Poodles as Phallic Objects

I’m reading a book called “Sex Collectors,” by Geoff Nicholson. It was in our slush pile at work, which often bears good reads. It’s about exactly what it says—people who collect sexual objects or erotica.

Here’s a passage I enjoyed this morning on the subway. It is in regard to Cynthia Plaster Caster, who became kind of well known in the 1970s for making plaster casts of rock stars’ penis. She did Jimi Hendrix, among others.

“I asked Cynthis if she collected anything else besides penises. Well yes, she said, she did collect penis-shaped objects: you know, lamps, candles, models of skyscrapers, that sort of thing. She also collects models of poodles. They’re the most phallic dogs, she said, and then corrected herself by saying no, they weren’t phallic in themselves, but they were the dogs whose phalli showed most conspicuously. On the top of her fridge are improvised still lifes where model poodles and cast penises happily intermingle, she said.”

On the top of my fridge, a bottle of Maker’s Mark and cans of lentils unfeelingly sit next to each other. Which is not to say I would not allow a phallic poodle to mix among them.