--- description: LIFE.com chronicles the adventures and sartorial splendor of an orphaned -- and, in 1940s America, a celebrated -- gray squirrel title: Tommy Tucker: A Squirrel's Guide to Fashion | Photos image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05969c281fa0c514/69876165f887dc0beee8794a/squirrel-fashion-07.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [curiosities](/tag/curiosities/) ## curiosities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Squirrel's Guide to Fashion by [Ben Cosgrove](/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 6, 2014 7:01 PM CUT  Chill in the Air Chill in the AirNina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 6, 2014 7:01 PM CUT In the early 1940s, LIFE magazine reported that a Mrs. Mark Bullis of Washington, D.C., had adopted a squirrel “before his eyes were open, when his mother died and left him in a tree” in the Bullis’s back yard. Here, in a series of photos by Nina Leen, LIFE.com chronicles the quiet, rodential adventures and sartorial splendor of Tommy Tucker, the orphaned — and, in 1940s America, the celebrated — squirrel. “Most squirrels,” LIFE noted (with a striking lack of evidence), “are lively and inquisitive animals who like to do tricks when they have an audience.” _They do?_ LIFE then went on to observe that the squirrel, dubbed Tommy Tucker by the Bullis family, “is a very subdued little animal who has never had a chance to jump around in a big tree.” “Mrs. Bullis’ main interest in Tommy,” LIFE continued, “is in dressing him up in 30 specially made costumes. Tommy has a coat and hat for going to market, a silk pleated dress for company, a Red Cross uniform for visiting the hospital.” “Tommy never seems to complain,” the LIFE article concluded, “although sometimes he bites Mrs. Bullis. Mrs. Bullis never complains about being bitten.” [\[Read more about Tommy Tucker in this Washington _Post_ article\]](http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-04-18/local/35453428%5F1%5Ftommy-tucker-squirrel-smithsonian "undefined")  This Year's Model Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Simple, Yet Elegant Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Sorry, Did You Say Something? Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  The "Little Squirrel on the Prairie" Look Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Forever Gingham Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  I Call This My "Going Visiting Dress" Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Chill in the Air Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Can't a Squirrel Eat in Peace? Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  CPR: Cute Professional Rodent Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Sharing Is Caring Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Too. Much. Starch. Can't. Breathe. Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  One Sample per Customer, Please Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  A Clean Squirrel Is a Happy Squirrel Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Ahhhh. Warm Towels. Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  To Sleep, Perchance to Dream ... of Acorns ... Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3517606/a-squirrels-guide-to-fashion/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3517606/a-squirrels-guide-to-fashion/"},"headline":"A Squirrel's Guide to Fashion","datePublished":"2014-11-06T19:01:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:07:21.984Z","description":"Photos chronicling the adventures and sartorial splendor of an orphaned -- and, in 1940s America, a celebrated -- gray squirrel","url":"https://time.com/3517606/a-squirrels-guide-to-fashion/","keywords":["curiosities","animals","photography","curiosity","black and white photography","Nina Leen"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05969c281fa0c514/69876165f887dc0beee8794a/squirrel-fashion-07.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ben Cosgrove","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05969c281fa0c514/69876165f887dc0beee8794a/squirrel-fashion-07.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A Squirrel's Guide to Fashion","caption":"A Squirrel's Guide to Fashion","creditText":"Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/curiosities/","name":"curiosities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3517606/a-squirrels-guide-to-fashion/","name":"A Squirrel's Guide to Fashion"}}]}] ```