Scratching Post

Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: Bad Kitty! No scratching! How very many times have I repeated that phrase? Like all cat people, ours is an uneasy treaty with our little wild animals in our one room apartment version of Eden. We are loath to allow the destruction of beloved antiques (oh those caned chairs – like this fellow is going at) or expensive couches and rugs. I love the little devils more than any piece of furniture, but it can get expensive and annoying. There are scratching posts, cardboard boxes with catnip and whatnot where scratching is sanctioned – encouraged in fact. Obviously, declawing is not a phrase we utter in this house.

Like bunnies and beavers which have to nibble and gnaw in order to keep their teeth filed, I guess cats need to scratch to keep their claws sharp and from getting too long. Still, scratching is more than that to a cat – there is joy to scratching. Scratching is a way of marking your turf – it’s a statement. As shown here – it is both a cross cultural phenomenon, Mr. French cat, and one that goes back quite aways.

Blackie is the first cat of my acquaintance who appears to not have so much as a clue as to what the various scratching devices scattered around our tiny apartment are to be used for. He watches Cookie happily scratching away – putting some real back into it. But he has never so much as taken a side swipe at one of them – I have tried every type: cardboard, carpet, rope, large, hanging and on the floor. We’ve showered them in catnip – tried running his feet across them. If anything he seems horrified by them. This does lead to some friction. I occasionally tell him he would be a PERFECT cat if only he could figure that out.

Meanwhile, although my cat Otto knew all about scratching posts and employed them, she had a fetish about Kim’s work chair. She is shown below, in a former apartment, in a series of polaroids Kim took over several days in April, 1995. Evidently she would take the chair on every day at the same time. Needless to say, she eventually denuded the entire chair. Kim continued to use it however, until the frame too fell apart one day, years later.

Otto 4/16/95

Otto 4/17/19

Otto 4/25/05

Two of a Kind

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Pam’s Pictorama Toy Post: As we continue on with our Halloween theme, I present two splendid kitties from my collection. The first of these cats was among my very first purchases in the world of black cat toy collecting, and it is still among my very favorites. He, along with another excellent, much earlier cat (a future post) were scored in an antique store in Red Bank, New Jersey – near my ancestral home, while on a weekend junket to visit my parents. The second was purchased on eBay. That seller told me that it had been a prize his or her grandmother had won on a push pin board game in a store, and that it was from the 1930’s, which seems about right. This seemingly appropriate example of one of these prize boards is below, grabbed off of the internet.

There was great excitement from Blackie and Cookie when I took these cats down to be photographed! The arched back, tail and ears is enough for them to read angry feline and react in-kind. In addition, these cats in particular, still carry the irresistible smell of attic and mysterious old things. The combination really wound these guys up this morning.

Both toys are in pretty superb condition – one maintains his bow – and sport magnificent fluffy tails, and virtually no bald spots on their plushy fur. The eBay one has a few condition issues – he does not really stand on his own any longer and his tail lists permanently to one side. Pretty good for a couple of elderly fellows though. They are the cheerful guardians of my cat shelf. I admit, I couldn’t pass one up and would contentedly buy additional ones if I found them. I mean, who wouldn’t?

Kitten Women

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: Who can resist taking a photo of new kittens? Clearly the instinct goes back pretty far, as shown here. This card is very beaten up, but I do love it. The alternating height of the women, black and white of the skirts – and in fact kittens! – is wonderful. It is a well composed and thoughtfully executed photo, in addition to the design of the women and cats, the foreground divides against the rising background nicely. It could almost be a set, but is not.

For all of that, it is very poorly printed – negative unevenly placed and black edges showing on two sides, and printed upside down on the postcard stock. Sloppy. Makes me assume that the person who took it was not the person who printed it. Either that or they couldn’t help having a great eye, even if they didn’t much care about the end product of their work. Nothing is written on the back and it was never mailed.

The shorter women of the four, #2 and #4, have tiny, nipped-in waists and are the more fashionably dressed. The women in white seem to be a bit tattier – especially their shoes. No one really looks a lot alike among the four, although if you really study them a case could be made for them being sisters or otherwise related.

Among the kittens, of course I have a soft spot for that black one, #3, curled up contentedly in the hands of the one woman. Cat #1 has annoyed ears, #2 napping, and #4 is the action one – poised for adventure. Let him get at it!

Lucky Black Cat

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: Is this YOUR Lucky Day? Pictorama is featuring Halloween, and black cats in particular, throughout the month of October. Our first installment is this great Lucky Black Cat Curio Catalog of novelties for sale. (Items listed here are sold as Curios Only.)

I purchased this more years ago than I can remember off-hand, attracted by the great graphic on the front. I believe I came across it at a flea market. Following in the great tradition of the Johnson and Smith catalogues, this advertises an array of supernatural and superstitious must-haves. I can’t really show it here, but this was printed on one very long piece of paper, red and black throughout, and folded so it can be read as a booklet. Kim has scanned one spread for me, shown here.

I am especially amazed and horrified by the ad for Black Cat Ashes. (Blackie, don’t read this!) Evidently this ancient practice enabled you to make successful number combinations. And while they remind you that they make no preternatural or supernatural claims or magical representations they do however remind you that it was prepared according to an ancient formula. Draw what conclusions you will.

Listed on the back panel is more than a hundred Other Curios that can be ordered. Ranging in price from 25 cents to a dollar the list includes some of the following highlights: Devil Oil, War Water (followed by Peace Water), Devil’s Shoe Strings (?), Black Cat Holy Water, Black Cat Wishing Bone (ouch!) and Lucky Floor Wash. Buying it was my lucky day.

Jenny Reed

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: This photo postcard of this nicely turned out little girl with her cat attracted me in part because of the extreme patience on the part of that kitty. Clearly he is used to being held this way by his pint-sized mistress. The image is timeless, but her black button boots and fluffy dress take us back to the earliest part of the 20th century. There is no date, however written on the back is the following: Jenny Reed and below in smaller writing but the same pen and hand, Lillie Peckwine Grand Daughter and at the bottom, same hand, but different pen, bernie (sic) Reed.

Somewhere my parents have a photo of me, wearing an old Snoopy sweatshirt age more or less 8, holding our cat – also named Snoopy – in approximately the same pose. I have mentioned Snoopy before – a boy-cat, white with black cow-spots – who was my introduction to cats. He was ever patient, both with me and the German Shepard, Duchess, and they were my constant companions who figured largely in my daily play world.

To Kim’s ongoing amusement I will occasionally pick Blackie up and carry him around this way and kiss the top of his head. He gets a slightly panicked look, but has learned to adjust to it and even purrs. Cookie, on the other hand, can be held for about 30 seconds in any position before a full fledged fear and flight set in. I shouldn’t do it to Blackie, but I guess I’m still a little girl at heart.

Three of a Kind

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: As a self-professed lover of the tuxedo cat genre this photo called my name. There’s nothing on the back, but I imagine this as three generations of one family of cats. The rather sour-pussed mom to the back, an adolescent kitten, and one from the latest batch. My idea of heaven – a pile of black and whiters tumbling around together in the backyard or house. It is the youngest kit in this group whose markings I like best – that white mustache is a hoot! If I were to hazard a guess I would say that the younger of the two is a female and the one up front, a guy. He probably grew into a lovely friendly boy, who got a little hefty and liked lots of pets. Boy cats are that way – the girls are wily and smart, and you pet them as they run by you on their way to complete their urgent cat business.

While I understand that the markings on a cat creates a strictly anthropomorphic response in me, I cannot help myself. My cat Otto had a perfect black mustache on a white mouth – Charlie Chaplin or Hitler, depending on your predilection. When selecting Cookie and Blackie most recently, it was Cookie’s comical, symmetrical yet somewhat off kilter markings that caught my eye. In the end, Blackie has certainly emerged as the most handsome kitty, but I will always be attracted to white paws, bib and a good mustache! Cookie sold the pair of them to me initially. Many of you Facebook followers have seen the recent photo of Cookie and Blackie I offer below.

Breaking News

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: This is an image I have seen and been entertained by before. For some reason I decided to buy this particular card because of the writing on the front – not often, but sometimes that seems to make a postcard call to me.

This card was addressed to Miss Edith Farrington and quite simply, Hartman, NY sent on October 17. 1905 is my best guess from the postmark – there is evidence of a stamp but it is gone. On the front, Frank I. Grim with Best Regards and Come again. However, the best are, I thought you had forgotten me (there’s exuberance, isn’t there?) and my favorite, exact picture of our cat– pointing to a feisty looking fellow (or girl, but feels like fellow) on the end.

Flirtation! We are left wondering if he got the girl. Since Edith seems to have kept this, we will assume so. It does leave me wondering where and if future generations will be able to find any sweet remnants of love and courtship from days gone by. Emails printed and saved? Long abandoned blogs and online diaries? Interesting to consider our electronic ghosts of the future.

Speaking of Cats

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: Before the internet and cat videos, there were cat postcards! This one from 1917 is bizarre and fascinates me. It is dated 1917 on the back and addressed to Mademoisell Zhiere Dreval a Jounnel (?) Vienna. I cannot read the French inscription and, oddly, there is no stamp despite the note, date and full address. However, it is clearly the front of this card that is of interest. A soldier surrounded by these Louis Wain-esque cat heads – depicting the moods of cats!

Let’s start with the obvious – why a soldier? Were these handed out to the French army in WWI so soldiers would be able to judge the various states of cats they might encounter along the way? One has to wonder – very wise of them if true.

In clockwise direction, starting with Doux they translate on Google as follows:

Doux = Sweet
Ardent = Burning
Gourmand = Greedy
Vorace = also translated as Greedy
Inactif = Inactive
Bouillant = Boiling
Fougueux = Mettlesome
Actif = Active

Gourmand and mettlesome are my favorites! The moustached soldier seems to be providing some sort of hand signals as well, mystically floating as he is, in front of a lurid sunset or sunrise.

There was a popular British book, The Language of the Flowers, illustrated by Kate Greenaway, which was published in 1884. It lists the meanings of various flowers – I was fascinated by a reproduction copy I had when I was a child. I wondered immediately if this was a play on that. I have grabbed the title page below.

The truth is, all cats have their own expressions. I have labeled some of ours as follows: Queen of Everything, Huffy Puffy Stuffy, Piss Cat Ears, and Grumpus. Detecting a trend here?

Safety Match

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: Weirdly, the concept of the match safe has long fascinated me. I can’t entirely express why, but knowing that my matches are safely tucked away, where they will remain dry and ever-ready, appeals deeply to the tidy and organized part of my personality. I have lusted after this Black Cat cigarette company match safe for years, ever since spying one in a book devoted to cat advertising. You can imagine my joy when my friend Zach alerted me to the sale on eBay.

I have visited the Black Cat Cigarette company in my earlier post, Smokin’ Cats, but somehow missed this lovely bit of history about the name which I share from Wikipedia below:

Black Cat is now a cigarette brand sold around the world, but its name sprang from humble origins. The original black cat was an ordinary domestic cat which spent hours curled up asleep in the window of Don José’s Wardour Street shop, well before the turn of the 20th century. Because the cat became such a familiar sight to the passers-by, the shop began to be known as the “black cat shop”. Don José decided to adopt the cat as part of the company’s image and in 1886 it became the first trademark to be registered by Carreras. Eventually the cat became an integral part of the design of the Black Cat pack where it appeared in a white circle surrounded by a black border above the initials “JJC” (Don José Joaquin Carreras).

The Black Cat cigarette was introduced in 1904 as one of the first machine-made cigarettes manufactured in Britain. The cat was used in some of the earliest cigarette promotions, including the Black Cat stamp album which was issued free to smokers. Stamps were available inside the cigarette packs and £325 in prizes was offered for the best completed albums…One of the most ambitious promotions took place on 18 October 1913 – designated by the company as “Black Cat Day”. Advertised extensively in the national press, Black Cat salesmen could give a golden half-sovereign to anyone they approached in the street who could prove they were in possession of a Black Cat pack…During the early 1920s enthusiasm for the Black Cat was at a peak, with many people wearing badges and stickers featuring the cat and even going to fancy dress parties in black cat costumes. By now, coupon trading was fiercely competitive and the Black Cat gift catalogue offered gramophone records, gardening equipment, gentlemen’s razors, automobile accessories and wirelesses.

Black cat day! Yahoo! Clearly this is why it was the roaring twenties – black cat dress up parties and badges! And wouldn’t I just love to find some of that black kitty booty? I fully intend to – and will share it here with you.

The mysterious inside of the safe:

The Boardwalk Smile

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: This card has a 1906 copyright credited to W.G. Russell, Atlantic City, NJ. The Boardwalk Smile is written on the left and Take a Smile with Me on the right. Someone has written HERB AT AVALON, in faded pencil at the top. The card is addressed to Mrs. Martha Emorg (?) Devon Rt. Mt. Airy, Philadelphia – at least that is the best I can make out. It was sent on August 31, 1906 from Philadelphia. It is also stamped as received by Mt. Airy, but without a date or time stamp.

According to Kim (a reliable source) take a smile with me means have a drink with me and clearly Atlantic City was already in the prime of its rollicking good times and New Jersey embracing what would become a reputation for notable corruption. Franklin Pierce Stoy was in his second term as Mayor, the first term was 1894-1897. It appears he was re-elected in 1900 and died in office in 1911 during his second term. He died of neuritis (which sounds truly dreadful and horribly painful) at a sanitarium, Clear View, in nearby Pennsylvania. His political followers, who were being investigated by a Grand Jury at the time, were “stunned by this latest and entirely unexpected development” according to the New York Times, July 23, 1906. The article goes on to say, “the Mayor left the city three weeks ago on the eve of the Elks convention and it was not generally known until a few days later that he was ill.” It also notes that Stoy was known as the Dandy Mayor. The other notable event in Atlantic City of that year was a great train wreck in October, a train derailed on a bridge over what is described as a creek on Wikipedia and the train fell into the water. While 14 passengers were saved, another 53 lost their lives in the tragedy. It seems to have always been a city of high highs and low lows.

On an entirely different note, the artist of the card, W. G. Russell, seems to have been better known for seascapes much as the one shown here.

Schooner Alberta Atlantic City, NJ

I am left wondering if it was he who also painted this strange smiling puss or was that addition by someone else? The kitty is a somewhat menacing fellow with his fur up and his toothy and yet toothless grin! The beard and semi-wink of one eye – this fellow sure did know where to go and what to do in order to have fun in AC tonight!