A POTTED HISTORY by LAUREN SPENCE ( 22/5/1986 - 11/10/2018 )

(Seemingly a generic 5.5-7lb white rabbit with "glistening soft fur"). This resulted in the Polish by the late 1880s, so called due to the shine, or polish, of the coat and were shown in AOV classes until the 1890s when they became more popular.The standard back then stated "The eyes are never a staring red but always pink, lighter than those of a Himallayan and quite as large as those of an Angora. The face is short and thick and the nose is anything but pointed, being rounder at the extremity than in many varieties. The ears are short and upright;not hard and stiff but soft and flexible. Outside they are covered with a good supply of exceedingly short,white hairs, while on the inside is a pink shade, merging into white at the edges. The Polish rabbit has not much neck - in fact the head seems very much set back into the shoulders. The body is plump and short. The legs are small, not short and plump but slight and delicate throughout - thin, spare and short. The fur on the body is not quite so long as in the common rabbit and is more like that of the Himalayan. The weight runs from 3lb to 5lb when full grown and in condition.

The popularity of the Polish increased gradually, the breed club was formed in 1896, and the first recorded show held in 1897 at Cleckheaton. 68 Poles were shown in 1899, 92 in 1918, 72 in 1920..increasing to 203 in 1945. There was a boom in the popularity of the breed up to the second world war and during and after the war years they remained a popular breed. The figures shown are from Adult stock shows, the only major breed shows held at the tiime. The breed was more like a small, white Belgian Hare than the recognisable shape we have today.

Notable figures from the early years are George Dickenson, Dr Waugh, Jack Day, Tom Halliday (The "Blue Eyed White King") and names Polish fanciers will recognise, Bert & Bill Clipsham and Harry McVeigh.

Coloureds were also developed over this time, with Ted Phizacklea (after whom the yearly Coloureds-only show is named), Norman Smith and Ken Lettington prominent in their successes. How the coloureds were developed isn't documented but colours such as Agouti, Opal, Black and Blue were certainly around in the 70s, and even silver grey Poles shown by Charlie Owen in the 80s. Sables and Smokes seem to have grown in popularity later, in the 90s. I would speculate that the colours perhaps came about as a result of early crosses with Himalayans, considering that the 1880s standard asks for a coat like the Himalayans.

The Polish rabbit was first exported to the USA in the 1910s, where they were selectively bred to be a slighter larger, rounder rabbit. When Poles were exported again later in the century, they were bred to the British type and named Britannia Petites, first accepted in the USA in REW in 1977, and colours are still being developed, while in the UK standard any colour is accepted as long as it is described in another breed standard.