This article is from the WSSF 2017 AFRMA Rat & Mouse Tales news-magazine.

By Virginia Pochmann

From Mouse Review, Issue No. 12 (October 1989). Permission given to reprint article.

TThe show was held at Shipley in a large, very old hall with overhead light from skylights in a very high ceiling. Good daylight like this is highly prized in choosing a show site, so as to allow the judges to see the true colours of the mice being judged. The Maxey cages are placed in classes around the outer tables, and the center tables are reserved for the 5 judges. There were over 1300 entries in this show, so the judges were busy for quite a while. There were judges for Selfs, Satins, Marked, Tans, and A.O.V. Sections (A.O.V. stands for Any Other Variety). By 10:30 a.m. the fanciers had organized their Maxey cages into proper classes, and the hard-working show secretary and his helpers were getting the paper work ready. There were 4 people at that desk all day, keeping track of the judging results, etc. Each judge keeps his own written record as he works through each class. He has a steward who brings before him all the cages involved in each class and then returns them to their proper places on the outer tables when the class has been judged. Most of the mice are entered in several classes. The entry fee is 10 pence for each class. The show is organized as shown on the schedule printed on the following page. Classes are arranged first by variety of mouse, then by age (either adult or under 8 weeks). So, supposing you are entering a Self Black adult buck, you look down the schedule and see that the class number for adult Blacks is 3, and you enter him in Class 3. If he is a particularly good buck, you might expect to have a shot a winning some of the duplicate classes as well. (Duplicate classes are marked on the schedule with a ‘d’ in front of the number.) So you look at the schedule again, and see that he should be entered in Class d11, the Self Challenge (where all first place winners from the Self classes above will compete in their age group). He should also be entered in the Self Shield AA class, number d13 (AA means any age, and he will be judged against the winner of the d12 class above (under 8 wks) if he was so lucky as to win first place in d11. Looking further down the schedule, you will see that he may also be entered in d63 Breeders Class (if you bred him yourself), and in Class 58 Stud Buck Class, if he is of the size and type wanted for a stud buck (massive, with good bone). Finally, you would want to enter him in d65 Grand Challenge Class, where the winners from all previous Challenge classes compete against each other in their age group, and in d67 where the Shield winners from each section above compete for BEST IN SHOW mouse. If the BIS mouse is an adult, the BOA (Best Opposite Age) mouse is then chosen from the under 8 weeks classes. Or vice versa… There is a separate (6th) judge who is asked to choose Best In Show from among the Section winners. If one of this judge’s mice is in contention for BIS, he must disqualify himself as judge, and another judge is chosen. (This is what happened in this show, since Don Parkinson was scheduled to choose BIS, but his B.E. Cream buck was Best Self, and he had to let another judge do the BIS choice. Dave Bumford was asked to do it.)

Now, back to our Black buck: if you had entered him in all 7 classes where he could possibly be shown, you would have incurred an expense of 70p (pence: for this one mouse, and he would account for 7 entries out of the 1300 total in the show. Obviously, you will have some mice entered which you know have no chance to win everything, and you might choose to enter such animals in fewer classes.

Prize money is 30p for each first place your mouse wins, 20p for each second place, 10p for third place, and 5p for fourth. You also receive a Red Card for First, Blue Card for Second, and Yellow Card for Third Place. For the winners of Challenge classes and Shield classes, there are rosettes and/or shields given, and at these large Annual shows there are a large number of silver trophies given for special breeds or varieties of mice. These large expensive trophies are won by a fancier for ONE YEAR, and are to be returned to the Annual Show the following year to be given again. Each year the fancier who wins it has his name engraved on the trophy itself, after the names of all who have won it previously. These are called ‘perpetual trophies’ and are donated by fanciers to honor and promote a special breed of mouse in which they are interested, or some are donated to honor long-time fanciers who have contributed much to the Fancy.

Now, when you have entered your Black buck and paid your 70p, the show secretary will give you a label like this one, which is filled out to show all the classes you entered this mouse in and also has a number for your pen. This label is to be stuck to the top left of the cage. (Unlike some of the labels used in this country, this label is easily removed later with water!)

During the judging, some of the fanciers watch, but most are off talking to each other or helping with the show procedures during the early hours. As the show goes on and the competition progresses, more and more fanciers are watching to see which mice are being highly placed, until at the end when Best In Show is to be chosen, there is a line-up of fanciers watching closely as the judge makes his choice. The competitive spirit is very high, as is the overall enthusiasm at the show, and everyone seems to be having a very good time...winners and losers alike. Fancier spirit is a very difficult thing to describe in words, but once felt in a room, never forgotten. I’ve never before felt such intense spirit at a show of any kind here in the States, and I believe it is one major reason why the British fanciers have always excelled in every sort of Fancy...from dogs, canaries, cavies, rabbits...to mice. The whole day was a natural ‘high’ for me and for everyone else there.

One of the things I learned on this trip was that not ALL English mice are large. The largest varieties are the big pale Selfs: Champagne, Silver, PEW, Dove (Lilac here), and the B.E. Cream. The darker Selfs are much smaller mice, but still excelling in type. Indeed, type is the big plus in the English breeds. Colour has been brought to a high degree of excellence, but is only 50% of the judging points. The other 50% is for type. Of the points for type, only 5 are given for size, so...size isn’t everything. The varieties which are by nature smaller mice (genetically) are not penalized for lacking size (Tans, dark Selfs and Satins, Marked, Dutch, and some A.O.V.s). But, undeniably, when it comes down to the very last, and Best In Show is being chosen, a good big ’un will beat a good little ’un. This is why so often BIS goes to one of the big pale selfs.

The hands of stewards removes hay and paper from each Maxey cage to get the class ready for the judge to handle. The judge makes his scoring notes as he goes along. He often uses a silk cloth to shine up or smooth down the coat of the mouse as he looks at it. I noticed each judge has his/her own way of setting-up the mouse while judging. The mouse is looked at from every angle and side, front, rear, left, right, top (on table) and under (suspended by tail). Much attention is given to the furring of the belly, and any animal lacking good thick belly fur is noted as ‘thin under.’ Also, there should be no line down the center of the belly where the hairs meet. The dark Selfs (Blue, Black, Choc.) are carefully scrutinized to be sure there is no trace of tan hairs around the vent or on the flanks. Indeed, the Black mice are so incredibly BLACK that they look like a ‘hole in reality.’ I have never seen any animal of any species as Black as these Black mice are…nor as glossy. Their coats SHINE. (I believe that instead of being ordinary non-agouti Blacks (a/a), they must be either extreme non-agouti (a^e/a^e) or Sombre (E^so) mice, genetically.) Also, the fanciers practice wonderful methods of selection for what they are after. Geneticists could learn a thing or two from what these fanciers have accomplished through selection.

The Marked Section was judged by Brenda Dickinson. She had Broken mice in her classes that were unbelievable: little round pea-sized spots all over the animal, one of which is on the nose, and NO big saddle spot on the rump like our Brokens all have. They were beauties, and one of those Brokens won Best Marked, over some fine Dutch and Variegateds.

Frank Hawley judged the Satin Section, and Mr. Bebbington did A.O.V.s, while Ian Scott did the Tans. (He had come down from Scotland to judge in this show.) The Tans and Foxes are in general small mice, compared to the Selfs and Satins, and I believe they had the poorest type of any section. However, they are bred for TAN, and the bright deep red bellies on those mice had to be seen to be believed.

The A.O.V. Section contains a great mix of breeds. (Everything in fact that does not fit into any of the other 4 sections.) Some are large, some small, some typey, some not, but all interesting varieties. There is also a Rare Varieties Support Group run by Dave Bumford and several other breeders who raise unusual mice. For the purposes of this group, a rare variety is defined as one which is raised by fewer than three exhibiting fanciers, and at present the list includes: Rex, Astrex, Longhair, B.E. Silver, P.E. Cream, B.E. White, Silver Grey Tan, Silver Brown Tan, Pearl Tan, Dutch Tan, Rumpwhite Tan, Variegated, Tricolour, Rumpwhite, Pearl, Silver Fawn, Silver Brown, Argente Creme, Marten Sable, and Banded. And I believe the Self Chocolate is also considered on the list because no one is really raising these. This support group is trying to ensure that no variety will actually be lost to the Fancy. Some of the varieties could be recreated by crossing other varieties (such as the listed Tans), but others could well become extinct if the one or two people maintaining stocks were to lose them. These include the Pearl (which is not clearly understood genetically), the Banded (which is the W^sh gene known to geneticists as sash), the Rex, Astrex, and Longhair, though the latter 3 could probably be obtained again through laboratory stock. If I lived in England, I’d be part of the Rare Varieties Support Group and work on some of these breeds. The Fancy has been going continuously since 1895, and it would be a shame to lose any of the standardized varieties completely.

I was surprised to see that Longhairs are considered a rare variety in England, because we raise and show so many of them here, but can understand it, since LH tends to be of poor type, and so much emphasis is placed on type there. The Longhairs tend to have type that would be dismissed as rubbish!

Well, I hope this article has been of interest. I detailed the show methods as much as I could for you, so that people setting up shows could take what they want from the way it’s done in England. I guess you can tell that I had a MARVELOUS time!

Ed. Note: Hope you enjoyed this bit of history. The N.M.C. continues to run their shows this same way.

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