‘The Faithful Friend’ Celebrates

People And Their Pets

NEW HAVEN — A special museum exhibition at New Haven Colony Historical Society examines and celebrates the relationship between people and pets.

 “The Faithful Friend: New Haveners and Their Pets, 1880-1920” uses family photographs from the period as well as paintings, engravings, literary works, needlework, and three-dimensional objects to explore the cultural changes throughout the 19th Century that led to a new definition of the American family, one that included domestic pets.

A large portion of the exhibition places pet-keeping in a historical context.

Together with other historical material and artifacts, the exhibition traces the development of cultural and emotional attachments to pets that took place during the 19th Century. Schoolbooks used illustrations of pets in stories and lessons in morality, responsibility, and loyalty. Intellectual and reform movements of the era also used animals, including pets, in their writings and campaigns. A genre of magazines developed around home and family, including images and stories about pets.

Pet products, such as birdcages, were readily available for sale in stores. New Haven was the home to the Andrew B. Hendryx Company (1869-1960s), one of the nation’s leading manufacturers of bird and pet cages. By the end of the century, pets were fully integrated into American popular culture and widely accepted as members of the family.

Photographs of New Haveners and their pets complete the exhibition. In family scrapbooks from the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, local residents pose with their dogs, cats, and birds. Informal, relaxed, and joyful interactions characterize the images and tell the loving relationships that families developed with their pets. Standouts in the collection are photographs by New Haven photographer Thomas S. Bronson, who created charming pet portraits as well as captured whimsical family gatherings on film.

Over ten New Haven families and pets, dating from 1880 to 1920, are represented in the exhibition.

Special events have been planned for the exhibition, including a Family Day opening on Saturday, June 11, with ongoing arts and activities all day. A stuffed pet toy show will be featured from 1 to 2 pm on Saturday as well.

All lectures and programs are included in museum admission.

A Brown Bag Lunch Lecture, “T.S. Bronson’s Photos of Family & Four-Legged Friends,” will be offered on Wednesday, June 15, from 12:15 to 1 pm.

Lisa Peterson, the AKC director of club communications (and author of “Lisa’s Living with Dogs,” a regular column in The Newtown Bee), will deliver “Your Rights As A Dog Owner & The Joys of Having A Canine Good Citizen.” Mrs Peterson’s lecture will be Saturday, June 18, at 3 pm.

Another Brown Bag Lunch Lecture, “Pets in American Art: Highlights from the Exhibition,” will be offered on Wednesday, June 22, at 12:15 pm.

One-hour Kids’ Korner programs have also been arranged, all starting at 10:30 am.

“Pet Stories, Part 1” will run on Wednesdays, July 6 and August 3; “Canine Guest” will be offered on July 13 and August 10; “Pet Stories, Part 2” will be on July 20 and August 17; and “Craft Activities” will be July 27 and August 24.

The exhibition will remain on view until January 14, 2006.

The New Haven Colony Historical Society is at 114 Whitney Avenue in New Haven. Call 203-562-4183 for additional information.