Volume 5, Issue 4
October–December 1996
Owney's lifelong association with the United States Post Office began one cold autumn evening in 1888 when he crept into the Albany, NY post office and cuddled up on a pile of old mailbags. Busy postal clerks did not notice the sleepy little pooch at first. Sometime round daybreak, however, the mail clerks spotted him. Instead of chasing him away, the mail clerks took pity on the homeless puppy. They fed him and decided to let him stay. Owney's pleading look and friendly, intelligent manner won the hearts of the mail clerks, and he was soon "adopted."
It does not matter that Owney was an orphan nor that no one knows how old Owney was when he arrived at the Albany post office or how he got his name. What does matter is that he grew up to be one of the world's most famous and adventurous dogs. Unfortunately, as a very young puppy Owney felt little human love and tenderness. For the first few months of his life, he had neither a home nor a family, but he was a lucky dog. Before long, he had thousands of friends and places where he was always welcomed. He grew especially fond of anyone who smelled like a mailbag for a very special reason. Almost from the beginning of the little dog's life, America's postal workers were his family.
Owney felt right at home among the mailbags. In fact, he felt safe enough to ride on the soft pile of pouches on the wagons that moved the mail between the Albany post office and the local railroad depot several blocks away. Feeling at home wherever the mailbags went, Owney made his first trip from Albany in a railway mail car bound for New York City. Gradually, his trips took him farther and farther away. As his absences grew, the post office clerks at Albany bought Owney a collar to identify him in case of an emergency. The simple inscription read: "Owney, Post Office, Albany, New York." It was not long before Owney was away from Albany for months at a time.
The roving postal dog evidently sensed that guarding the mail was his responsibility. A story in the May 18, 1892, edition of Weekly Stamp News tells how one night, Owney jumped aboard a loaded mail wagon for his usual ride to the local post office. But when the wagon arrived, Owney was no longer on board. He had never before left his post on top of the mailbags. As the mail clerks unloaded the wagon, they discovered that a mail sack was missing. The wagon driver hurried back over his route to find the issuing bag. Near the train depot the clerk saw Owney sitting in the gutter, wagging his tail and sneezing—his way of saying "Here I am." Sure enough, the mailbag was there too. Owney was sitting on it. He had stayed behind to guard the mail.
Known at first as the mascot of the Albany post office, the tramp mail dog soon became the faithful companion of the nation's railway mail clerks. He traveled with the mail pouches wherever they went, jumping from one train to the next. The railway mail clerks loved having Owney aboard and they made sure that he was warm, safe, and well fed.
Owney's Trinkets
Knowing that his trips were taking him across the country, mail clerks at the Albany post office fastened a note to Owney's collar asking employees of the Railway Mail Service to record his journeys by attaching leather and metal baggage tags to his collar.
Soon his tiny collar was so heavy Owney could hardly hold up his head. To lighten his load and make room for more tags, Postmaster General John Wanamaker presented Owney with a special harness-like jacket on which the dog's souvenirs could be more evenly spread around. Some railway mail clerks occasionally lightened his load by removing a few tokens and sending them to the Albany post office for safekeeping. Because of these thoughtful workers, Owney's tag collection was preserved as a record of his travels.
Owney's tags, hotel key checks and badges documented his travels around the United States. However, not all of Owney's tags show where he went. Some of his friends attached coin-like tokens offering goods and services from stores and well-wishers. Owney accumulated 1,017 tags, tokens, trinkets, and medals during his travels. All of them were fastened to his jacket at one time or another.
A World-Class Traveler
Owney not only journeyed around the United States and CAnada, but also reportedly toured Mexico and Alaska. His Alaskan trip was an impressive accomplishment for a small dog in the 1890s. However, Owney's most remarkable trip took him around the world. Starting from Tacoma, Washington, on August 19, 1895, aboard the steamship Victoria, Owney began by visiting several cities in China and Japan. He was sent by registered mail part of the way. Postal clerks were not quite sure what to call Owney, so they created a special classification just for him: "Registered Dog Package." During this voyage he found plenty to do. His favorite shipboard activity was chasing rats. The ship's crew regarded him as a first-class "rat dog."
Owney's arrival in Japan puzzled Japanese officials. His impressive tag collection led them to believe that he belonged to someone of great importance. Fearing that they might offend his distinguished owner if they did not treat him like royalty, Japanese officials issued Owney an imperial passport. This majestic document gave Owney freedom to travel anywhere in the country.
Following his visit to Japan, Owney sailed to China and then returned briefly to Japan. A fellow passenger, Mr. Herbert Flood of San Francisco, recalled his introduction to Owney: "When I entered the office of the steamship's agent at Kobe, Japan, to book passage, I inquired if there were any other passengers, and was informed that there was one other, who was all ready to leave on the ship, which would sail in two hours. On the agent's books, the passenger's name was entered as 'Mr. Owney' and his residence [was listed as] 'America.' I asked for an introduction to my fellow-passenger, and the clerk whistled. A large-sized Irish terrier . . . who had been sleeping on a pile of mail bags in the corner, trotted to the front. It was Owney, the traveling dog and protˇgˇ of the postal clerks of America."
Leaving Japan, Owney sailed to Singapore, Suez, Algiers, and the Azores, before landing at New York City aboard the British steamer Port Phillip. Postal clerks sent him back by train to Tacoma, Washington, where he arrived on December 29, 1895, no worse for wear, and reportedly about six pounds heavier. Hundreds of his friends turned out to welcome him back.
Owney's trip set no speed record—it took 132 days—but it added to his reputation as a tireless traveler. This trip also added greatly to his wanderings. In all, he traveled over 143,000 miles.
Owney's Honors
Well known to dog lovers across the country, Owney was often a guest at important dog shows where he received many awards, though none for his breeding. He was, after all, a mixed-breed—mostly of terrier stock. Owney's awards were for his accomplishments, not his pedigree. A Los Angeles kennel club presented a silver medal to Owney for being the "best traveled" dog to attend their show in April 1893. In 1896, Owney was awarded a special medal when he stopped by a dog show in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The medal is inscribed "Owney, the Globe Trotter."
Owney received another "Globe Trotter" medal from a kennel club in Chicago in March 1897. After this award Owney traveled to the Far West for the last time, arriving in San Francisco to attend the convention of the National Association of Railway Clerks. When he was brought on the stage during the meeting, he stood before thousands of his friends, who in a rousing, fifteen minute ovation, cheered, clapped, and whistled for their faithful four-legged friend. This display of affection was perhaps Owney's greatest reward. For nearly a decade these postal workers had been Owney's family.
In 1897, the Railway Mail Service decided Owney was getting too old to travel. He had lost sight in one eye and reportedly could eat only soft foods and milk. For his protection, Owney was sent into retirement at the Albany post office. Apparently, he did not like the idea of being permanently grounded in Albany. In June 1897, he slipped out and boarded a mail train for Toledo, Ohio, where tragedy struck. Owney was mistreated while being shown off to a newspaper reporter in Ohio and became so mad that he bit a postal worker. Although the exact circumstances were never satisfactorily reported, Owney died in Toledo on July 11, 1897, from a gunshot wound.
Owney's friends did not forget him. Led by James E. White, Superintendent of the Railway Mail Service, American postal clerks collected money for his preservation by a Toledo Taxidermist. He was first exhibited at the Post Office Department's headquarters in Washington, D.C. In 1911 he was given to the Smithsonian Institution, which has since cared for him.
Owney is part of the fascinating collection of over 16 million items relating to our nation's rich postal history held by the Smithsonian Institution. Many of these objects are on display at the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum. Every day of the year, except Christmas Day, visitors can greet him in the atrium of the museum.
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