5.1 Count Alexis Pulaski scrapbook collection

Count Alexis Pulaski, or “Mr. Poodle,” was a well-known breeder, entrepreneur, mid-century society page fixture, and passionate advocate for multi-colored poodles. He owned kennels in Willimantic, Connecticut and New Brunswick, New Jersey while his store and salon Poodles, Incorporated was on 52nd Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Prominent customers included Eva Peron, Judy Garland, Dolores Del Rio, Clare Booth Luce, Gary Cooper, and Hattie Carnegie.

Pulaski originally bred Doberman Pinschers in Russia as early as 1912, and began showing them in stages in 1928 -- having immigrated from Leningrad to America in 1926 as, it has been alleged, an anti-Communist who had fought the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War. His friend and later business partner Gilbert Kahn asked him to babysit his poodle, which prompted an unexpected but lifelong devotion to the breed when Pulaski was so impressed with its intelligence and loyalty.

Born in 1946, the grey miniature poodle Masterpiece was Pulaski’s prized possession. He won his first show in the puppy class in Westminster in 1947 and ultimately held Champion, CD, CDX, and UD titles, which were said to have been earned within weeks of each other. Earning $11,000 annually in stud and modelling fees. Masterpiece was claimed by his owner to have the highest appraisal value of any dog in history, and in fact prince Ali Kahn tried to purchase the dog for $25,000 for his wife Rita Hayworth. Pulaski travelled the world with Masterpiece, a declared “ambassador of good will” to Europe, Cuba, and Haiti, and host to annual fashion shows at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Their antics were regularly featured in gossip and society columns.

Masterpiece was stolen from Poodles, Inc in 1953 and never recovered. The store, which offered 16 different haircut varieties, closed in 1956. Pulaski subsequently channeled his energies into passionate advocacy and breeding of mixed or “parti-colored” poodles (such as coats of brown and white, gray and white, and black and white). These theories placed Pulaski in opposition to the breed standards established by the AKC and the Poodle Club of America. He devoted himself to the writing of the poodle encyclopedia "Pulaski on Poodles," which contained many of his divisive theories, and was completed in 1961. Despite his efforts, he was never able to secure a publisher.