Charles Baptie, photographer for Capital Airlines and various books/publications, took many pictures of important people during his lifetime. World leaders, well-known public figures, and, interestingly enough, puppies. Like many other collections housed in SCRC, the Charles Baptie Photograph Collection (C0032) is filled with furry friends. When Baptie wasn’t off photographing the Fairfax area, airlines, or restaurants, he was at his home studio taking pictures of clients. One such client was “Herkie” the cocker spaniel.
Herkie, likely short for Hercules, was supposedly Baptie’s dog or a dog that belonged to one of his photo clients. Whomever he truly belonged to, Baptie was clearly enamored: this puppy has folder upon folder dedicated to him in Box 24. Dated sometime in the late 1940s and early 1950s, these photoshoots range from Herkie’s bathtime to pictures of him with toddlers and birds. Throughout these photos, Herkie remains a good sport, helping to spell his name in blocks and even playing the drums.
The bathtime photos (pictured below) were used in multiple publications, including books and an Arlington Animal Welfare League advertisement. The 1957 book, Camera on Assignment, written by Baptie and “Ollie” Atkins (better known in our archives as Oliver Atkins), depicts a range of subjects. This includes the effects of war, Washington D.C., and of course, “Animal Personalities.” Herkie appears twice here in a progression of bathtime photos, the first captioned “It’s rough going now…” and the next continuing on to “…but it was worth it!” (found in Box 20) .
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As an honorable mention, Shar Khan, the Siamese cat, is depicted on the following page, enjoying a nap on top of a warm television.
Herkie also has his own short story, though it remains an unpublished draft in our collection. “Herkie, the Pup,” supposedly written by Herkie himself (but of course, written by Baptie), details his life in his owner’s household. The puppy happily admits that he “liked having his picture taken” because he could “make funny faces and do funny things.” According to “Herkie,” he used the typewriter while Baptie was away to write this story.
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But not all of Herkie’s story is happy. In 1946 the 3-month-old puppy ran away from home, leaving his 7-year-old “master” Dicky Townsend and other neighborhood children devastated without their “puppy pal.” Although this newspaper clipping doesn’t tell us how the story ends, we can assume from later pictures of Herkie as an adult, including the below photo of him with a pet parrot, that he made it back safe and sound. All’s well that ends well!
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