There were a lot of jokes about our little town of Westby, Montana in the '30s, where my father, Luther Hultgren, wore many hats. Dad not only owned the Westby Meat and Grocery Store, he was also the fire chief and the local mortician. As you can imagine, the fact that the town butcher was also the town undertaker became a prime subject of humor.

Yet dad's real claim to fame came with his idea of raising St. Bernard dogs. There was still a lot of concern about kidnapping after the Lindbergh incident in 1932. Dad figured folks, especially the well-to-do, would want a good guard dog that was intimidating, yet gentle with children.

At one time, we had 25 adult St. Bernards, and that didn't include the puppies. Litters of 16 weren't unusual.

In 1939, Dad had a calendar made featuring a picture of me and my two brothers with three of the dogs (above). I'm on the right. The calendar, intended to advertise the store, was given away to customers.

Apparently, though, most of the people in our town of 150 had also sent the calendars to friends and relatives. Pretty soon, requests to order dogs were coming from all over the country.

Some 30 years later, a man came into my office, handed me a picture from the calendar and asked if I recognized it. His mother lived in Westby in the '30s and had sent it to him. He'd just found it while cleaning out a desk.

You can imagine the memories that picture stimulated. Among them was the love and appreciation I have for a father who did so many things to make sure his family survived the Depression.

This is an article from the March/April 2000 edition of Reminisce Magazine.
Back to Westby On The Web