LITTERS OF PUPS
Pup collecting began for me in
1989 with a $30 green no-name purchased on the route 5 NY trail of antique store
hopping. Since then, I’ve seen
that these little 1 5/8 inch guys command more than a second look among iron
miniature collectors.
Made as advertising
paperweights, probably by Hubley, I’ve located many variations on the Griswold
30 pup theme. Collecting these has
been a fairly inexpensive hobby and I can’t resist adding a new one to the
group.
Recently
I purchased a ceramic look-alike in white porcelain detailed in gold. I have a Hubley kitten in a similar pose as the pup with a
ribbon around its neck and exact size as the pup.
I call it jokingly my Griswold kitten (since the lady who sold it to me
said so). I even own 2 different
jewelers knock-offs of the Griswold pup in silver. I once had a lead repro that
was so bad (wrinkly) that I called it my Chinese wrinkle pup.
I gave him away without regrets. I have one that clearly shows across
with letters in each quadrant - GEM Co.
The BIG DOG of my litter
overlooks the rest. Unlike the
Griswold and look-alikes, this guy towers over them with his whopping two-inch
stature. His base is proportionally
larger too. Nevertheless, he retains the same pose and feature details of his 1
5/8-inch counterparts.
Although Griswold 30 pups sell for $275-$325 range, the most expensive look-alike was $125. A few others were in the $75-90 price range, but you can still find many for around $30-50. No names and aluminum castings are usually cheapest, but some of the no names are SO cute you just have to own them.
HINES VARIATIONS IN PICTURE BELOW: 1917 HINES, HINES ACCO PUP, HINES HF PUP, ALUMINUM HINES, BRONZE HINES, NOT 57, BUT LOTS OF VARIETIES OF HINES!
Among my favorites are a painted and crazed no name, an absolutely gorgeous bronze Hines (back row above and to far right), and my Kaiser-Frazer pup paperweight. I think I enjoy owning the later because he almost got away. A seller offered us a collection of iron and he was listed in that collection. The only thing of interest to me that I didn’t have was the Kaiser-Frazer pup paperweight and I wanted it. We agreed on a price then traveled to OK to pick up the collection. He had everything laid out to
inspect,
except the one thing I wanted, the Kaiser-Frazer pup. Questioned, he said he didn’t know where it was.
Well, I didn’t want his pile of iron WITHOUT the pup, so he finally
remembered it might be in his car. Maybe he’d taken it to show someone in
town. Well, guess what.
It was. The rest is history. I
don’t remember what we traded the pile of iron for, but the Kaiser-Frazer went
with my growing litter of pups.
Many
of the advertisers on these pups can be figured out, but others defy anything I
can come up with. Probably the most prolific advertiser was for Bucki Carbon
Ribbons Company, a typewriter supplier. I see the Bucki pups more than others.
Hines would be second, but a little more difficult to locate 
than
Bucki. I have Hines pups in several
finishes and even with variations. Several
say Hines Pup on the back, while others simply say Hines and still others say
Hines but with a line encircling Hines. I have no idea who the Hines company
was, nor can I shed any light on RENOWN, WADS FDRY, K, WEMCO, DALL B-N, or MAX
HAYES. Other names on pups are encircled with a line or circle, like RENOWN, MAX
HAYES, and AR. Some say PUP and some don’t.
Ones that include PUP are L.V.R.R. (Leigh Valley Rail Road), Neilson’s,
St. Louis, Hines (sometimes), Bucki, Blue, and, of course, GRISWOLD.
Usually
the writing stands out on the rump of the dog, but on occasion, the
letters are incised into the rump. Incised
lettering is on the Griswold pup, the
Hines pup, and the Kaiser Frazer. Only
the Griswold pup has a pattern number, which is 30 and is found on the back of
the head.
A
few pups have some alteration of the pup shape on the back where the “logo”
is placed. The U.B. pup is found on a squared off back area just above the tail.
The K pup is placed on a squared off protrusion above the tail area.
I have just one pup that has writing on the front as well.
It
is a Hines pup that has ACCO arched above the legs on the breast. ACCO is raised
lettering, while Hines is the typical incised lettering.
Even though I have more than 40
pups, I can always find room for more, especially NEW NAMES to enhance my
collection. If you have any you
want to sell, please contact me. I’m a responsive buyer!
If you want to add to your pup collection, check out my: items for sale list and look under the category of Griswold smalls--I usually have a stash of extra advertising pups.