The following collection of “very good boys” comes from the State Archives of Florida, and gives us a snapshot of our long history of friendship with four-legged furballs. “Dogs in Florida help deliver mail, work for the police department, ride motorcycles, and lounge on the beach. Service, companionship, love, furriness—dogs fulfill all of these needs,” says the State Archives. “Floridians have always shared their special place in the sun with their dogs.”
Photo via State Archives of Florida
Woman with rifle and dog. Date unknown.Dog posing on table. Photographed in Tallahassee, Florida between 1885 and 1910.Spanish-American war camp scene: Tampa, Florida. 1898.Heise’s pet shop: Tampa, Florida. Date unknown.Lassie awaiting her cue in front of camera crew, 1965.The CBS television show “Lassie,” ran from 1954 through 1974. In this episode, “Lassie the Voyager” which aired on October 16, 1966, Lassie and Ranger Corey are in Florida. Despite the fact that the character Lassie was female, all the dog actors have been male.Lassie with actor Robert Bray. 1965.Dog barking into the telephone. Published 1957.The “Crescent City” at the oyster house dock: Eastpoint, Florida, ca. 1910.Saying goodby to Iowa friends. Eastpoint, Florida, ca. 1898 to 1912.Young boy fishing with his dog: Palm Beach County, Florida. Date unknown.Old hermit Roy Ozmer poses with his dog on a self-made lounge chair: Gomez Point, Florida. Photographed on May 5, 1961.Seminole Josie Billie with family and dogNoriam Sretaw with his dog “Skipper” on U.S. highway 1. August 1947.Children and dogs in a car: Tomoka River Region, Florida. Date unknown.Eddie Frank at Naples’ swamp buggy races: Naples, Florida. October 28, 1950.The grandson of George Garretson, owner of Palomino stables in Ocala, with Sicilian donkey. November 1950.Captain Will Newman sitting on the dock with dog and cat: Palatka, Florida. Sometime in the 1920s.“The Back Porch Boys” of Stuart: Florida. 1979.Boy, dog and woman enjoying each other’s company: Tallahassee, Florida. Date unknown.Dog receiving a treat at the Coral Ridge National Bank drive thru window: Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Date unknown.Governor Chiles and his dog: Tallahassee, Florida. 1998.Portrait of Clara Page Ferrell in her official mail carrier uniform: Woodville (Leon County), Florida. 1917.Dog at surveyors’ camp. 1912.Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings with her dog: Cross Creek, Florida. Sometime in the 1940s.Eloise Morris with dog and fawn. Date unknown.Florida Secretary of State H. Clay Crawford with dog in front of the state capitol: Tallahassee, Florida. Date unknown.Dogs of numerous breeds. Date unknown.Peck Harris and his dog. Date unknown.Woman with gun and hunting dogs: Tallahassee, Florida. Sometime in the 1880s.Portrait of girl with toy gun and dog. Date unknown.Man and hunting dog: Tallahassee, Florida. Date unknown.Phipps Plantation. 1948.Sisters Judy and Susan Becker with their dog: Miami Beach, Florida. Sometime in the 1940s.Jesse Messmore Dakin petting dog while cat sleeps by piano in the living room at the Racimo Plantation. 1889.Portrait of Katherine McCrow with a Yorkie dog: Tallahassee, Florida. Richard Parks operated a portrait studio in Tallahassee from 1962 to 1974. First called Richard Parks-Evon Streetman Photography, the studio was later renamed Richard Parks Photography after Streetman moved to Gainesville about 1965.Dog lost six years returns, 1951.Man bathes a dog. Date unknown.Theon Revell, Guy Revell, and Clinton Ashmore standing next to a dog and her puppies.Billy Belk with dog at the Leon County Clerk’s Office in Tallahassee, Florida. Photographed in November 1942.Tourist with “Brownie” the town dog: Daytona Beach, Florida. Sometime in the 1950s.
