January/February 2026

40 – Purebred PIGEON If you look at all the pigeon breeds, you may well come away with the assumption that all of the breeds today are steeped in exotic and rich European or Middle Eastern ancestry. But not so. Several were crafted right here in America, demonstrating the American breeder’s skill. The White King is the grand daddy of them all. Harry Baker began its creation nearly 140 years ago, developing both a productive and a beautiful bird. The exact composition of its genetic make up has been lost, but breeds used included the Homer for vitality, the Maltese for compact form, the Runt for size, and the Duchess for that all im- portant element, elegance. Baker choose only pure white specimens for the squab’s marketability. While he may have had strong desires to create a show bird, a par-excellence squab producer was clearly the primary target, and he did not miss. The Giroux brothers understood the worth of his new breed, and invested heavily. By 1900, they had the largest squab produc- ing plant in the United States, the White King Squab Company. Pigeon Snapshots: American Breeds The King By John Verburg - pigeoncote.com White Kings gained national prominence, and the breed’s popularity grew accordingly.