cat photo

Tom the Bruiser

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Tom the Bruiser

Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: Tom is my kinda fella. What a guy! I have long harbored a passion for six-toed (polydactyl?) cats. A commercial card, the copyright information at the bottom reads, No. 5. Copyright 1908, by E. G. Harris, Denver, Colorado. E.G. Harris seems to have had a line of animal novelty cards, but I can’t find much information about them as a company. The back of the card reads, in a child’s handwriting, Dear Cousin Elsie, how are you. we are all well. why don’t you write. answer this card soon. from your loving cousin, Ollie Nitsch. It is addressed to Miss Elsie Pugler, Ellis Kansas. It is dated November 21, 5 PM. You can’t read the 1908, but Ollie dated it as well. Isn’t it interesting that people rarely seem to comment on the photo on the card they send?

Tom clearly spent his sixteen years living hard, and either lost those ears fighting, or was perhaps also a short-ear to begin with. Those six-toed feet look like little boxing gloves on him. Hemingway was famously said to be partial to extra-toed cats, having been given one by a ship’s captain. Evidently polydactyls were prized for ship’s cats and considered good luck to have on board. One imagines that those extra toes might have made for superior mousing ability. When I was a kid I was told all the six-toed cats came from Boston and were descended from a single cat who arrived on board a ship.

One of my very best cat friends was a multi-toed cat – I believe she had seven, not six on each foot, but one was sort of small and hard to see. She had large thumbs and her front toes seemed oddly jointed and made her look like she was standing on tip toes. She was a calico and her name was Winkie. Winks, named by my brother who was very small at the time, was a wickedly smart cat and somehow those giant paws with thumbs made her appear like she was evolving into a new kind of superhuman cat. She had silky soft hair and was endlessly happy to be held and petted. Winkie discovered a stair she could sit on which would allow her to look out a door window and to the driveway when waiting for me to come home from a date; I would be greeted with a meow. She was a chatty cat. There are many stories about Winkie (she taught herself to use the toilet for one), but for now I will mention that she actually replaced an earlier multi-toed kitten who only lived a few days. My father had been filming a story with Roger Caras (famous reporter of all things animal) and brought the little guy home. Sadly he died in his sleep a few days later. When a friend of my mother’s heard that the kitten had died suddenly she sent us Winkie, fresh off a farm in South Jersey.

I have not had a cat with extra toes since Winkie, but remain convinced they are indeed special and I feel an extra sort of kinship with any and all I meet which is why I snatched up this card immediately.

With love from Puss

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: God bless the British and their devoted postcard writing at the turn of the century! So many nice cards and notes as here. This card was sent to B. Grey, at 144 Grosvenor Terrace, Camberwell, SE, from Folkestone and is postmarked March 11, 1909, 11 PM. On the back the following is written in fountain pen ink, Dear Bobbie, I know how fond you are of cats so I have sent you on the photo of our cat. I hope to come to see your mother soon. I hope you are all keeping well. Yours lovingly, Ruth.

Puss certainly is a handsome and fluffy specimen of cat, perched on a very romantic looking roof. It would seem the roof was easy access to all given how unconcerned kitty and, we’ll assume photographer, are here.  I am sorry that the chemicals seem to have gone a bit hinky, although Kim does what he can to reduce the moire effect produced by this. I love the soft dark edges though, like a still from a silent film. We will assume Bobby enjoyed it, given the evidence that it is still here with us, over 100 years later.

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Hotsy-Totsy!

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: It was not, and is not really, my intention to start collecting early, risqué photo postcard of women and cats – although there seems to be a deep French tradition of these photos and cards to be explored.  This one got me, in part, because it is a sharply composed photo – all the angles are sort of just right. And there is that super, nicely jointed, little teddy bear she is holding and teasing kit with.

But really I bought it because I like how peeved the cat looks. He has no intention of smiling for the camera – he is most interested in attacking that nice little teddy bear, goddamnit! He is moments away from pouncing and I can imagine that a moment after the shutter clicked he attacked the bear – as well as the arm and the hand holding it. There was probably yelling and maybe even hissing. The cat looks like a nice, big, tabby Tom who knows his way around – hunting mice in that photo studio – a denizen who enjoyed the cushy pillows and soft throws when no one is needing them, layering them in cat hair. Not a prissy kitty at all, but a fellow who knew when and how to sing for his supper as photo prop nonetheless.

Got Milk!

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XO#3

Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: For a professional photo postcard, this one runs a bit dark and has a strange metallic glare on it that some old photos seem to get from poor developing – tired hypo? Kim has lightened it a bit for your viewing pleasure which does reduce this effect and makes it much more viewable. It is postally unused and the bottom reads, Direct to Consumer, Copyright, 1907 by  Louis N. Gishwiller. Almeda, Kansas. Quick research only serves to confirm Louis Gishwiller as a photographer in Almeda and that there seem to be prominent descendants who remained active in the life of Almeda subsequently.

At the same time I purchased this I was bidding on another, more homemade one, which I am guessing came from the same collection. Lost that one sorry to say; it would have been nice to keep them together.

This cow/milk/cat concept has long fascinated me. I guess it starts with someone squirting the cat square in the face with some milk straight from the udder and the cat liking it. Cats probably hang out because of the smell of milk anyway. Still, cats don’t especially like getting their face soaked so I figure they must really like the taste of the milk to stand for it.

We are now told that milk is not so good for cats and I have not put any out for a cat in years. However when I was a kid, I used to put a saucer of milk out for my cat Pumpkin nightly, from the time he was a little fellow. (I have written about this glorious orange tabby most recently here in Ahoy! Cats at Sea.) Pumpkin adored his saucer of milk and he would settle in and polish it off in one go, his enormous striped tail slowing waving back in forth in appreciation as he drank it down. Although Cookie and Blackie will not know the joys of a milk nightcap, it should be said that Pumpkin lived to be north of 18 years old it did not seem to harm him substantially in any way.

More Strange Cat Costumes

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Horsie and cat

Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: I feel the need to confide upfront that the image of this photo has been enhanced by the magic of Photoshop at the gifted hands of my multi-talented husband. (Yay Kim!) In fact, I wanted to confirm that it was going to be possible to bring out the image before I purchased it and he fiddled with the eBay scan first. Sadly, it is so light that it is hard to make out – although clearly the information exists in the image or making it darker would not improve it. The image is so bizarre and interesting however, that I couldn’t let it slip by and purchased it, so here we are.

That bit of disclosure out of the way – wowzers! What odd photo indeed! These very indulged children do not look especially pleased or entertained despite the glory of the scene, starting with that splendid horse cart, drawn by that perky pony and those two wonderful colts frolicking nearby. Then there is the handsomely dressed woman on the perfect white horse, riding side saddle – and the view which is something out of a Hudson River School landscape. But of course, what makes it all and has me stop in wonder is that outrageous cat costumed individual in the cart! A glorious costume which is so fluffy that he takes up the entire back of the cart. The mind boggles – did he dress up weekly or even daily for their entertainment? Was there a time when all wealthy children had adults dressing in animal costumes for their entertainment and I have just failed to hear about it? While I do not know their story, I can only hope that were I such a lucky child that I would enjoy it more than they appear to be. However, we will never know.

Mascot – U.S.S. Custodian

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: I never would have guessed how many photos of cats on ships I would acquire over time. I do find these photos irresistible. The stalwart cats of the sea – the preferred mascot for ships, probably due to their predilection for mice and rats which must abound in the cargo and supply areas of these ships. There seems to be real affection for them – hence the photos, many which include a crew member holding them. It is almost an archetype – hard to imagine a dog being a ship’s mascot. This photo postcard is unused and I can find no information on the T.S.S. Custodian.

This scrappy fellow presents his own archetype of  elder statesmen tabbies.  Ears intact, he hasn’t spent his life scrapping with other kitties, but looking at this barrel chested fellow you can imagine that more than a few rodents fell under his claw paws! He probably knew just where and when to prowl the galley in time for a hand-out too.

I have mentioned Zipper, an alley cat rescue who joined our family when I was still quite little. (See prior post, Old Tommy for more on Zipper.) Zips was very grateful for his adoption, but despite having been rescued when he was very young, he never transcended his alley cat roots. His tail, cruelly broken before he came to us, remained perpetually downturned and crooked at the tip. He lived cheerfully among us, but somehow never quite fully domesticated. Zipper ruled our neighborhood with a roving band of fellow kitty miscreants and there will be many future posts devoted to his antics. Still, as I write this I realize that I don’t believe we have a single photo of Zipper. I don’t remember him ever sitting on a lap or accepting more than a few occasional pets. Our large, gentle cat Snoopy, endured him with a bit of a sniff. Snoopy was top cat of the house, but didn’t need the title of King Cat of Waterman Avenue which seems to have belonged to Zipper.

When I was about 12 we moved several blocks away. Zipper, however, refused to make the move and returned repeatedly to his stomping ground. Luckily, there was an elderly neighbor who had a soft spot for him and said she would take him in. Zipper never had to give up his title and fight for new turf, and when he was ready to retire we were pleased to know he had the devotion of someone who doted on him, fed him delicacies and gave him a proverbial place by the fire.

Good Doggie!

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Y#5

Pam’s Photo Post: This is in the treasured family photo general category of pics. A handsome, faithful dog who is guarding this cat and her kittens. Of course I love the nice black and while (tuxedo-ish) pattern on the dog. What a very good doggie. Very serious and dedicated.  Looks like a farm or at least a backyard farm as such. Pretty timeless, but there’s something about it that makes me think 1940’s.

The mom is a nice striped tabby and she has her maternal concerned look on. Nature is so funny – mom cats are so protective when they are kits and about a year later they could care less about them. (When I was little our calico, Winkie, had kittens she moved all around the house – evidently to protect them from us humans. Smushing them under furniture, snarling at us if we came near. Then one day she woke up and looked at them and more or less said, “Where did you come from YA BUMS and how can I get rid of you?” Mom declared Winkie an abusive parent and she was right.)

The spotty strip-y kitten is very cute, but of course the black one is my favorite. Blackie’s great granddad perhaps – wonder if there’s a little white star on his chest and little white spots under his arms?

Monkey in the Middle

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: This is one of those photos where no one really looks like they are having a good time, but is sort of amazing. There is some strange persistence in the universe that cats and monkeys be paired. I don’t know why – the monkey invariably looks bossy and the cat very unhappy. (I have never seen a cat look adoringly at a monkey. Have you?) Although we have a hard time seeing it, this appears to be true here as well. We can barely make out annoyed cat ears – the cat is in the monkey’s grasp! Poor kitty! Meanwhile, the children are taciturn – vaguely beleaguered looking. They don’t appear to be out for a romp with their trained monkey and kitty, do they? I do wonder what the story is.

I have never known a monkey personally, never petted one – although I am entertained by them when I see them, mostly in movies. There is one monkey story handed down in our family. It especially amuses me because it is about my mother who truly is the defender of all animals (domestic and otherwise) and, in the years I have known her, has never met an animal she didn’t like. However, I gather when she was younger and first dating my father they wandered into a pet store one day where there was a monkey in a cage. My mother went up to it and remarked aloud that she didn’t particularly care for monkeys. Well, evidently that little fellow reached out and grabbed the lapel of her jacket and pulled her up to his cage and had to be coerced into letting her go. Needless to say, it didn’t especially endear her to monkeys in the short term – but I know that she would fight for their rights as quickly and courageously as she does any other of our animal friends. That little fellow didn’t know who he was messing with.

Men and Cats

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: I guess it wouldn’t surprise anyone to find out that I have a soft spot for photos of men and cats. There’s something about these big tough guys scooping up their cat when their photo is going to be taken that I particularly love. (Previous examples in this category would be my posts Men in Hats with Cats and Tricks) In this one the great little tuxedo is looking up at the man adoringly. Nothing on the back of the card, a bit grimy. There’s a strange symmetry – two of the men wearing matching hats (a third hat is strangely hung high on the fence, does it belong to the man on the end?) and the men on each side with his arms across his chest in an identical pose. Love me, love my cat!

While I was growing up, my father seemed to only have a passing interest in the parade of cats that populated our world and I cannot recall a photo or image of him holding one of them. There was one or two he was perhaps a bit more partial too – our first cat Snoopy comes to mind. And there was tell of a cat he and my mother had before us kids were born, named Nudge, another orange striped fellow, who would hide and jump out and attack my father. (Never my mother – orange striped cats tend to be one person cats. Having said that, my father ultimately took up with my orange tabby, Pumpkin, after I left home and fed him smoked salmon from the table on a regular basis. Needless to say, they were tight.) My father neither objected to, nor paid a lot of attention to the cats of our lives. The German Shepard, Duchess, was his dog though and would wait by the front door for him to come home – even from long trips.

However, after retirement my father has, in many ways, gradually become the center of the Butler cat universe in NJ. Sitting on his lap is a prize spot and several denizens expect brushing and other attentions. There is another great orange cat in residence presently, Red, who adopts me for the night when I visit, on leave from my father’s room, to spend the night on my bed. (Don’t the Japanese have inns where you can rent a cat with your room for the night? Or am I conflating something else with the tea houses where you can go and pet cats?) During numerous visits last year when my father spent some time in the hospital, my mother (Queen of the various animals, domestic and otherwise, of their house) and I tended to many of the various cat needs – a visiting cat outside who needed feeding twice a day, one example – but they missed my father’s presence very much. That was about the time Red first adopted me, I guess he needed me and he has not forgotten me since my father’s return. Below is a photo of him on my father’s lap, and another of him watching over me in bed in my childhood room in NJ. Good kitty!

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Velox Demonstrations

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Y#1

Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: This great card is one that almost got away – not just at auction, but due to a prolonged detour through the mysteries of the US Post Office. I was greatly relieved when it arrived safely on my doorsteps after a nail biter of a week or so. (The eBay seller, lovesoldthingstoo, was wonderful and was ready to refund me when it showed up about ten days late and we both cheered!) Anyway, it landed safely in my hands and I must say I don’t have anything else remotely like it.

Not only does it have these wonderful bunch of kittens romping among photography equipment (two of my favorite things in the world), but it is an ad for the very Velox paper photo postcard were printed on!  And to think, on May 6 and May 7, 1907 you could go to the Chas. Kuhn Company at 500 Fulton Street and get a demonstration. Man, I would have been there with bells on! (I wonder if the kittens were working that day.)

This card was sent to Miss Anna Kuhn (a relative we will assume) in Woodstown, NJ on September 2, 1907. Brooklyn, NY is printed in pencil at the bottom and T.H. Tuohy in script, the same hand as addressed the back, at the bottom.

I was very entertained to learn that the Chas. Kuhn Company of Brooklyn had an exhibition space on the second floor. It can be found under listings of artist exhibition bios of the day. It is also mentioned in the context of photo suppliers of the day. One of the places to see and be seen in the Brooklyn of the teens.

Although photo postcards date back further, Kodak’s introduction of Velox paper in 1902 – the ability to print an negative right onto a ready postcard – is the beginning of the form’s real popularity. Collector’s Weekly has a handy history of real photo postcards, found at Real Photo Postcards, and they mention the Kodak 3A folding camera that was made for use with this film. Priced at $20 it was a princely sum – but very appealing either to wealthy amateurs or, more likely, those setting up shop as itinerant photographers. Suddenly everyone was a photographer and your blogger’s future as a collector crystalized decades before her birth. The format was available at least into the 1970’s, but I could not find a definitive end date for production. The postcards will bring endless pleasure.