This silent home movie from the 1940s was shot by a member of the Massasoit Greyhound Association, which was based in Raynham, Massachusetts. Racing continued at the park until the end of 2009, when it shut down. Raynham Park opened in 1940 and was founded by Russ Murray and with the financial backing of the Carney family. The lure at Raynham Park was known as “The Chief”. The park was operated by the Massasoit Greyhound Association, and located near the Hockamock Swamp. The Wampanoag Indians lived along the swamp years before and called it “The place where spirits dwell”. Their Chief Massasoit was an important friend to the pilgrims and without him the Plymouth Colony might not have survived. “The Chief” was named in honor of Massasoit and the 7/16th course was called the “Hockamock Course”.Raynham bought out the nearby Taunton track in 1981. Taunton’s lure was called “Rusty”, and going forward at the Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Park the lure was called The Chief from January through June, and Rusty the rest of the year.
Aside from the racing, some of the highlights of the film include at 2:19 the arrival of crowds by Yellow Coach bus, shots of associate judge for the racing commission Richard Maliff, judge Gilbert C. Miller and timer E.J. L’Italien, the snackbar (3:14), kennel area (3:20) and club veterinarian Dr. J.H. O’Brien (4;49).
Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing. Track racing uses an artificial lure (now based on a windsock) that travels ahead of the dogs on a rail until the greyhounds cross the finish line. As with horse racing, greyhound races often allow the public to bet on the outcome.
In many countries greyhound racing is purely amateur and solely for enjoyment. In other countries, particularly Australia, Ireland, Macau, Mexico, Spain, the UK and the US, greyhound racing is part of the gambling industry and similar to horse racing – although less profitable.
Animal rights and animal welfare groups are critical of the welfare of greyhounds in the commercial racing industry. A greyhound adoption movement spearheaded by kennel owners has arisen to assist retired racing dogs in finding homes as pets, with an estimated adoption rate of over 95% in the US.
We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 — President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.”
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
