A PEEK AT HISTORY

BIRD DOG PALACE

By Ben Hardeman

One of the many interesting aspects of the Model T hobby is the variety of accessories that were made in the early days of the automobile. The Bird Dog Palace is certainly near the top of the list of unique accessories that I have been able to collect. I first saw one of these in 1987 while driving my T through California on the way to Alaska. I really wanted to buy that one but it would not fit on the running board of the car I was driving because I had fender mounted spare tires. I thought I would never see one again.

A few years later I was serving as a member of the Brazos County Health Board and one day the Dr. James Marsh, Jr., the Director of the Health Department, started describing an old devise that his dad had used in the '20s to carry his hunting dogs down to the Navasota river bottoms when he would go hunting there. Before he finished describing it, I knew exactly what it was. He said that he was probably going to throw it out and that I could have it if I came by his house and pick it up. That didn't take me long to do.

I have searched for years on the internet and Ebay for any information about the Bird Dog Palace and the only beneficial thing I have found is two advertisements.

The artwork above is a reproduction of the decal that was on my Bird Dog Palace when I first got it. It has since deteriorated and is now in illegible condition.

Marion Rose in a Bird Dog Palace

Henry in a Brid Dog Palace

Ad for the new Bird Dog Palace

Let your mouse roll over the two Santas at the bottom of the page

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