In honor of Mother’s Day, this week’s Throwback Thursday is about mine and Angel Chuck Billy’s Momma Sage and Grandma Rue. They’re celebrities! Momma Sage and Grandma Rue each had the honor of being models for L.L. Bean’s catalog!
Our Celebrity Momma Sage and Grandma Rue (May 11, 2018)
Grandma Rue’s modeling career began when she was asked to pose for the 2010 catalog. Rue was very familiar with L.L. Bean thanks to her taste for good quality leather products. One day Rue’s Human Mom came home and found one of her L.L. Bean boots was missing the entire leather upper and part of the rubber bottom! An emergency trip to the vet and a set of x-rays later, there was no doubt it was Rue who made a snack of the boots. She even had the rivets in the x-ray to prove it! Luckily though, Rue lived by the motto of “this too shall pass,” and the tale of the tasty boots had a happy ending. The boots were even covered by L.L. Bean’s legendary warranty! But I digress.
Thankfully, the modeling scout for L.L. Bean wasn’t aware of this story when he asked Rue to pose for the catalog. He had contacted the veterinary hospital where Rue’s Human Mom worked, and asked if they knew of any well-behaved dogs that would be interested. Rue jumped at the opportunity for her chance at fame! With the boot incident a distant memory, Rue showed up on location ready for her photoshoot. Now one of the cute quirks of my beloved grandmother was that she always carried her leash in her mouth. So of course she was doing it that day, and all the models loved it. Well that is until the taste of the leather leash reminded her of those delicious boots. CHOMP! She bit the L.L. Bean leash in half! The photoshoot came to an abrupt halt, her Human Mom was mortified, while Grandma Rue continued to win over the adoration of the models with her Golden grin. After a few calls, another Bean photography crew working in a different town came to the rescue with a replacement leash, and the remainder of the photoshoot went smoothly.
Rue’s daughter, our Momma Sage, followed in her paw steps a couple years later for the 2012 catalog. Momma Sage’s claim to fame was she graced the cover of L.L. Bean’s 100th Anniversary edition! Seriously, our Momma Sage was on the cover of that iconic catalog, mailed to households around the the country and beyond! Luckily though Sage resisted the temptation of doing any quality control tests during her photoshoot. However, she did follow Rue’s example and refused to do any dock diving despite the photographer’s request. Who can blame them? No diva wants to be wet and soggy in her photos! Months later when the catalog was released, Momma Sage was busy taking care of me and my siblings in the whelping box. Therefore, she was unavailable to do interviews or pose for the paparazzi. Momma Sage did however, take the time to pawtograph a special copy for me that I have framed.
2025 Update: This year Angel Chuck Billy will be celebrating Mother’s Day with Momma Sage and Grandma Rue. I sure hope I made them proud when I paid tribute to my role models by striking my best pose on a visit to the L.L.Bean flagship store in Freeport. People thought I was a model, and Mom happily told them, “No, but his Momma and Grandma were!”
