Boston Terrier Museum

Finally! I have found a solution to a growing problem that I have noticed developing around me. I had no idea how I was going to solve this, until I came across this great idea.

I was scanning through some blog posts last month and that is when I realized I was looking at the solution. First, I need to tell you about a place that I discovered, an amazing place that I had never heard of, in Texas. You might even want to put this one in your bucket list to go visit before you die.

Now, you may have read or even visited Floydada, near Lubbock Texas. This place may not be new to you. For the rest of you, you might be interested in knowing, there is a Boston Terrier Museum with hundreds of Boston terrier items displayed. That is right! I even have the address if you are out that way.

This museum has been around since May of 2007 when Bob Hambright moved his vast collection of many one-of-a-kind Boston Terriers collectibles to a new site and opened them up to the public.

Mr. Hambright has been interviewed in various newspapers. Over the years, he has built up quite a following. He explained to one of the local Texas newspapers that “since 1991, he and his deceased wife, Francis, would travel around the United States collecting unusual Boston terrier related items.” I guess he had retired and “Wanted something to do and keep out of trouble.”

Now, he has quite a collection, from the news and blog stories I was reading. The museum highlights hundreds of Boston terrier memorabilia from children's toys, candy dishes, to doorstops and more.

He had a problem, not unlike many of us, of not enough room. Apparently, he turned his wood shop near his home into a “dog house”, not the normal kind that the term brings to mind. He decided to fill his wood shop with his collectibles. Soon, the woodworking equipment had moved out and the shop became filled to the brim with the collection.

He is quoted as saying he bought the pieces from antique shops, flea markets and from other Boston terrier collectors. "It is always fun to hunt," he said. "It is unlimited what you can find. My wife and I have done a lot of traveling."

Like most dedicated collectors, the wood shop became too crowded; the Hambrights solved that by acquiring what the local folks know to have been the Pitts Hospital, where many people from Floydada were born until it closed in 1960. It then became a pharmacy and, later, a movie rental store. For the six years before Bob bought it, it had been vacant. Now it is the Boston Terrier Museum!

Bob Hambright has remained a collector even after his wife passed away, and those pieces she helped with finding, remind him of their time together. He enjoys repairing the pieces he collects.

According to all of the news stories, Bob and his late wife, Frances, got their first Boston terrier in 1971. They named him AJ (the combined initials for their two children, Alissa and Jim Bob). "He was a great family pet and a great playmate for the kids," Bob says. "Anytime the kids got in trouble, AJ would feel it was his fault and go hide out under the bed for his time out. He loved to chase (toy) planes and play outside. The kids even took him to a local fair and showed him in the dog show. He was the first of the five Bostons we have had."

When asked how they started collecting Boston terrier items He would tell how Frances collected glassware and on their trips to flea markets, antique shops, auctions and estate sales, they began to buy Boston items for Bob's collection. It was not long before family and friends were pitching in with their own contributions. "It became quite an addiction," Hambright was known to say.

Then Bob had discovered the internet and eBay. He did not know much about computers, but his kids convinced him to buy one and introduced him to online collecting. "It is amazing the accessibility and variety of Bostons that I have been able to locate and purchase on the internet," Hambright said. "The computer has allowed me to network with other collectors and friends." No longer was Hambright confined to purchases he could make near his Texas home...Bob could shop the world! At first, he did not see how he could fill up the multiple rooms with his collection, but it is now wall-to-wall dogs. “It is amazing that the building that I thought was too big is now maybe too small."

What does Bob have in his collection? Anything and everything Bostons. "The items range from tiny to life-size, from refined to amusing, from antique to contemporary and from rare to common." There are over 3,000 items in all. There are statues, of course, in both porcelain and bronze. You will find pipes, pipe holders and ashtrays, shot glasses and cork screws, inkwells, toys and banks, clocks (the dog's eyes follow the minutes), advertising signs, hooked rugs, paperweights, canes, buggy blankets, a carousel (with Bostons instead of horses), over 50 salt and pepper shakers, over 100 doorstops, a 1903 Boston trophy and much, much more.

Therefore, if you are ever in Texas, you might want to check out Bob's incredible collection. (Note: Floydada is about an hour's drive from Lubbock.) The Boston Terrier Museum is located at 206 West Houston, Floydada, TX 79235 and from what I could tell; it is still open to the public. While the hours are flexible, it is best if you give Bob Hambright a call at 806-983-5010 to arrange a visit.

So there you have it. I can open my own museum, where I can display all of the treasures that I have received as gifts, acquired from second-hand stores, and items from our online auctions! Think of it: no more things in boxes and file cabinets; no longer having to worry whether the item you are considering purchasing is duplication, because you honestly cannot remember everything you have; no wasting hours searching for something that you want to share with a friend, but cannot locate. Sound familiar?