Stuff You Missed in History Class – Cassius Coolidge and Dogs Playing Poker

Podcast: Stuff You Missed in History Class
Hosts: Holly Frey & Tracy V. Wilson
Date: December 3, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode explores the eccentric and multifaceted life of Cassius Marcellus Coolidge—best known as the creator of the iconic "Dogs Playing Poker" paintings, but also an inventor, cartoonist, playwright, and much more. Holly and Tracy dive deep into Coolidge's surprising accomplishments, his most famous series, and the enduring, sometimes maligned, popularity of his kitschy canine art.

Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Who Was Cassius Marcellus Coolidge?

• Background & Early Life

  • Born September 18, 1844, near Antwerp, NY; raised in a Quaker, abolitionist family (03:15).
  • Named after abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay, not Henry Clay's brother (03:15).
  • Family called him “Cash” or “Kash,” with both spellings used; “Kash” appeared on his art (04:29).

• Unexpected Career Path

  • Dabbled in many professions: opened Antwerp’s first bank (04:29), was a druggist, handyman, sign painter, pharmacist, town clerk, school superintendent, maple sap collector, farmhand, and journalist writing travel columns (05:10–06:25).
  • Showed creative ambition from early adulthood; took business courses and possibly art lessons in NYC (03:15–06:25).

2. Early Artistic Innovations

• Family Illustration & Quaker Ideals

  • Illustrated his cousin’s peace-themed Quaker books (06:25–07:47).
  • Quaker values infused much of the family’s creative output—though less so in Cash’s famous paintings.

• Inventing the Carnival Cutout Photo Prop

  • 1874: Patented the familiar wooden photo standees where faces poke through comical bodies (Cutout Photo Props) (08:58–09:12).
  • “If you’ve ever stood behind a life size drawing… that is thanks to Cash Coolidge.” – Tracy (09:12)
  • Ran a profitable mail-order prop business for years, funding his creative pursuits (09:54).

• Lecturing & Art Demos

  • Gave lectures and sold lessons in “offhand sketching” and penmanship; known for fast crayon sketches (09:54–10:36).

3. Comics, Cartoons, and Theater

• Cartooning

  • Created comic panels, including "The Accommodating Money Lender" in The Cosmopolitan (1887), a 4-panel darkly humorous take on lending money (13:56–15:11).

• Playwright

  • Wrote the comic opera King Galinipper (1892), a satirical play about a mosquito king tormenting New Jersey and Staten Island (15:11–17:53).
  • Also published but did not stage two other plays: A Western Heiress and Le Mustique (17:54–18:09).

4. From Cyclist to Canine Painter

• Cycling Enthusiast & Commissions

  • Painted track cyclist George Banker; was himself a competitive cyclist, winning long-distance races (18:09–19:36).

• The First ‘Dogs Playing Poker’

  • By 1893, painted A Pat Hand, his first known poker-playing dog painting (19:36–21:20):

    “Mr. Coolidge’s poker party is composed of three fine Saint Bernards. …At Grover Cleveland's left... is Joe Jefferson, whose stack is low...” (20:10)

  • Emergence of anthropomorphic dogs in his work—reason unknown, but soon to be his legacy.

5. The Famous Series: ‘Dogs Playing Poker’

• Brown & Bigelow Commission

  • In 1903, commissioned to create 16 canine paintings as calendar art—nine feature poker scenes (23:12–24:11).
  • The most famous, A Friend in Need, shows a bulldog slipping an ace under the table (24:11–24:56).

    “A bulldog is passing the ace of clubs to a friend with one of his back paws under the table.” – Tracy
    “Even the recipient of the helpful ace seems not to realize what is happening just yet.” – Tracy (24:11)

• Not Just Poker!

  • Series includes:
    • A Bold Bluff and Waterloo (companion pieces—set-up and result of a bluff; 28:29–29:11).

      “The bulldog… mouth hangs open in disbelief. It is the best picture of shock I’ve ever seen.” – Holly (29:11)

    • His Station and Four Aces—train interrupts a winning hand (29:11–29:34).
    • Non-poker scenes:
      • New Year’s Eve in Dogville: Dogs dancing at a ball (30:17–30:55).
      • One to Tie, Two to Win: Dog baseball game in action.
      • Riding the Goat: Masonic imagery and jesterly antics (30:55).
      • 10 Miles to a Garage, Breach of Promised Suit, A Bachelor's Dog, and The Reunion (31:36).

• Lost Potential Earnings

  • Coolidge’s contract with Brown & Bigelow gave him no royalties for reprints, missing out on further income as the images proliferated (32:06–32:42).

6. Personal Life & Later Years

• Late Marriage & Family

  • Married former art student and assistant Gertrude Kimmel in 1909 (he was 64, she was 29; 32:42–33:09).
  • Daughter Marcella born in 1910 (33:09).

• Financial Struggles & Decline

  • Business flagged; Coolidge stopped painting, became house husband, and Gertrude provided for the family (33:17–34:40).
  • Injury from a fall likely ended his painting career (33:17–34:03).

• Death and Local Legacy

  • Died in 1934, age 89; buried in Antwerp, NY (34:40).
  • Daughter Marcella later donated art to the local library and town exhibit (34:57–35:28).

7. Popularity and Cultural Reassessment

• “Kitsch” or Classic?

  • Paintings dismissed as “kitsch” by many art critics, but acquired a cult following and significant auction value in the late 20th century (35:35).

    “Kitsch is the German word for trash.” – Holly (35:35)

  • Notable sales: $74,000 in 1998; $590,400 for a pair in 2005 (35:35).

• What Makes the Paintings Enduring?

  • Endearing subject matter (big, goofy dogs—bulldogs, St. Bernards, Great Danes; 36:52).
  • “Old school gender stereotypes;” appeal especially to men (37:12).
    • Art historian Moira F. Harris:

      “His paintings of people look like dogs. I don’t think his people are very good, but his dogs are wonderful. … It’s a man’s world.” (37:12)

    • Marcella, his daughter, at age 92:

      “I don’t like it. Girls don’t like things like that. It was for boys and men.” (37:12–38:04)
      “Cats would never play poker.” – Marcella (38:04)

• Classical Influences & Visual Humor

  • Coolidge mirrored classical works—Caravaggio’s The Cardsharps—drawing on respected art to underpin his comedic scenes (38:04).

• Dan Barry, NYT, on Coolidge’s Legacy (38:53):

  “Through his art, he created a fairer world in which opposable thumbs were not required to hold a beer bottle, button a shirt, or lift that glorious ace off a card table’s felt.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Coolidge’s Inventiveness:

  “When I found out he’s the one that invented, you know, goofy carnival cutouts… brilliant!” – Holly (39:35)

• On the Paintings’ Gendered Appeal:

  “I don’t like it. Girls don’t like things like that. It was for boys and men… Cats would never play poker.” – Marcella Coolidge (37:12–38:04)

• On Cultural Placement:

  “If you love the Dogs Playing Poker series, you could be responding to the familiarity of a work of art that you have seen in a more serious art context, while your brain just kind of enjoys the levity and absurdity of dogs cheating at card games.” – Tracy (38:04–38:53)

• On the Appeal of Anthropomorphic Dogs:

  “Who doesn’t love a pooch playing cards?” – Holly (24:56)

Key Timestamps

• Cassius’s origins & family background: 03:15–04:29
• Career adventures before art: 04:29–07:47
• Photo standee invention: 09:12
• Mail-order prop business: 09:54
• Comics and playwriting: 13:56–18:09
• Early Dogs Playing Poker painting: 19:36–21:20
• Brown & Bigelow commission: 23:12–24:11
• Descriptions of iconic paintings: 28:29–31:36
• Later years and legacy: 32:42–34:57
• Cultural reassessment and art market: 35:35–36:52
• Analysis and personal anecdotes: Throughout, especially 37:12–39:35

Summary

This episode reveals Cassius Coolidge as far more than the “Dogs Playing Poker” guy; he was a quintessential American tinkerer and humorist whose creative fingerprints can be found far beyond cigar-chomping canines. From bank founder and traveling journalist to inventor of the carnival cutout and satirical playwright, Coolidge’s imagination matched his willingness to follow odd, delightful tangents. Holly and Tracy emphasize how his most famous paintings, though often derided as kitsch, have acquired both commercial value and a devoted following, touching on nostalgia, humor, gender divides, and classical art references. The story of Coolidge is ultimately one of refusing boundaries—artistic, personal, or professional—and of how joyfully silly art can resonate across generations.

For listeners who missed the episode, this summary covers all key biographical moments, artistic milestones, the Dogs Playing Poker phenomenon, and the cultural legacy of Cassius Coolidge—with direct quotes and detailed explanations to bring his offbeat story to life.