Dither x Mitchell Four Week Puppy Photos

 

Puppies have temporary names for the time they live with us before joining their new families. The Winter Carnival in St. Paul is one of the largest and oldest in the county. A synonym for carnival is circus. Having a litter of whippet puppies in the middle of winter is a circus in the making. So, all the puppies have names with the winter carnival theme.

Pedigree for the litter (courtesy of the whippet archives)

Here are the little ice maidens:

“Klondike Kate” – a lady of song and merriment, adds her sassy but enchanting voice to the festivities by singing songs of desire and sentiment. She was a bit of a saloon singer, so she is surrounded by her feather boa.
Klondike Kate
“Mittens” – If you’re going out on a cold Minnesota night to the carnival, you need toasty warm mittens. Or in this case, gloves.
Mittens

“Snow Queen” – For ten glorious days, there is the Carnival and joyous celebration in Saint Paul — feasting, dancing, fun and frolic reigned over by Boreas and the Queen of Snows, the fairest maiden of the realm. She sits with her silver tiara.
Snow Queen

The merry men of the carnival:

“Boreas” was the King of the Winds.  In his travels all over the world, he stumbled on Minnesota and determined it was the ideal place for a winter playground – “Realm of Boreas.”
Boreas
“Vulcan” – each year Vulcanus Rex (god of fire and enemy of Boreas) storms the ice castle on the 10th day. Boreas gracefully exits and the carnival ends. You will often hear “Hail Vulc” during the carnival. The Vulcan “Krewe” wear red capes and googles to disguise themselves.
Vulcan
“Circus” – is another name for a carnival. Any whippet litter is a circus, especially one in the winter. What else but animal crackers go with a circus?
Circus
“Polar” – many nights at the carnival the actual temperature is zero or less, not to mention the wind chills. Polar temperatures, to be exact. He is shown with a glacier from the arctic north.
Polar
“Castle” – One of the focus pieces of the winter carnival is an ice palace, or castle. The castle is created by cutting ice from a nearby lake in huge blocks to create the building.
Castle

If you’d like to learn more about the legend surrounding the St. Paul Winter Carnival , to learn more about Klondike Kate, Boreas, the Vulcan Krewe and winter activities crazy Minnesotans enjoy, click on Legends for a link to the carnival page.