the highways are beginning to take on the appearance of a cemetery, and motoring in Maine has become a solemn experience, when one thinks mostly about death. I was driving along a road near Kittery the other day thinking about death and all of a sudden I heard the spring peepers. That changed me right away and I suddenly thought about life. It was the nicest feeling.

You asked about Minnie's name, sex, breed, and phone number. She doesn't answer the phone. She is a dachshund and can't reach it, but she wouldn't answer it even if she could, as she has no interest in outside calls. I did have a dachshund once, a male, who was interested in the telephone, and who got a great many calls, but Fred was an exceptional dog (his name was Fred) and I can't think of anything offhand that he wasn't interested in. The telephone was only one of a thousand things. He loved life — that is, he loved life if by "life" you mean "trouble," and of course the phone is almost synonymous with trouble. Minnie loves life, too, but her idea of life is a warm bed, preferably with an electric pad, and a friend in bed with her, and plenty of shut-eye, night and days. She's almost twelve. I guess I've already mentioned that. I got her from Dr. Clarence Little in 1939. He was using dachshunds in his cancer-research experiments (that was before Winchell was running the thing) and he had a couple of extra puppies, so I wheedled Minnie out of him. She later had puppies by her own father, at Dr. Little's request. What do you think about that for a scandal? I know what Fred thought about it. He was some put out.

Sincerely yours,

E. B. White

Source:  "Letters of a Nation"

Photo Source Unknown

Related:  E.B. White in the archives

Dachshund Dearest

"Send me flowers while I`m alive. They won`t do me a damn bit of good after I`m dead."  ~Joan Crawford

Video by youtuber Kalliope Amorphous:  Joan Crawford Playing With Her Dachshund On The Roof In California. Circa late 1940's.

Mr. Abraham Lincoln and Dachshund

Nice, but we don't think so. 

Photo source unknown.

Celebrity Dachshund Watch: Josh Duhamel Teams Up With Petsmart Charities

Transformers star and husband of singer Fergie, Josh Duhamel, is on a campaign to raise awareness about pet adoption.  He's blogging about it on Huffington Post, talking about it at People magazine, and even teaming up with Petsmart Charities as seen in the above video to get the word out.  Mr. Duhamel talks open and candidly at People magazine about the love of his Dachshunds:


All it took was a little Meatloaf for Josh Duhamel to become a convert.
Six years ago, the actor and his wife Fergie were looking to provide a companion for their 1-year-old dachshund Zoe, so they searched online and found another dachshund through a rescue.
"Meatloaf was truly a beautiful dog," Duhamel tells PEOPLE of the aging dachshund he brought into his home. "He was the most lovable, appreciative, soulful little dude. He just turned out to be such a great pet, such a great friend, and ever since then I've been an advocate of rescuing."
True to his word, Duhamel has partnered with PetSmart Charities' High-Five for Pet Adoption campaign, which celebrates the five million pets that have been adopted at PetSmart Adoption Centers since 1994.
Still, many millions more need homes. "I wanted to make aware how much of a problem it is in this country," he says. "I can speak from experience: [adopting] was the smartest thing we've done when it comes to owning a pet."
Rescue hadn't been on Duhamel's radar when he brought home Zoe while working on the NBC drama Las Vegas – and a disappointed colleague took it upon herself to educate the actor.
"When she found out that we bought Zoe, she gave me an earful, and that's when I first heard about pet adoption," Duhamel says. "Ever since then, I tell anybody who's going to get a pet that that's the way to go, not just because it's the right thing to do but because they make incredible pets."
Meatloaf was one of them. "From the very beginning, Zoe was taken well care of," Duhamel says. "We call her the spoiled little Brentwood dog because she never knew any hardship, unlike Meatloaf, who totally appreciated everything. He was just so loving and he was always so consistent." In his advancing age, the dachshund became afflicted by a degenerative brain disease and died on April 1 in his sleep.
"We have his ashes in a box," Duhamel says. "We were going to bury it and put a little memorial out, but we decided we wanted to keep it on the mantle at home because – I dunno, we just couldn't bury him for some reason. We just wanted to keep him close."
The shelter dogs that Duhamel has met since working with PetSmart Charities have also reminded him of Meatloaf. "They all seem to have that same characteristic of gratitude," he says. "I can only imagine what it's like in some of these shelters. When they do get a loving home, they truly appreciate it."

God Save The Queen

As the Diamond Jubilee celebration honoring Queen Elizabeth II's 60 years on the throne comes to an end, revellers from all over the world have been flying the flag for Her Majesty.  Above, Twiglet the Dachshund wears a tiara in Geneva, Switzerland.  Source.

From The Long and Short of it All archives: 

Queen, Queen Mother, and Dachshund Watch Badminton Horse Trials

19 April, 1958: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN WITH THE QUEEN MOTHER HAVE BEEN WATCHING THE BADMINTON HORSE TRIALS AT BADMINTON, GLOUCESTERSHIRE.

THEY SAW MISS SHEILA WILLCOX ON "HIGH AND MIGHTY" ESTABLISH A LEAD OVER ALL OTHER COMPETITORS.
ABOVE, THE QUEEN WATCHES THE TRIALS AT BADMINTON WHILE CARRYING ONE OF HER PET DACHSHUNDS.

Do you love the Royals, despise the Royals, or are you just indifferent?   It's pretty clear where one of our favorite British popstars, Morrissey, stands on the subject.  He wrote these words a few days ago:

The soul is tried all over again as the jackboot of dictatorship strangles England. This week, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee presents a new lesson in the force of tyranny, and is an expression of loathing and abhorrence of the British poor - and all done, quite naturally, at the public's expense! It is degrading to anyone of intelligence. While dictatorships throughout the Middle East are gently condemned by the British government, there is no examination of the extremism enforced by the British 'royals', who remain the most overpaid and most utterly useless people on the planet. Having done nothing to earn our respect, they demand everything by return. It is a cunning and extravagant form of benefit fraud.

Celebrity Dachshund Watch: Liv Ullmann

Oh, yes.  Liv Ullmann is a Norwegian actress and film director, as well as one of the "muses" of the Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. Nominated five times for a Best Actress Golden Globe, winning once for The Emigrants, Ullmann has also been nominated for the Palme d'Or, two times for the Academy Award, and two times for a BAFTA Film Award.  She is the inspiration for Steven Tyler's daughter's Liv's name, and oh yeah, she's a Dachshund Lover.  She recently talked with the Boston Globe about her pretty rescue Dachshund 'Chelsea':

Q: Have you always had pets?

A: Yes. Growing up, I had one fox terrier and one golden retriever.

Q: When and where did you adopt your dog?

A: We adopted her 2 years ago and we’re a little unsure of her age but we decided on 7. Sometimes I wish I was an animal because I've never ever seen such care of an animal in the world [by the MSPCA].

Q: What made you choose her?

A: [The MSPCA] knew that we had lost our dachshund some years ago and my husband [Boston developer Donald Saunders] didn’t want a new one but while I was away in Norway they did phone and said they had this incredible little dachshund and he should at least come and look at her.

Q: What happened to her before she came to live with you?

A: She had been with someone for five years and they just left a letter that she was born at a flea market. She was sick, of course. Her left leg was completely crooked. But then at (Angell Animal Medical Center), they did an operation on her... Now she has a perfect leg.

Q: What are three traits you love about Chelsea?

A: She loves to sit on the lap. She is so sweet. She is very people oriented.

Q: Why did you name her Chelsea?

A: She was called Chelsea to the people who delivered her. We didn't want to change that.

Read more of this Q&A at the Boston Globe.

Dachshund Dearest

"If I can`t be me, I don`t want to be anybody. I was born that way."  ~Joan Crawford

1939 - JOAN CRAWFORD introduces her brand new dachshund, Stinkie, to this business of movie making between scenes of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's "The Women," in which she is starred with Norma Shearer and Rosalind Russell. The picture is brought to the screen by Hunt Stromberg, directed by [Dachshund Lover] George Cukor.

Mary Richardson Kennedy

Things surely couldn't have possibly been as bad as Ms. Kennedy, estranged wife of RFK, Jr., thought they were - look at the beautiful Dachshunds she had in her life.  Thanks so much to Wendigo Wolf for sending in the photo.  Wendigo writes:

Dear Joey  and Rowdy,

Mary Kennedy recently passed away, and I found this cover at nypost.com with a couple of longhair doxies.  Thats all I could find, I don't know any more about them.