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That pup was really cleverly done. It was cut from California redwood in a rough type of caricature carving that had a very definite appeal to all observers. He sat around on my dresser for a while, taunting me every time I looked at him. When I walked past the store with the display, I itched to own the rest of the cute little fellows. Buying them was out of the question, for only one and the smallest at that, had been all that the store manager had been willing to give up.

I HAD never done much carving in the round, although from the time I wore pigtails I had been constantly cutting my fingers in the process of carrying on my complicated whittlings which usually turned out to be nothing resembling any known bird or beast but which satisfied my childish creative urge. Couldn't I carve some pup figures myself in some of the cute poses? Well, why not? So I hied me off to the lumber yard that makes circular stock tanks from 2-inch-thick redwood planking. The lumberman was glad to have me cart away the odd shaped scraps that usually made a bonfire, so I came home with the car trunk heaped with them.

The first pup was highly successful. He turned out much better than I had hoped and subsequently turned out to be the first of a long line of "puppy poses." From here and there, from personal observance and all sorts of dog pictures, I drew myself a set of profile patterns of dogs in all sorts of positions, from the hound howling at the moon to the little long doggie, the dachshund, whose middle sagged nearly to the floor. There were so many cute positions to be carved, and I wanted to try them all, so our house was soon overflowing with dogs. They peeked out from behind the candlesticks on the sideboard. They slept on the bookshelves and leered at all comers from around the backs of book ends. It began to look as though we would have to move out to make room for them. Then a visitor asked to buy some. An aunt who is a college art teacher in another state took a few with her, thinking she could sell some for me. She showed them to buyers in gift departments in several large stores and soon proved that her hunch had been right, for the supply she had was soon exhausted.

ORDINARILY I am a poor salesman, specially when it comes to plugging my own merchandise, so it was with outward calm but inward trepidation that I approached the gift buyer for the largest department store in our state. She was busy, as such people usually are, and stated that she could spare only fifteen minutes. That was long enough, however, for her to give me an order for a dozen assorted poses. When I delivered them, I included a display card of wood grained paper set upright in two small wood blocks. On the card I had lettered in black ink, "Puppy Poses," and my name. The card was set up along with the figures in an attractive display.

It is surprising how people go for something that tickles their funny bone. The pups sold rapidly and it was not too long before I delivered a second batch. Over a period of several years quite a few dozen were sold through this channel. When sold through the store, the pups netted me 60 cents. Private sales brought in 75 cents for each animal.

I used quite a number of the figures to top paper weights to solve my Christmas gift problems one season. Among the group sent out, one went to an editor who had been publishing considerable of my material. Shortly after the holiday came a thank you note with the comment that the little figure had been added to a cabinet of curios and was attracting much attention. Evidently the folks in that magazine office were fond of wood carvings for soon I received a letter requesting that I do a "how to" article on this little puppy paper weight project for the magazine.

AFTER WORKING out this design, I decided to try some others, with the magazine in mind as a market. Evidently the magazine's editor had a liking for little carved animals for he took the second, a winsome giraffe, and the third, which was a grinning horse with yarn mane and tail, mounted on a rocking desk blotter. That was back in 1944. Since that time, there has been a whole parade of caricature animal carvings, all designed for the same magazine, Popular Science Monthly, ranging from wild and domestic animals to a series of prehistorics which I am now working on at the editor's request.

It would be so much easier if I didn't have to think up some use to which to put the carvings; that is, they must be combined with some utilitarian projects. I have mounted a stegosaurus on a pair of book ends and hitched a disgruntled donkey to a little cart of the right size to hold a tiny clay pot of cactus. Then there was the camel whose saddlebags were pincushions, and the bullfrog paperweight whose mouth was hollowed out to hold paper clips, as well as the turtle whose top shell was hinged and when flipped up revealed a lathe turned recess for holding thumb tacks or other desk sundries, and the crocodile whose tail was a paper knife.

Through the years, the list has grown long and the number of carvings is crowding the top shelf of our bookcase. Designing and working out these animals is having my cake and eating it too, for I do not have to send the animal itself. After working out the design and finishing the carving, we photograph the finished piece. I supply drawings of the design, side, front and rear views to show the contours of the carving. The side view is usually squared so that it may be easily enlarged for copying. The photographs, together with the drawings and text telling just how to go about reproducing the design, are all that are required by the editor. The price paid for such a project runs from $20 to $25—and I still have the original carving to add to my collection.

MOST OF my designs have been carved from California redwood. I prefer this material because it carves easily and needs no finishing other than a coat of shellac and, of course, paint on the eyes and noses. If I make a grinning animal with a set of tooth paste ad teeth, I paint the teeth white with enamel or poster paint and after it has dried, mark the teeth with pen and India ink. For the eyes I like to use white map tacks such as business offices use for marking the location of their different offices, salesmen or what not. These have a round head about ¹/8 inch in diameter and a short sharp shank which makes it easy to push the pin into the wood.

For some animals I make eye sockets by using a countersink burr in the drill press (or hand grinding tool if you have one). On other animals no socket depressions are made. On the white pins I paint a black pupil with enamel. The pins give the animals a slightly bug eyed but none the less engaging appearance. Some of the animals need a paint finish to bring out the characteristics, so for these I use white pine and quick drying enamels.

Most of the designs are planned so that a wood of 2-inch thickness is right to give the animal proper proportions when the carving is finished. After deciding on the design I wish to carve, I make a side view drawing of it, the size I want it to be. This paper profile pattern is cut out and laid on the 2-inch wood. With a blunt pencil, I draw around the paper profile pattern so that the profile of the animal is laid out on the wood. This animal profile is then sawed out. I use a jig saw for this but a band saw would really be handier as my jig saw must stretch to the limit to cut a 2-inch thickness. Perhaps if I had a band saw in the basement shop I might try larger figures; as it is, I limit myself to comparatively small carvings. Maybe it is better this way for they do not take up quite so much room and at the rate the number is increasing I will soon need to clear out another bookshelf to accommodate them.

Carving out the surplus wood between the legs could be quite a chore but I have developed a little trick to make this step easier. A series of holes drilled through that part of the wood between the legs, which is to be removed, makes it easy to cut it away.

After that is removed, I am ready to start the carving. For this job, my favorite tool is a carving knife which looks a good deal like a kitchen paring knife but has a blade of fine Swedish steel which takes and holds a keen edge. For carving, a keen blade is essential. A good oilstone faithfully used will help to keep the blade in top notch shape. Before acquiring this carving knife, I used a regular jackknife such as all small boys carry in their pockets. I have a set of regular carving chisels but use them only rarely, for the knife seems to be the handiest tool.

TO KEEP the proper proportions I work on the entire animal at the same time rather than finishing just one part, such as the head or legs, before doing any carving on another part. Most of the surplus wood is hacked away by making cuts with the knife that remove quite a hunk of wood. After this first roughing out, more care is needed in the carving so that not too much wood is removed in any one place. I can always cut off more but if I make too ambitious a cut, I can't put the chips back on once they have been cut off, so I turn the work often and study it carefully as I go to see that I am maintaining the proper proportion and achieving the expression I want to portray.

The carving can be entirely completed with the knife, but I like to finish off the rough edges by using a hand grinding burr mounted in the chuck of my drill press. This method leaves both hands free for holding and turning the piece. Then comes the sandpapering. Don't overdo this; do just enough to smooth off any roughness but not so much that the angles and contours are destroyed for the charm of this sort of caricature carving is enhanced by a rough type of finish. A shellac coat brings out the beauty of the redwood and darkens the color of the wood to a rich brown which is very attractive for most of the animals. After the shellac has dried, the painting of mouths, noses, teeth or whatever else is needed, is done. I For this I use quick drying enamels.

After the carving is completed, shellacked and painted, it is ready to be mounted on a base in combination with whatever it is to be used. The little dogs are used simply as decorative carvings and although most of the animals other than these are planned to serve a useful purpose in life, after they have been photographed filling their useful capacity for the magazine design, I generally remove them from their bases and add only the animal to my growing collection.