Parsons' Pets

A plethora of pets and their owners, the Parsons

In the 1930s keeping pets for pleasure would have been the preserve of the wealthy. This charming compilation shows the Parsons’ pouches, pigeon, parrot, peacock, pony, magpie and ducks. A servant in a French maid uniform holds the cat while Eileen in her jodhpurs plays with the dogs on the lawn. Pat tries to ride the pet dog like a pony but is unceremoniously unseated.

Different dogs and puppies appear, a wire fox terrier, a Labrador retriever, a wire-haired Jack Russell, two Pekingese and a harlequin Great Dane who plays with his master and is slow-mowed by the film-taker! A pet magpie pecks at the beads of its owner from her shoulder and then plays with the pet dog. Corvids, like crows or magpies are intelligent and easy to train. Today according to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, all wild birds, their nests and their eggs are protected by law.