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Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, Springfield, Massachusetts, Published 1945 for the year 1946. Advertising wall calendar, 14 leaves bound at top edge with a stiff black paper strip; approximately 29 x 48 cm (11.5 x 19 inches); pen-and-ink cover illustration signed "Arthur," twelve monthly leaves each with a full-page black-and-white photographic dog portrait, plus a final descriptive leaf.
In Good condition. 1 inch scratched patch at top left corner of cover where a price sticker was removed, lifting a thin layer of paper. Light spotting and staining along top edge near binding (rust from binding staples). Back leaf spotted and dampstained, with tearing along bottom edge that hangs about 1 inch below the rest of the calendar. Interior leaves lightly toned. Otherwise unmarked. Local agent imprint (J. Stevens Livingston, 37 W. Roselle Ave., Roselle Park, N.J.) printed at foot of each leaf."Faithfully Yours" was a customer premium distributed to policyholders by Massachusetts Mutual through its local agents. Pen-and-ink cover shows a dog waiting at the door of a country schoolhouse ("District School No. 7"), signed "Arthur" in the lower foreground and possibly the work of Arthur D. Fuller (1889-1966), the Field and Stream sporting illustrator known for pen-and-ink dog and outdoor scenes and known to have been the artist on similar period advertising calendars. Each month features a different breed paired with a first-person vignette written in the dog's own voice: Doberman Pinscher, Norwich Terrier, Boxer, Collie, Borzoi, Scottie, Pointer, Kerry Blue Terrier, Dachshund, Springer Spaniel, Beagle, and Pekinese. The monthly photographs carry printed credits to noted animal and stock photographers of the period, including H. Armstrong Roberts, Harold M. Lambert, and William D. Barkley. The January Doberman is an Official U.S. Marine Corps photograph, and a "Pin-ups for War Dogs" panel on the final leaf describes the Doberman Pinscher's wartime service as the Marine Corps "Devil Dog."