Smithtown Historical Society Farm - Smithtown, Long Island
In the late 19-teens and twenties, visitors to, and exhibitors at,
the very first Westbury Kennel shows may have arrived in a
1916 Model T, something similar, or newer! A century later it is SUVs, hybrids, electrics, and RVs. Farms, fields, and forests have become houses and malls. Roads are paved, not mud and ruts, but they are
crowded, with a common sprinkling of pot holes!
From the Roaring Twenties to today's Controversial Twenties, with numerous breeds by our side {mostly Terriers in the earliest years} Westbury Kennel Association has lived through many changes in the ten or so decades that followed our start. We will write successful new pages in the years ahead.
Music has gone from Victrolas to digital; from Ragtime to Jazz, to Big Bands, to true Rock and Roll, to Disco, to Hip-Hop and to whatever it is called today! Words once taboo are spoken openly, and vice-versa. We and our show garb have changed from post-Victorian to modern casual. We sprouted at the end of WW-1, reveled in the 1920s, survived the Great Depression, WW-2, the transformational '50s and '60s, and much more. In the 2020s, we survived Covid-19, even as health mandates forced the large-scale cancellation of dog shows in '20 and '21.
Westbury has learned much and grown wiser in every one of its 100+ years. We have seen and heard it all. Have our dogs changed? Yes they have, but thankfully they still love us, and we still love them.