Even dogs and cats were willing models
A legacy of pet images
Annie Powell’s super power was posing subjects hard to keep still: young children, construction workers, and even, as we see here, dogs and cats.
Her own pooch?
Annie and John Powell had no children but seem to have owned a pet American Bulldog or Staffordshire Terrier1. The unusual sideways placement of the print advertisement on their standard card mount suggests a private use. If this dog portrait were sold to a customer, the picture would have probably been cropped on the sides in order for the logotypes to be placed at the bottom. Courtesy vintagedoggy.blogspot.com.
‘Duffan’ probably understood Swedish
This photo, taken by Annie around 1900 at 260 Central St., shows drug store owner Anders Thomasson, a Swedish immigrant, petting his King Charles Spaniel named Duffan. The seated woman is his wife, Adelaide Pihl Thomasson, and the woman standing is her relative, Rosalie Pihl. The name of the dog and people are from a similar image on the Trinity Lutheran Church, Chelmsford website. Courtesy Lowell Historical Society.
Spitz-friendly neighborhood
The Powell studios took these photos in approximately 1894 (top), 1897 (bottom left), and 1900 (bottom right) in the Grove, or Sacred Heart, neighborhood of Lowell near the Concord River. The dogs are most likely spitzes. Facial recognition software shows the two girls at the bottom may be the same person or sisters. Courtesy UMass Lowell Center for Lowell History (CLH) and Lally Family Collection.
Notice us, President Harding!
In February 1923, a local civic leader appealed to President Warren Harding to end the coal shortage, as people in Lowell could not heat their homes in the frigid winter weather. Annie, the go-to photographer for posing kids and dogs, made some images in the icy temperatures in an attempt to warm the president’s heart. The dog is probably a Labrador Retriever mix. Courtesy Harding Presidential Library.
Broadway hoofers
This is an enlargement of a 1917 street view from Broadway Street looking east towards Fletcher Street. The road is filled with horse-drawn carriages and a dog holds its head high for the camera. On the left is a sign for W. Murphy’s Bohemian Bar. On the far right in the distance stood the city stables. Today, one of the barn buildings remains and is home to the Lowell Senior Center. Courtesy CLH City Engineers Collection.
Inspector feline
Annie took this picture in 1927, probably to document the broken Cedar Street sidewalk for the City Engineers. She gathered and arranged five children, a horse and a cat to create a complete composition. A bit of wit is shown in the enlargement below…the rears of both the horse and the delivery man are visible. Courtesy CLH City Engineers Collection.
Cop cat
This cat must have felt protected at the entrance to the police station on Market Street. Taken by Annie in 1927, this photo is purely for fun. She recognized the allure of a cute cat pic an entire century before kitties went viral. Courtesy CLH City Engineers Collection.
Except where noted, the breeds have been provided by my daughter, Rosie LaRocque, and her team of veterinary technologists at New England Veterinary Ophthalmology, Manchester, NH. They point out that since these photos were taken, standards for many breeds have evolved.