Davenport, Iowa Owney tag

Owney was a scruffy mutt who became a regular fixture at the Albany, New York, post office in 1888. His owner was likely a postal clerk who let the dog walk him to work. Owney was attracted to the texture or scent of the mailbags and when his master moved away, Owney stayed with his new mail clerk friends. He soon began to follow mailbags, first onto mail wagons and then mail trains. Owney began to ride with the bags on Railway Mail Service (RMS) trains across the state . . . and then the country! The Railway Mail Service clerks adopted Owney as their unofficial mascot.

Postal workers and others began to mark Owney’s travels by placing tokens, tags, and medals on his collar. These items included baggage check and hotel room key tokens, dog licenses, and numerous items given to the dog by a variety of individuals and organizations.

Owney received this aptly designed dog house license tag while visiting Davenport, Iowa in 1894. The license number, 944, is printed on the side of the dog house. The license was probably purchased for Owney by his postal worker friends, who were likely the ones to have inscribed the initials “P.O.“ (Post Office) on the back.

Markings:
literal: 1984 / DAVENPORT / 944 figurative: Dog-house with dog poking head out of door

Museum ID: 0.052985.377