CG #83 - 1936 Modern Mechanix Dog Carrier

[Craig Gillingham]

For a point, tell me what this is for?

[Bill Murray]

Interesting photo, Craig:

I know this is not the answer but it looks very much like the Canvas Desert Water Bags that almost every car crossing the Desert areas of the US had hanging on the front of their cars in the 1940's and early 1950's.  I have two of them hanging on my garage wall where I keep my automotive artifact collection.

Here is a photo of one almost exactly like mine.

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[Craig Gillingham]

Bil, I made the puzzle photo a bit vague, as it would have been too easy to guess what it was for. I can say it would be slightly larger than a standard size water bag.

My father had a canvas water bag that he used on the front bumper of his TK Bedford truck, when he was out working for the day. They must have been common once, but not many around now. About 6 months ago, on the local Australian eBay, a canvas water bag sold for around $6-800 mark, from memory, something ridiculous like that. I suppose it was a bit of nostalgia, and I don't know where else you'd go to find another.

[Bill Murray]

Well Craig, a bit of a hilarious day for puzzle solving.  Nothing for weeks and today, I get a Sultan's Rolls Royce, an Aussie Ute and now a dog carrier.

Googling "Large Canvas Bag" came up with your photo, below.  If you thought it would be hard to find a "Desert Water Bag", this piece of work would be infinitely rarer.  Especially here in the US after the dust up over former Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney's "Dog on the Roof" story came out.  Seems he kept the dog in a carrier on the roof of his car for several hundred miles on a vacation trip and the dog had to lie in it's "waste" a good bit of the time.  No-one would dare do that today in this country again.

[Craig Gillingham]

Bill, that's exactly what it is. That's another point for you. I didn't think anyone would guess what it was. I hadn't heard of the US dog on the roof until now.

I think my dog would love a ride in the 1936 version.

[Otto Puzzell]

Well Craig, a bit of a hilarious day for puzzle solving.  Nothing for weeks and today, I get a Sultan's Rolls Royce, an Aussie Ute and now a dog carrier.

Googling "Large Canvas Bag" came up with your photo, below.  If you thought it would be hard to find a "Desert Water Bag", this piece of work would be infinitely rarer.  Especially here in the US after the dust up over former Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney's "Dog on the Roof" story came out.  Seems he kept the dog in a carrier on the roof of his car for several hundred miles on a vacation trip and the dog had to lie in it's "waste" a good bit of the time.  No-one would dare do that today in this country again.

The dog carrier was equipped with a windshield, and the dog seemed to love the arrangement. The dog let loose with diarrhea once on the trip, and the dog, carrier and car were hosed off before the trip recommenced.

The moral of the story? Carrying a dog on top of the car, which the dog seemed to love = bad. Eating dog = hope and change.