I.W. Harper Von Der Stadt Hamberg

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I.W. Harper Von Der Stadt Hamberg

Unread postby Meistersinger » Thu May 28, 2009 3:21 pm

Hi to all,

I am inquiring about the history of the bourbon called I.W. Harper. Where did the name come from? The reason I ask is because I have been writing the life history of a lady in Louisville who came here in the 1950's from Germany. She brought with her a harlequin Great Danes named I. W. Harper who is behind almost every American Great Dane in the U.S. I know that she once owned a liquor store in Louisville or Jamestown. Her kennel name was Meistersinger and she produced the top award winning dogs for many, many years. All her offspring go back to I.W. Harper who she considered the best Great Dane ever produced. The ladies name is Antonia Pratt. Her life story is one of the most fascinating stories you will ever hear. She is still alive in a nursing home in Louisville age 94. I will be doing an interview with her next month and also have a documentary company out of PA interested in her life history. In her hay day and through her Danes she was friends with Chubby Checker, Burt Reynolds, Martha Ray and many others. My favorite story is about her showmanship in the ring. She always wore diamonds and sables or minks (somehow gotten out of Germany after the war and later had to be returned to Germany) with a Russian count on her arm and would swoop into the ringside and take of her mink coat and fan it out so that I.W. Harper could lay on it. Later on in her life while in her 80's the AKC suspended her and took all her dogs. She would never be allowed to breed her beloved Meistersinger's again. For many years rumor had it that she had died without a penny to her name but I found her in 2007 and wrote an article about our visit. I have spent the last 7 years finding all the dogs from her line that I could and was able to bring her several puppies on my visit that go back to I.W. Harper.

I don't know if there is a connection to her but the coincidence seems rather strange.

Please feel free to visit my website and read my article at www.highlandsdanes.com

Best Regards,
The Meistersinger's
Meistersinger
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Re: I.W. Harper Von Der Stadt Hamberg

Unread postby Meistersinger » Thu May 28, 2009 4:25 pm

That was great information! I now have to ask Toni how she come by this name while living in Germany.

Btw, we are expecting a litter in the next few months and I now have the puppy name picked out. Highlands I.W. Bernhiem. It's a perfect fit and Toni might just get a smile out of that one.

Thank you so much for sharing this wealth of information. Now, I think I have to go open that bottle of I.W. Harper Gold and try some for myself!

Mel
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