Behind-the-Scene Photos of the St Ives Dog Show in 1950

Even a wet and soggy March day couldn’t stop dog lovers turning up at the 23rd annual St Ives Championship Dog Show. Billed as one of the biggest dog shows in the southern hemisphere the event was part of the Royal Karing-gai Agricultural Society’s Show at St Ives, Sydney.

The show drew tens of thousands of people over the course of a weekend and on 18 March 1950 Pix magazine sent one of their photographers to catch the action. Rather than focus the show events, the photographer chose to look behind the scenes. Here the mud and rain provided ample opportunities for capturing candid shots which clearly expressed the relationship between people and their pets.

These vintage photos from were taken by Pix magazine photographers bringing to life in vivid detail images only previously seen reproduced in half-tones on faded news magazine stock.