May 8, 1877 Westminster Dog Show

For years, a group of hunters would meet at the Westminster Hotel at Irving Place & 16th Street in New York, “to drink and lie about their shooting accomplishments”. At one such meeting the group decided to hold a dog show, “to compare dogs in a setting away from the field.

The Westminster Kennel Club was formed, for the purpose. The most famous dog show in the world was first held on May 8, 1877 called the “First Annual NY Bench Show of Dogs.” At that time the event was mostly sporting dogs, primarily Setters and Pointers with a few Terriers.

That first show featured two Staghounds belonging to the late General George Armstrong Custer. Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, entered two Deerhounds. Two years later, Russian Czar Alexander III entered a Siberian Wolfhound. German Emperor Wilhelm II entered his own Wolfhound…