Siberian Husky (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Mullins, Bill AMRDEC]

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

Back to 1908:

[advertisement] _Fairbanks [AK] Daily Times_, 09/10/1908, p 8 col 5
[metadata at Newspaperarchive places this page at 9/09/1908; page states
9/10/08)

"Siberian huskie robes, $25, at Sargent & Pinkska's."
[later down the column is an ad for wolf robes at the same store, so
this clearly refers to the breed of dog].

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> Behalf Of Victor Steinbok
> Sent: Monday, September 28, 2009 12:50 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Siberian Husky
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
---------------
> --------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Siberian Husky
>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> Following up on the "Siberian Tiger".
>
> This is the list for "Siberian husky" from the OED WOD mailing from
> this
> evening.
>
> >  > *1930* /Amer. Kennel Gaz./ Jan. 26/1 The Siberian huskies are
> recognized as the ideal dogs for driving. /Ibid./ Nov. 73/1 The breed
> of
> dog known as the Siberian Husky has been recognized by the Stud Book
> Committee. *1950* J. HAMBLETON /Abitibi Adventure/ 74 In their
> equipment
> was included a two-dog team, made up of Siberian huskies, blue-eyed
> beauties trained for generations to pull their hearts out and to
> survive
> the utmost rigors of the north. *1972* /Even. Telegram/ (St. John's,
> Newfoundland) 24 June 14/1 Various types of Northern dogs were used
> including Siberian Huskies.
>
> This one proved to be trivial to push back right away--a *1921*
> biography of Jack London (volume 2, to be precise) already has
> "Siberian
> huskies" in it. [The Book of Jack London, Vol. 2, by Charmian London,
> NY, 1921] (Harvard copy, p. 306)
>
> >  > Then he met "Scotty," otherwise Mr. J. H. Scott, champion
> dog-musher, with his prize teams of Malemutes and Siberian huskies,
> gee-pole sleds and all.
>
> Not to put too fine a point on it, but the immediate question is
> whether
> the breed was already referred to as such at the time of the meeting,
> *1915*. [This is the date given to the chapter where the huskies are
> mentioned.]
>
> Wiki cites the 1995 "Siberian Huskies" book in stating,
>
> "Leonhard Seppala, the foremost breeder of Siberian Huskies of the
> time,
> participated in competitions from 1909 to the mid 1920s."
>
> This gives the right timing, but no specifics.
>
> The Handbook of Travel by the Harvard Travelers Club (*1918*), yields,
>
> >  > At the present writing (*1917*) *Siberian "Huskies"* are the
> superior dogs for racing in the Alaska Derby.
>
> Cutting off GoogleBooks at 1920, yields only three other sources.
>
> William B.  Stephenson, The Land of Tomorrow (*1919*, p. 106):
>
> >  > When he returned, as some one has already recorded, "Siberian
> huskies howled from every port hole."
>
> The other two (!) citations come supposedly from 1912 from YMCA
> magazine
> that is alternately identified as Young Men and Association Men. One
> reference is to vols. 37 and 39, the other to vol. 38--all labeled as
> 1912, each on p. 551. Since GoogleBooks gives only a snippet of the
> page
> (and even then only for the former citation), I could not verify
either
> the source or the date. It stands to reason that vol. 38 might indeed
> be
> from 1912 and might indeed contain the phrase "Siberian huskies", but
I
> can't verify it, at the moment.
>
> I found one credible reference in 1913, but it does not use
"Siberian".
>
> Alfred E. Smith, New Outlook, p. 700:
>
> >  > The " huskies," or komatik dogs, were ever prowling around, half
> wolf and half
> dog, to fight and snarl, and eat what they could steal.
>
> I can't verify much about this since the text is not available.
>
> However, there is a 1911 book that can be verified!
>
> Katharine Berry Judson, Myths and Legends of Alaska, (Chicago, printed
> *September 1911*) Although there is no actual text that contains the
> phrase "Siberian husky" (or "huskies"), between pp. 122-123, there is
a
> photo captioned *"Siberian Husky"*. From the appearance of the dog, I
> doubt that caption is accurate, but the photo that immediately
precedes
> it shows a sled pulled by dogs from several breeds, including,
> undoubtedly, some Siberian huskies. The photo captioned "Siberian
> Husky"
> is tagged with a byline from the Alaska-Yukon Magazine, so the date
can
> be pushed back at least another year through that publication.
>
> It seems likely that some publications that dealt with the
> Klondike/Nome
> gold rush and dog-sled races back then might push the date back some
> time between 1899 and 1910. It's possible that there might even be a
> reference going back to the discovery of gold in Alaska a decade
> earlier. But I haven't found them.
>
>     VS-)
>
> PS: I found some photos that show huskies going back to 1906, but
there
> is no indication as to how the dog breeds were being identified at the
> time. So 1911 it is, for now.
>
>
> PS: If anyone wants to pick over periodicals from 1909-1917 for
stories
> on dog races or sled dogs in Alaska, here's a start (from a more
> traditional bibliographic source):
>
> Alaska dog derby, L L Lane, Country Life 32:45-7 S'17
> Red River derby, Outlook 115:450 Mr 14 '17
> Sandy of Alaska. W A Dyer, Country Life 33:94 D '17
> Winnipeg to St. Paul by dog, T. Foster, Outing 69:696-703 Mr '17
>
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Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

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