Grom Polunotchni/By Andrus Kozlov

 

Grom

The October 1924 issue of Cleveland Topics featured a photograph of a black

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Borzoi, Grom Polunotchni 423407, owned by Inez Wallace Hubbel, a journalist and entertainment and society columnist. NB! This name in Russian means “Midnight thunder”.

In photographs of American Borzois from the early decades of the 20th century, light-colored dogs appear to have been predominant. In Europe, however, black Borzois were well known and apparently quite fashionable during this period. Among them was the black Ch. Chack Bielaja, whose black descendants also played a role in the European Borzoi population.

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Grom Polunotchni was bred by Mr. C. Johannsen, who had come to the United States from Germany. In Germany, Johannsen had worked as a police-dog trainer. After moving to the United States, he also bred German Shepherd Dogs. At the same time, however, he was involved with Borzois and imported several dogs from Germany.

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Among his imports were three Borzois born in Hamburg in 1921: Arras vom Edelwild 403215, and the littermates Bija Motor 408076, DWZB 1627, and Bayahn Motor DWZB 1625, from the rather unusually named “Motor” kennel, owned by Martha Stephan.

All three of these imported Borzois were sired by the black Ch. Bessberk’s Ajax, who had been imported from Holland into Germany. Arras and Bayahn were themselves black. In May 1923, Johannsen exhibited Arras and Bayahn at the Queensboro Kennel Club show in New York.
CONFLICTING RECORDS SURROUNDING GROM POLUNOTCHNI
The pedigree information relating to Grom Polunotchni is particularly confusing and contains several apparent inconsistencies.
According to the AKC Stud Book, Grom was born on August 4, 1923, by Arras Edelblut 403215 out of Coma Spica 337576, with C. Johannsen listed as the breeder.
The pedigree recorded for Arras Edelblut gives Bessberk’s Ajax as his sire and Astra Bielaja as his dam, with A. Barnffols listed as the breeder in Germany. However, the same AKC registration number, 403215, is also associated with a dog named Arras Edelwild, whose parents are given as Bessberk’s Ajax and Ustra Bielaja. The breeder and date of birth are also recorded as the same.
There is a further intriguing piece of evidence. The AKC registered a son of Arras under the name Arras vom Edelwild-Wandsbek 408467, with Arras Edelwild as his sire and Bija Motor as his dam. Johannsen is listed as the breeder. This dog was also born on August 4, 1923 — exactly the same date as Grom Polunotchni.
The identity of Grom’s recorded dam, Coma Spica, raises additional questions. Coma Spica was bred and owned by W. H. Thompson of New Canaan, Connecticut.
It seems difficult to reconcile these records. It appears unlikely that two puppies were born at Mr. Johannsen’s kennel on the same day, both supposedly sired by dogs named Arras, particularly when the records themselves indicate that the two Arras dogs may actually have been the same dog under slightly different names. The situation becomes even more complicated because the two recorded dams belonged to different owners: Bija Motor was an imported bitch owned by Johannsen, whereas Coma Spica was owned by W. H. Thompson.
Taken together, these inconsistencies suggest that the recorded pedigree of Grom Polunotchni may contain an error. One plausible explanation is that Grom was actually sired by Arras Edelwild and out of Bija Motor, rather than by Arras Edelblut and out of Coma Spica as recorded in the AKC Stud Book. At present, this should be regarded as a hypothesis rather than an established fact
Unfortunately, relatively little information has so far come to light about Johannsen and his Borzois. Already in June 1923, Johannsen was advertising Arras Edelwild for sale, apparently because he was planning to move to Alaska. This suggests that his involvement with the Borzois may have been relatively brief.
Grom Polunotchni himself was offered for sale in January 1925. He was subsequently sold to Mrs. Carl Hanna, the owner of the Roaside kennel in Cleveland, which was primarily associated with German Shepherd Dogs.
As for Bija Motor and Bayahn Motor, the two littermates imported from the Motor kennel in Germany, I have not been able to find any further information about their subsequent lives or breeding careers.

 

Year of Event:

1923

Country:

America (USA)

Personal Collections:

 

Source:

 

Author:

Dan Persson

Dogs:

 

Persons: