April 14, 1925. "Margaret Gorman with 'Long Goodie.' " Margaret, the Girl With the Crocodile Car, was the first-ever Miss America. National Photo Company Collection glass negative, Library of Congress. View full size.

1958. My dog Missie catches the eye of a passing cheerleader at Redwood High School in Larkspur, California, the year it opened. Notable alumni in addition to your humble correspondent (Class of '64) include Robin Williams and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. My brother's Ektachrome slide. View full size.

All five kids plus Tippy the wonder dog in Rochester, Indiana. Kodachrome slide. View full size.

1862. The Peninsula, Virginia. "Lt. George A. Custer with dog." Photographs from the main Eastern theater of war, the Peninsular Campaign, May-August 1862. Wet plate glass negative, photographer unknown. View full size.

New York, 1917. "Mascots aboard Recruit." Furry/feathery companions for sailors on the "landship" in Union Square. View full size. G.G. Bain Collection.

1904. "Boy with dog." Oceanside, Long Island. 8x10 dry plate glass negative by the pioneering portrait photographer Gertrude Käsebier. View full size.

Washington, D.C., 1920. "Miss Marie Smith." View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative, one of five photos of Marie and her pup.

From 1861, a second look at these Northern infantry campers -- and our first glimpse of their puppy. "District of Columbia. Tent life of the 31st (later, 82nd) Pennsylvania Infantry at Queen's Farm, vicinity of Fort Slocum." View full size. Wet-plate glass negative, left half of stereo pair, photographer unknown. This has a lot in common with the pictures Dorothea Lange would be taking 75 years later of Dust Bowl migrants in the agricultural tent camps of California.

Library of Congress annotation: Princess Agnes Salm-Salm, wife of Prince Felix of Prussia, who served with the Union Army, observed in January 1862 that the winter camp of the Army of the Potomac was "teeming with women." Some wives insisted on staying with their husbands, which may have been the case with this woman, judging by her housewifely pose alongside a soldier, three young children, and a puppy. In addition to taking care of her own family, she may have worked as a camp laundress or nurse. Some women who lacked the marital voucher of respectability were presumed to be prostitutes and were periodically ordered out of camp. Only gradually during the four years of the war, and in the face of unspeakable suffering, were women grudgingly accepted by military officials and the general public in the new public role of nurse.

Washington, D.C., 1925. "Princess Bibesco of Rumania." Priscilla Bibesco (1920-2004) led an interesting and peripatetic life. Marcel Proust and Queen Alexandra were her godparents; her father was the Romanian ambassador to Washington. When World War 2 began, she hitchhiked to Beirut to become a spy; after the Communists took over in Eastern Europe, she made her home in Paris. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

April 14, 1922. Miss Elizabeth Zolnay, daughter of the sculptor George Julian Zolnay. 1738 N Street NW, Washington. View full size. National Photo Co.

December 1936. "Mr. and Mrs. Marcus Miller and dog. Spencer, Iowa." 35mm negative by Russell Lee for the Resettlement Administration. View full size.

Washington, D.C., 1924. "Dog catchers." View full size. National Photo Co.

May 20, 1862. "The Peninsula, Virginia. The staff of Gen. Fitz-John Porter; Lts. William G. Jones and George A. Custer reclining." Photographs from the main Eastern theater of war: the Peninsular Campaign, May-August 1862. Wet plate glass negative, half of stereograph pair, by James F. Gibson. View full size.

Washington, D.C., dog catchers in 1924. View full size. National Photo Co.

January 19, 1923. "Dog Smoking." View full size. National Photo Company.