Although I have read several accounts of what I like to refer to as Claire Knapp's Big Night At The Garden, on February 12, 1936 , it wasn't until I read Kerrin Winter-Churchill's article "The Great Ones" in Dogs In Review (June 2003) that I found out what Paul Harvey used to call The Rest Of The Story.... The facts and quotes I present here are gleamed from Kerrin's story. That is followed by an editorial from Popular Dogs Magazine 1936 that followed up on an incident at the show. Both make an interesting contrast to Henry Isley's report in the New York Times which obviously played down the incident that night.

Back in '36 Westminster was still three days long,and with three thousand dogs to look at, it probably kept everyone very busy. Benji's first big step towards the final showdown occurred when judge Alva Rosenberg put him at the head of his class. He also advanced Soundfella and with what I've read about Percy Roberts and Len Brumby as handlers the spectators and judges got a real show. It was judge W. E. Baker (Ella Dana's first husband) who then had to make the call between Soundfella and Magnificent. The AKC Gazette reported this portion this way. "the task of placing the ribbons was an ardous one, but W. Edgar Baker did a classic job."

Benji and Brumby then stepped into the ring with White Rose of Boveway a greyhound, Dewet von der Starrenberg a German Shepherd, Nunsoe Duc de la Terrace of Blakken the poodle who was BIS in 1935, Sensation a Pomeranian, and the clear crowd favorite O' Boy the setter. O' Boy had become Americas sweetheart dog over the past year and Claire's daughter Margaret was just one of his legion of fans. " Oh, I loved that dog. He was way ahead of his time.... he had charisma, you'd be standing there watching the dogs in the ring and find yourself cheering for O'Boy"

On the floor it was SRO and everytime the judges even looked at the setter the crowd went wild. The judge for best in show was C. F. Neilson who was a longtime Irish Setter breeder and at onetime was the financial backer of O'Boy. From the rafters they were cheering for the rollicking Irishman and many legitimate dog people thought it was going to be O'Boys night. Nielson who took his job very seriously studied all six finalists carefully and all though the crowd at this point was clearly pulling for O'Boy , Nielson was torn between the Sealy & the Poodle. He asked both of them to move again, studied them further and as the cheers died down walked to the table, wrote something down, turned around with the big rosette and silver bowl walked past the poodle and the setter delivering it to England and American Champion St. Margaret Magnificent of Clairedale.. He knew there would be disagreement but his decision was both confident and bold . On this night and in his opinion, the Sealyham deserved the honor.

Then as they say in less refined circles...."The **** hit the fan". At first it was silence....then polite applause when suddenly loud jeers and boos erupted. Nothing like this had ever happened in the 59 year history of the show and the press was very careful not to make much of it. Although the fans and an anonomous gallery were very poor sports , many of the professional dog people both owners and handlers were gracious and congrajulatory. In a book about O'boy author Dr. Calhoun talks about how his handler Mr. Harnett accepted it with his usual good humour...but you got to have wondered how poor Claire must of felt and Willis too...

Claire & Willis' daughters weren't there that night (they were in boarding school) but they got the call from their parents the next morning.

Margaret: "They were in tears saying over and over we won, we won! I didn't find out until later what happened that night__the boos, I mean. But boy did I find out! It wasn't just O'Boys fans in the stands doing the booing. My mother never talked too much about it with me. She was too proud, but you can imagine how she would feel. How would you feel if you worked your whole life to get somewhere that grand and instead of being cheered for your accomplishments, you were booed? That just broke my mothers heart. She never got over it. She didn't talk much about it , but you could tell that it bothered her. It was always there."

Probably no one else alive could know more than Margaret what her mother must of felt like at least to win because she followed in her footsteps by winning at the Garden 28 years later ...... without the boos.

But like she did when her horse Zulal threw her in a show in 1911 Claire "got back on the horse" and into the ring with Benji and just kept on winning. In 1936 Benji took six more Best In Shows.... and if that wasn't all Cora who was very excited how well her dogs were doing in America then sent Claire "her secret weapon" .

Booing, hissing and premature applause it seems have always been with us, and human nature being what it is we can do little about it except to periodically pronounce it rude and unseemly. But even out of booing good can come and so the fancy may well congratjulate itself that there are still judges courageous enough to make awards without benifit of applause.

In that final Westminster line-up stood six dogs as splendid as any that have ever trod American show boards. There have been other years perhaps when one or two have gotten into the finals that should of not been there. But this year no one could complain. They were six of which any breeder or owner the world over might be exceedingly proud.

Now no matter how knowing a ringside may be. dogs cannot be judged from outside the ropes. Neither can they be judged on the basis of popularity or public sentiment. They are judged on breed character, anatomy, show shape, and soundness. Judge Baker who put up the Sealyham in the group knows his terriers. he has judged them for years and cannot go far wrong. Judge Neilson's experience too is wide and his opinion valuable, while as for George S. Thomas who made the dog best of breed, there is no better judge on either side of the pond. Surely if there had been anything radicaly wrong with the winner these men would of found it.

One might of thought that the onlookers from high up in the galleries had found something wrong and that to show how smart they were, they booed the selection. But anyone who takes a mob descision seriously does not know human nature. At the drop of a hat a mob applauds or vociferously condemns merely to let off steam and to relieve the tension of the moment. In other words mob acts are not the result of intellect but of emotion and consequently mean little.

It is unfortunate however that the rightful march of a good dog to the top should be attended by such uncontrolled expression of ill feeling which if considered seriously can constitute an insult to the club, the judge, and the winning exhibitor.