The Mr. Dog Blog

Greetings, dear Reader!

This week I welcome back Henry Cordes, who has his own memories to share about growing up in a "Mr. Dog Family," and some nice thoughts about keeping stories and traditions alive.

Enjoy!

My family has quite a few Christmas traditions. There’s the roast beef and Yorkshire pudding we have for Christmas dinner, and the figgy pudding my grandma makes. She douses it in liquor and lights it on fire; it’s very exciting. Many families leave out cookies for Santa, but we always left out a little cognac as well. And then of course there’s Mister Dog, the tradition we will soon share with you.

Little Henry, big tree. How the Little Fellows do slip away from us!

On Christmas Eve as a little kid, I’d sit with my family by the fire in my red and green striped pajamas while the adults sipped their drinks and talked and admired the tree. And at some point my grandpa would shuffle over to the bookcase and take down a very old, battered volume and say, “I think it’s time for Mr. Dog, don’t you?”

Mr. Dog's Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn first appeared in this 1898 volume of stories by Paine

Albert Bigelow Paine’s “Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn” is but one in a series of story collections he wrote over two decades about Mr. Dog and the other Hollow Tree folks. Researching Paine in order to write a short bio about him for our book, I learned that he wrote these stories for his three daughters, and that “Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn” was to be the last story in his beloved series. But even as his older daughter grew up and began to lose interest, his younger daughters kept demanding new stories. After publishing “Mr. Dog,” Paine and his illustrator J.M. Condé went on to create two more books. As Paine wrote in the preface to the very last in the series:

Until we started this project I’d assumed I was probably one of the last of the little people who would ever come along. Paine put Mr. Dog down on the page over a century ago, and in the natural course of things even the best loved relics fade from memory. What makes this project so exciting for me is stepping back, like Paine and Condé, to breathe new life into some well-loved characters. It is my sincere hope that our republication, and Adam’s wonderful new illustrations, will bring this gem into the hearts and memories of many more Little People, and that Mr. Dog may become your Christmas tradition too.

Greetings, dear Reader!
My guests this week are Henry Cordes and his grandfather, James “Doompa” Luther. Henry interviews his grandpa on the topic of Christmases Past.
Enjoy!

HC: Hey, Doompa! I’d love to know more about how “Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn” became a tradition in our family. Do you remember who gave the book to your family in the first place? And who first read it to you?

JL: I think the book came from my mother's family, but no one still alive seems to remember. It must have first been read to me when I was about 5, when we lived in Sierra Madre, California. I say that because in my imagination the porch of the Hollow Tree Inn has always been the porch of that great old house we lived in then. The upstairs hallway there, with the bedroom doors opening out onto it on one side and a banister on the other, was always where I imagined the three Hollow Tree regulars poking their heads out to see if there was anything in their stockings.

Henry’s grandpa, wee Jim Luther (right) with his big brother, Jack. This must have been taken right around his very first Christmas.

HC: You moved to Berkeley not long after that, right?

JL: Yes, in 1942 we moved to a place in Berkeley on San Mateo Road. It was a two-story place, too. We had plenty of Christmases there. I remember my Dad setting up a spindly WWII era tree and testing the lights. Getting ready. I think this was the place and the time and the age when the expectation of Christmas really started to take hold in me and grow each year. After that was an even bigger place, with four stories if you include the big basement with its monster, octopus armed furnace and the huge attic, on Indian Rock Avenue, Berkeley. Wartime Christmases with uncles in uniform and other family and others passing through heading off to somewhere out there or going east, maybe home, afterwards. Newspapers with big headlines. Fireplace, big stairway, adults kind and friendly to us kids and our dog, Sandy. Everybody drinking something in front of the lit-up tree and warm fire. Phonograph going. My brother, Jack and I getting to stay up late a lot.  Sometime in there we moved to a house on Shattuck Avenue, around the corner from Oxford Elementary School, where Jack and I went together for a couple of years. I know we enjoyed our Christmases there and at school—giant Christmas tree in the hall with all us little kids around it singing carols.

Jim (lower right, about age 6) with brother Jack and their parents—Henry's great grandparents—John and Betty, at home on Indian Rock Avenue in Berkeley, CA.

HC: Tell me more about your dog, Sandy.

JL: Sandy is what I remember most about our places on Indian Rock Avenue and Shattuck Avenue. He was our ready-for-anything Samoyed, who was constantly breaking out of our backyard and coming over to the schoolyard to look for Jack and me and cause havoc; he never hurt anybody, just wanted to play, herding big crowds of squealing, laughing kids back and forth across the playground. More than once, I was allowed (told) to leave school for long enough to get him home.

HC: What was Christmas like after you left Berkeley and moved to the country?

JL: In 1946 when I was 9, we moved to a two-story house near Fair Oaks, in Sacramento County. It was colder there in the wintertime than it had been in Berkeley. The house had a fireplace that we used a lot, and we had good Christmases there; one year I got a brand new Monarch bicycle, straight out of the pictures in the magazine ads. Then in 1951 we moved to suburbia: Arden Park, halfway between Fair Oaks and Sacramento. We lived in a small but comfortable, modern, one-story ranch style house on Las Pasas Way. Fireplace and plenty of room in front of the picture window for the tree, carols going on the Magnavox, but no upstairs to look down from. Christmases were still fun, but some of the childhood wonderment was fading a little. By age 14, I felt an obligation to be awkwardly cool. Fortunately, my little sister Joan was in just the right age-range, and that kept the Christmas innocence going for us.

Cultivating his cool. Jim, age 11.

HC: When did you start reading “Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn” to my mom? Was that when you lived in Ukiah? What was Christmas like in those years?

JL: Your mother was 9 when we moved West Standley Street in Ukiah. And of course she and your uncle Jay had lived in a couple of places in Sacramento County, and up on Fircrest Drive for two years when we first moved to Ukiah. And there were Christmases with plenty of Mr. Dog at those places, too. But it was the Standley Street house where she spent the most time as a child and as a teenager. The fireplace there got good use because the only other heat was from electric wall heaters, which we tried to avoid using because they were so expensive to operate. Your mother can tell you about staying huddled a few feet from the fire, wrapped up in a sleeping bag because it was so damn cold everywhere else in the house! There was almost always a cat and one or two dogs. I think that Christmases were wonderful for all of us there, I know they were especially fine for me: lots of tree-lights and well-used old familiar ornaments, bringing back the Christmas memories as we got them out anew each year. Smelling the Christmas Tree smells, listening to the same familiar records of carols and Dylan Thomas’s reading of “A Child's Christmas in Wales” each year. Presents, all kinds of toys and games, and lots of wonderful things to drink and eat, especially your grandmother's famous Christmas roast beast and Yorkshire Pudding. And always Mr. Dog by the fire on Christmas Eve.

HC: Much like Christmas has always been for me. So you’ve been the official Mr. Dog reader for a long time now!

JL: I guess I have! I started reading it to your mother and then your Uncle Jason when they were small, before we moved to Ukiah. Except possibly for one year (with reminders sometimes from Mrs. Dog) I've continued to read it all these years. And my audience has grown, of course, to include your dad and your Aunt Jean, then you and your cousins, Joon and Jory—and often guests who stop in for a Christmas Eve visit. One Christmas I even read it twice: your mother was in New York and insisted on a private reading over the phone.

1993: Henry’s first Christmas, with his Doompa in the house on West Standley Street, Ukiah, California.

You might also enjoy: Welcome!

Happy Spring Greetings, Folks!

We hope you’ve had a cozy hibernation. I’m emerging from my own long winter’s nap to share the latest news here at the Old Hollow Tree. I’m quite proud to tell you that our illustrator, Adam McCauley, was recently recognized by the Society of Illustrators, in part for his work on our forthcoming book! Adam’s “Mr. Dog Spins a Tale” (seen below, left) appeared along with several of his illustrations in the Society’s 56th annual exhibition in New York City last month, and will be included in the annual publication this fall. We’re thrilled for the honor this brings to Adam and to our book!

Top: Poster-sized reproductions of Adam’s “Mr. Dog Spins a Tale” and “Christmas Arrival at the Old Hollow Tree” on display for guests at our special holiday reading party in December. Bottom: Henry interviewed Adam about the illustration process while videographer Tim Prestoza captured footage for our (in-the-works!) book trailer. photos © Sarah Deragon

We had a little shindig over the holidays to introduce the story to a few friends. It was a glorious celebration, complete with a reading of the story by my dear old friend, Jim Luther. Our fine guests also had a chance to see a couple of the illustrations in large and glorious detail.

Top: The scene set for a cozy reading of Mr. Dog’s Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn. Bottom: The other Mr. Dog, Jim Luther, spiffed up for a special rendition of his annual reading. photos © Sarah Deragon

I’m glad to have your company here on the blog as we head toward publication later this year. Stay tuned for exciting announcements, behind-the-scenes stories and photos, and interviews with the whole cast of characters—real-life and fictional—behind Mr. Dog’s Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn. We hope you’ll share the news with your friends and family, too.

Yours truly,

You might also enjoy: The story behind the story.

I know you're all waiting very patiently for That's So Enterprises to publish Mr. Dog's Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn next year, and I do appreciate your loyalty. But heaven forbid you should let a Christmas Eve pass without some good stories by the fire. So in honor of the wonderful night before, I wanted to share a few of my all-time favorite Christmas stories. I'll bet some of these are already in your bookshelf, so be sure to pull them out and put them next to a cozy chair, ready for enjoying anytime over the next few days. And if there's a title on my list that's new and intriguing to you, see if you can grab a copy at your local bookstore as you do your last minute shopping tomorrow!

This beloved poem by Clement Clarke Moore has been repackaged and republished many times since it first appeared on December 23, 1823 (exactly 190 years ago today!) I highly recommend searching for a vintage copy with illustrations by Jessie Wilcox Smith or Grandma Moses.

This story and its epic illustrations are both by the talented William Joyce. Daring boy explorer Art Atchinson Aimesworth, his wise sister Esther, and their friend Spaulding receive a mysterious summons to the North Pole!

A beautifully illustrated tale from the Swedish author Anna Emilia Lindgren (of Pippi Longstocking fame), about an elf-like creature and his nighttime visits with the animals on a snowy farm. He speaks a "silent little language" only they can understand, warming them with promises of Spring to come. Illustrations by Harald Wiberg

This contemporary classic, written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg, tells the story of a young boy who awakes on Christmas Eve to find a train conductor beckoning him aboard The Polar Express, which has dreamily appeared right outside his front door. It's about the magic of allowing yourself to believe—even if only once a year—in the unbelievable.

For those who appreciate good Christmas humor like I do, Raymond Brigg's Father Christmas can't be beat. This story, told in cartoon fashion, introduces us to the grumpier side of Santa. And honestly, who in the old man's position wouldn't be a bit put out? It's a lot of work… and all in one night!

Now, for those of you just itching to get a taste of what's to come next year, head on over to Love Letters Live—a weekly podcast series hosted by Janet Gallin to discuss, honor and encourage the sending of love letters. Really, what could be nicer? Janet recently interviewed Betsy about the upcoming publication of Mr. Dog's Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn and she even coaxed Betsy into reading the introduction to the story. Listen in on the Love Letters Live website, where you can also subscribe to the Janet's series via iTunes.

Happy reading and listening. And a very merry Christmas to you all!

I'm Betsy of That's So Enterprises (proud soon-to-be publishers of Mr. Dog's Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn) and I'm delighted to share this introduction to our book and our story.

Every Christmas Eve for as long as I can remember, my dad has read aloud to my family a wonderful story, "Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn," by Albert Bigelow Paine. Originally published in 1898, the story centers on a group of animals who reside at The Hollow Tree Inn and their rascally friend, Mr. Dog, who decides to surprise the Hollow Tree folks by playing Santa Claus.

Christmas Eve 1996: my dad reads the story to us with my son, Henry (in his pirate phase), in his lap.

My dad reads the story from a lovely old 1915 volume called Little Folk's Christmas Stories and Plays by Ada M. Skinner—and my dad's parents read the same story to him and his brother, from the very same volume, when they were little boys. It's a tradition now enjoyed by three full generations of my family (my dad, my brother and me, and now our children).

More than three generations and going strong: my family's original 1915 copy of Ada M. Skinner's Little Folk's Christmas Stories and Plays. Photo by Sarah Deragon/Portraits to the People.

The story has always felt like our little secret, but earlier this year my brother Jason had a brilliant suggestion: Why not republish this long out-of-print tale with new illustrations so it can be enjoyed by a much wider audience and many future generations? Wonderful new developments in the world of independent book publishing—along with my experience as an art director and my enthusiasm for tackling big new projects—made this all seem like a very viable and fine idea... And so that's just what we made up our minds to do!

We have been incredibly fortunate to engage award-winning artist Adam McCauley as our illustrator and we could not be more pleased with Adam's interpretation of the characters and the setting. His beautiful illustrations pay homage to the Victorian era aesthetic of the story while introducing a contemporary touch that's just what we hoped for. I'm excited to be able to give you sneak previews of his illustrations like the one on our home page, and more to come soon here on Mr. Dog's Blog!

In addition to a bit of the artwork, I look forward to sharing lots more with you as we head toward our publication date in the Fall of 2014. Loyal readers of Mr. Dog's Blog will learn more about our illustrator Adam, about the amazingly talented Mr. Albert Bigelow Paine, about family traditions, adventures in publishing, the story's characters and much more. Please check back regularly, and please share your own cherished holiday traditions, favorite stories, and more with us in the comments.

Lastly, we hope you'll tell your friends! In addition to this website and Mr. Dog's Christmas newsletter, you can also follow and share Mr. Dog on Twitter. [3/21/14 update: Mr. Dog is also on Facebook!] We are so thrilled to be able to introduce this story to new readers and we appreciate your help spreading the word.

Merry merry!
Betsy