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The Dog House

After graduating college I was sure I could make a living off my art. It didn't quite work out that way. I ended up working at a department store in Coronado for a while. On one particular day, as I was marking down some delicate undergarments, a cute old woman in her 80's walked up to me and tapped me on the shoulder. She couldn't have been more than 4'10" and a whopping 85 pounds. She looked at me straight in the eyes and then lifted up her dress. Gasp! She pointed to her full body girdle and asked if we had anything similar.

I was more than a little stunned looking at this tiny woman's "body armor." I guess by the look on my face she realized she needed to put her dress down. I took her around and showed her what we had and after a long while she found what she was looking for.

I'm assuming because we shared such an intimate moment, she started to talk to me and tell me about her life. She told me about her husband who had passed away many years before. She asked if I had ever eaten at the Dog House on Central. I said of course! She told me that her husband was the original owner.

When her husband died she wanted to continue to run the business, but her lawyer told her to sell it because a woman couldn't and shouldn't run a business. This must have been in the late 50s or early 60s. I really don't remember what she said.

So I ask all you old timers, did anyone know the original owners? I hope this sweet woman wasn't swindled out of her money and business. And I hope she really was the wife of the owner of the Dog House and not just an 80 year old flasher!

(Go to the Adelita page for a clue for the next story)

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Comment by jeff on January 9, 2008 at 9:34am: dunno about the dog house, but the bigger issue - does anyone make rugged undergarments?

Comment by psychomom on January 9, 2008 at 9:55am: Didn't know the family but what a cute story. She knew what she wanted and knew how to get it.

Comment by Diego on January 9, 2008 at 10:00am: Never knew the owners of the business. I always thought it was a funny looking restaurant I think it had weiners in the original neon sign, We never ate there as children and the chile is too is too hot for me now. The owners wife seems a little eccentric if that was really her.

Comment by Dr Dan on January 9, 2008 at 1:31pm: Adelita,

Becausef your story I went to the Dog House for Lunch UMMMMMMM
IBecause of the Holidays everyone else is eating salads
and they are unhappy

Thanks for a good story

Comment by Diego on January 9, 2008 at 1:44pm: You started an eating frenzy...LOL

Comment by Adelita on January 9, 2008 at 2:48pm: I think we should have all met up at the Dog House today! I think my next story should be about Powdrells!

Comment by Diego on January 9, 2008 at 2:58pm: Food always seems to have a passionate response on the DCF

Comment by Tony on January 9, 2008 at 4:50pm: that does it for me....a nice little jaunt down to the DH for lunch tomorrow! Foot long with chili, cheese and onions is the only way to go.....

Comment by Ron W. on January 9, 2008 at 7:42pm: The Dog House, according to my research, dates to the 1960s at its current location on Central (it was a few blocks east before then). The neon sign is definitely of 1950s vintage, however.

I need to contact one of my sources in Santa Fe to whether he has anything in his archives about its history.

My fire-eating wife positively loves the place. She orders a foot-long chili dog every time. Heck, we even drove from Tucumcari one afternoon for the express purpose of eating there.

I'm a wimp. I usually have just a cheeseburger (which is excellent in its own right).