1st Crufts Dog Show
Islington, London The 10th of March 1886 AD
Although he did not attach his own name to the show until 1891, Charles Cruft first established what was to become the great event of the dog breeder’s year in 1886 with what he titled: “The First Great Terrier Show.”
Cruft was an energetic businessman who joined the dog biscuit (or then dog cake) maker James Spratt in 1876, very swiftly rising from office boy to travelling salesman and eventually general manager. He organised a canine event at the Paris exhibition of 1878 when just 26, and in 1886 was invited by the Allied Terrier Club to manage its show.
Held in Westminster “The First Great Terrier Show” attracted some 600 entries competing in 57 classes, and was a great success. Cruft was no fool, and his entrepreneurial spirit saw him make a tidy fortune from developing and running the show until his death in 1938.
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