Flying Dutch Kitties

Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: There are endless examples of early images of kittens dressed up and doing cute human-type things. However, I have never purchased one until this one hit my radar recently. It just cracks me up! As you can see by the writing, it is Dutch. A very rough translation gratis Google tells me that this is a bit of advertising and the back informs the recipient (this one not used) that the vendors hope to see them this week and that they offer high value for their orders – whatever those might be. The front makes reference to “our kitties which will soon be in the air!” (Any readers who speak Dutch please reply below!) What were these kitties selling? I’m buying!

I am always threatening to dress the cats up and take their photo – Kim begs me not to injure their dignity that way and I am brought to my senses. This image strikes me as a perfect marriage of low tech and professional – like those glorious ‘homemade’ cars and machines the Little Rascals used to have. I especially love the balloon!

I gather the key mover behind the cats-dressed-as-people movement was Harry Whittier Frees (1879-1953) – sort of a Louis Wain of early photography. I snatched the quote below from Wikipedia and it come from his own book, Animal Land on the Air, discussing the superiority of kittens as models,

Rabbits are the easiest to photograph in costume, but incapable of taking many ‘human’ parts. Puppies are tractable when rightly understood, but the kitten is the most versatile animal actor, and possesses the greatest variety of appeal. Yay kittens!

The practice spread widely beyond Whittier Frees – as we can assume this card was made by someone else. For a healthy serving of these I suggest this site on littlethings.com. I have stolen a single image from it, shown below by an unidentified photographer.

The Old George

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Offered as a reproduction on Amazon, The Old George Hotel, in an earlier incarnation.

Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: The Residents shown here are identified as Bonzo, Tou-Tou and Joseph. Silly me, I assumed the dog was Bonzo until I looked up Tou-Tou and realized it is French for doggie. So that leaves us to wonder if the cat is Joseph (my guess) and the turtle Bonzo or otherways around – or, of course, the cat or turtle could be named Tou-Tou and the dog Bonzo. Both the cat and the dog (and the turtle?) seem to be looking upward at where Residents is written – very nifty indeed.

Evidently the original Old George Hotel building dates back to 1314, although very little of it remains today – it’s ground floor knocked out to become the entrance to the Old George Mall shopping precinct. As recently as 1994 there was a restaurant, the Bay Tree, in residence – followed by the Old George Tearooms, which closed in ’09. I gather that the building is open to the public on special occasions such as Heritage Days, whatever those might be. All this according to a BBC history site which goes on to share a short list of some of the famous guests which include Oliver Cromwell, Samuel Pepys and Buddy Holly – quite a diverse list. Pepys recorded the following in his famous diary:

Lay in a silk bed, and a very good diet…

The next day he wrote:

…paid the reckoning, which was so exorbitant…that I was mad and resolved to trouble the mistress about it and get something for the poor.

Actually, pretty tame for Pepys! In addition, Shakespeare and his players are believed to have played in the courtyard, which had room for 50 horses. Last, but not least, Dickens mentions it in Martin Chuzzlewit. H.G. Wells has a turn in The Secret Places of the Heart referring to the Old George smoking room and he writes,

The Old George at Salisbury is really old; it shows it, and Miss Seyffert laced the entire evening with her recognition of the fact. ‘Just look at that old beam!’she would cry suddenly. ‘To think it was exactly where it is before there was a Cabot in America!’

Of course, with the possible exception of H.G. Wells and Buddy Holly, all of this was most likely well before Bonzo, Tou-Tou and Joseph arrived on the scene and had their photo taken in the garden. (Of course, hard to tell with turtles.) No date on this photo postcard, nothing on the back. Photo postcards stopped being marketed by Kodak in 1930 although I am sure, like tintypes, they continued to be used for quite a while beyond – and since this is a promotional postcard for a hotel it could easily be much later.

In the end, I imagine it was a lovely place to stay and can see myself, drink in hand, enjoying the garden with Bonzo, Tou-Tou and Joseph and all those interesting ghosts from its earlier incarnations.

The garden at the Old George Hotel, 1928 in a photo for sale online.

Felix for a Cause

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: Let us return once again to Felix, one of my favorite subjects. These two outstandingly unusual and interesting photo postcards capitalized on Felix’s appeal to attract an audience for their respective hospital fundraisers (Something in my role as a professional fundraiser I can really get behind.) One can only imagine they did brilliantly – after all, who could resist Felix?

The top card, and the first I acquired, was postally used, but has lost its stamp and postmark. The following (some writing faded or rubbed away) was written on the back in pencil, addressed to Mrs. J. W. Stoodley, Folly Farm, Crewkerne, Som (which appears to be short for Somerset):

Dear Mother, ….. am glad it is much cooler now but our place is cooler inside than out. The children had their carnival yesterday, but this is the one. Will

One can’t help but wonder if you got to ride with Felix in that nifty sidecar motorcycle if you attended? I cannot answer that question, but much to my great surprise, I found a few minutes of footage of this very Carnival in June of 1925 to support Coventry Hospital and I offer it here:

While it is minus Felix, if you watched you did see that motorcycles seem to play an interesting role. The other pressing question – is that an enormous stuffed Felix (like someday I might find for sale on eBay and mortgage my house to purchase?) or a rather excellent Felix costume? (Which I would, of course, also be willing to go into hock to acquire.)

Then, just when I thought I would never see another postcard that was comparable, the second one showed up on eBay. While it is hard to see, if you look carefully you find out that each Felix is a tiny photo of a stuffed Felix toy, collaged on. I have supplied a photo of one of my beloved Felixes of the same type, an early addition to my collection, below. I adore this particular style of Felix and much to my surprise I came across someone with an entire basket of them at the Atlantic City antique toy show. That person told me that they were prizes at fairs in the twenties and thirties. They seem too well made for that, and I remain curious but have never heard anything more on the subject.

I cannot find any reference to this event – no idea what the ladder is about or what the 250 (bps) refers to – a prize of some sort. This one is unused postally and there is nothing to indicate a date. The person I bought it from said he had no idea what it referred to nor had he ever seen anything like it. (He was entertained by the image of the other one I emailed him however.) All this to say, call in Felix when you want to attract a crowd.

Felix – Here He Is Again

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: I had completely forgotten that I owned this when it found its way to the top of the pile earlier today. Evidently the successor to Felix Kept on Walking (1923) in Great Britain, and cooked up by Ed. E. Bryant and Hubert W. David in 1924 to capitalize on the success of the previous year. The full title, the grammatically curious, Here He is Again Being More Adventures of Felix. He seems to be popping out of a stage door with a rather apologetic look on his face. I gather that these songs were never used in the cartoons, but creating dance songs was a way of opening promotion on a separate front. As I mentioned recently in Musical Meow we know that a few years later in 1928 Felix was making big bucks with Fred Waring introducing a Felix the Cat Fox Trot in France.

The Felix Kept on Walking sheet music entered my collection very early on after a trip to London years ago, and I had it in my early post, Me-ow Kitty Sing A-Long. Kim is not a fan of the art of either of these pieces of sheet music, but I like having them around. (In my possession is a third which he likes more – future post.) While I cannot offer you the tune of Here He Is Again I have two jolly Youtube versions of Felix Kept on Walking. (Full disclosure – there are several more on Youtube if you love it!) This was such a hit that the title spawned other products and further promotion, and ultimately it became something of a catch phrase. Shown here is the single Felix Keep on Walking plate from my collection. Yes, full services do exist and one of my fantasies is to replace all of our dishes with period Felix plates, bowls and mugs!

Beeeep!

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Pam’s Pictorama Toy Post: I bought this earlier this week on eBay. I must say, I don’t exactly know what I was thinking, but no one was bidding on it and it was very original. Now that I have it I love it! It makes a loud beep that annoys the cats – as shown with Cookie below, which is always entertaining. I particularly like the sort of hand painted, not-quite-Felix on it.

The wood inside is interesting and have shown you so you can get a sense of it. This was a time when a cheap toy was really made of something! I assume it has seen some high old times – halloween parties, maybe the occasional New Year’s celebration. I intend to keep it handy for any celebration that comes along.

Mad Jenny

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: Facebook followers may remember this unusual acquisition. The jest of what is written on the back, in French but somewhat obscured, seems to be Souvenir of … and … of Madame Jenny Bell Theatre 8. Oct. 1910. Jenny, looking quite mad indeed, poses with collaged cats and a monkey – what is that strange swing the one cat is on? (Photo collage is prized in my collection – see also Cat Photo Collage.)

A quick bit of sleuthing (and some good luck) reveals a notice in the October 9, 1910 issue of the San Francisco Call announcing Jennie and Her Trained Angora Cats and Performing Dogs featured at the Wigwam. Dogs! And no mention of the monkey! This means that our French owner of the card must have been visiting San Francisco – since we know Jenny and her cats were there that week – evidently at the Bell immediately followed by the Wigwam. I found a rather excellent photo of the Bell Theater which I share here from the Cinema Treasure website. While it seems likely to be the one in question I mostly see listings that say it didn’t open until 1911. Hmmm. October is late 1910.

Back in 2005 I read a New York Times article about the Russian cat circus visiting Manhattan and I purchased tickets and dragged ever-patient Kim off before he knew what hit him. I can see online now that there is a fair amount of controversy about Yuri Kuklachev and his cat troupe. (Russians have an especially deep history of training animals – I remember being taken to see performing animals in Moscow one night when I was on a tour there in 1994. Cats, dogs and much to my surprise, ducks and goats.) All I can say is, it takes a whole lot of cat treats to make a cat circus run. Speaking as someone who has trouble asking the cats to move so I can rollover in bed, I probably don’t have a future career in cat on-command trick training. I am shown with Yuri and furry performer below. Cookie and Blackie take note – this is a working kitty.

Me and My Felix

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: It doesn’t surprise me that, if you had a wonderful Felix the Cat doll, you would want your photo taken with it. As many of you already know, my collection in this area is fairly deep. (Some of it was already immortalized and shared in an early posts, Felix Makes the Picture Better and more so in Ugly Children Good Toys.) Shown here is a little girl dressed in her finest, holding a delightfully large Felix doll and looking mighty pleased with herself. It is a photo postcard and nothing has been written on the back. Her Felix is a more pristine example of one I own – I am sparing you a photograph of me holding it!

The other card has a small holiday riff and I will use it as a tip of the cap to the newly launched 2014 holiday season. It is hard to see, but the tinfoil greetings has an impression of holly around it. This little fellow had to pose in his winter clothes (and hat) in front of a very soft focus bit of outdoor scenery. Note those snappy buttons on his trousers though! He’s dressed up too. His Felix on the other hand is an absolutely whacky pop-eyed fellow. Love those ears standing straight up – part bunny! This also unused and perfectly preserved.

I have wondered if these toys were just props at the photo studio. For some reason the little girl has always struck me as the owner of that Felix, the little boy perhaps not. Maybe because it is a bit less clear that the girl is in a photo studio – the portrait could have been made at home.

Those of you on Facebook know that I can’t resist posting a photo of me with new toy acquisitions. A natural impulse I think – representing a long tradition of proud ownership. On the other hand, who wouldn’t smile in a photo studio if they handed you a huge Felix doll? I would!

Musical Meow!

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: Welcome to my second installment of cat related sheet music. As some of you know, early on I shared some of my sheet music collection in Meow Kitty Sing-a-Long, but I uncovered some great pieces when searching for the art to our wedding invitation recently. The Black Cat Dance is just a great image and sort of fun. I am afraid that the names of that and Au Chat! are not distinctive enough to find them on the internet – or much information about them.

I am fortunate to own two copies of the Me-ow music, one is on the wall. The second, the one pictured here, may have been a gift – or I found it some place and it was too inexpensive to resist. Always good to have a spare. It is the only one I was able to find a link to on Youtube and I have included it below.

I had hoped I would find a way to play the Felix the Cat fox trot by Sam Fox; sadly to date I cannot. However, I did find an interesting 1928 snippet from the Music Trade Review on the International Arcade Museum website. This brief article says that Fred Waring introduced the song in Paris and that he cabled Sam Fox that he believed it would be a hit for him. It also refers to the speed with which Europe gets American dance numbers today, scarcely a month after their initial release. Felix was excellent at selling sheet music and therefore some wonderful images have proliferated on especially British sheet music. I have at least one more example I plan to share in a future cat music post.

Hope this put some spring in your step!

Here is the link to the pdf article from the Music Trade Journal should you be curious: mtr.arcade-museum.com/MTR-1928-86-22/MTR-1928-86-22-18.pdf

Wild Cats at Play

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: This illustration hails from The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, February 26, 1881. I purchased it as a single sheet for one pound sterling in London a number of years ago. I usually wouldn’t be attracted to such a violent image, but it is just so impressively drawn I couldn’t resist. Poor Mr. Rodent thing (woodchuck?) doesn’t have a chance. The cat fangs are very well done (Blackie likes to show his fangs too – luckily mostly when he smiles or yawns, which he does a lot for a cat) and you can almost feel the fluff of the tail. There’s a latecomer kitten in the upper right corner. Just in time for a meal on the hoof, so to speak. Look at those claw paws!

One has to wonder why something called the Illustrated and Dramatic News would feature this particular illustration, and I have no answer. The articles above the illustration have nothing to do with it. There’s a mention of not very much thoroughbred stock in the market at present and a small piece, The Duke of Edinburgh on Swimming. The weekly paper existed from 1874 until 1945 under that name and continued under subsequent titles until 1970. On the internet I learned that Louis Wain graced the pages on occasion and Oscar Wilde was mocked there.

I purchased a number of things that day, the result of spending several hours happily immersed in the basement of a bookstore in the theater district of London. Most memorably I purchased a number of early film and other magazines for Kim I believe. It would be one of my first stops on a return trip, with the fervent hope it is still there and the boxes in the basement are brimming.

Up a Tree

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: My personal experience with a cat up a tree is that it is an anxiety induing experience for both the human witness and the cat. To me it is a perfect metaphor for that dreadful mistake we all make once in a while – who hasn’t found themselves at least metaphorically up a tree? After all, everything about a cat is well designed for getting up the tree – and poorly outfitted for getting down. Having said that, many a cat’s hide has been saved by a quick run up a tree where a dog or other predator could not follow. While I have never had to resort to calling the fire department, nor even taking out a ladder, growing up with cats in the suburbs we periodically would find ourselves standing in the backyard trying to convince one kitty or another to make the slow trip back down the slippery trunk of a tree. These fellows look like they might make the trip up this tree on a regular basis however. It did not excite my anxious nature.

The back of this photo postcard is a bit hard to read. The postmark is Boston, November 3, 1909, 9:30 AM. It is address as follows: G A Orustredt, Bridgeport, Conn, general delivery. It reads: J. P. 11/2/09; Friend Gus [sic] Received your Postal last evening and feeling o.k. Indigestion better, the girls are all feeling fine they all send Regards. [sic] So you are on the old camping ground again hope you wont stay too long. We will expect you back in Boston by xmas anyway. I am Forwarding Letter and Postal. hope you will receive them O.K. Friend G.A.G. I guess maybe the indigestion had a negative impact on his punctuation? And no mention of the cats in the tree in the photo.