# I'm guessing it wasn't Da Vinci

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-guessing-it-wasnt-da-vinci/55137>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 19, 2001, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-guessing-it-wasnt-da-vinci/55137 "2001-02-19T23:27:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-guessing-it-wasnt-da-vinci/55137/1 "2001-02-19T23:27:39Z")

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We’ve all seen it a million times - the picture of dogs playing poker (or the variation of the dogs playing billiards). Who painted this masterpiece and where’s the original (I’m hoping its very close to the Mona Lisa in the Louvre)?

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**Author:** ![ShakeNBake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@ShakeNBake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShakeNBake)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-guessing-it-wasnt-da-vinci/55137/2 "2001-02-19T23:31:31Z")

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I wonder if it’s a take-off of some other famous Old Master?

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**Author:** ![Protesilaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Protesilaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Protesilaus)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2001, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-guessing-it-wasnt-da-vinci/55137/3 "2001-02-20T00:17:15Z")

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The original artist was Cassius Marcellus Coolidge. A short blurb about him can be found on this page:  
[http://www.santacruzpl.org/readyref/files/d-f/dogpkr.shtml](http://www.santacruzpl.org/readyref/files/d-f/dogpkr.shtml)

More Dogs Playing Poker sites:  
[http://www.retroactive.com/Postcards/coolidge.html](http://www.retroactive.com/Postcards/coolidge.html)  
[http://www.coteindustries.com/dogs/](http://www.coteindustries.com/dogs/)  
[http://www.angelfire.com/al2/FMSkoRn/pokerdogs.html](http://www.angelfire.com/al2/FMSkoRn/pokerdogs.html)

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**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2001, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-guessing-it-wasnt-da-vinci/55137/4 "2001-02-20T07:31:46Z")

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There is a slightly longer blurb on him in _The Big Damn Book of Sheer Manliness_, by Todd von Hoffman (ISBN#1-57544-050-4). It claims that he founded the first bank and the first newspaper in Antwerp, NY.

> [@](#):
>
> "His real success, however, came from an invention you will recognize. Coolidge created those cardboard cutouts you could stick your head through to be photographed as a muscle man or a fat lady. He called them Comic Foregrounds, and sold smaller versions mail-order.

Then he started selling his canine portraits.

> [@](#):
>
> Coolidge hit a nerve, particularly with the 19th-century sport. He knew dogs and the domains of men. His details were genuine, and guys today still recognize a pal among those bowser bachelors.

Apparently, the company that sold them, Brown & Bigelow, is still in business, and Coolidge’s daughter is marketing new stuff based on her father’s paintings.