Belle of the Basement

Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: Recently an unusual responsibility fell to me at work and I found myself in the basement of a large and beautiful apartment building in Manhattan, and at one point was required to wait patiently in the storage room in the sub-basement while a member of the (copious) staff looked for a storage locker which I was required to check to make sure it was empty. I was standing with my colleagues, and admiring how much nicer the storage area of this building was (as is every other aspect of the building) than my humble abode across Central Park on the other side of the island, when the photo above caught my attention.

The photo is very large, about 3/4 life size and there are small inscriptions all across it which appear to be birthday greetings. The photo is just sort of stuck up there, behind a pipe or two holding it up. I snapped a photo with my phone and was interrupted by our escort before I could get a second, better or closer picture. On the way out of the basement, James, a photographer and an equally curious member of my party, asked the building staffer what he knew about the photo. He told us that the building was constructed where a theater had stood for many years, the woman in the photo was an actress who had frequently acted on that stage. Sadly, he didn’t know anything else about her.

Based on the address, I found photos of the theater, The Century, below. It was built in 1909 and torn down in ’30. Evidently doomed from the first, it was apparent that the acoustics were terribly flawed immediately. That combined with a location that was more than a mile north of what was already dubbed the theater district, it is somewhat amazing it last as long as it did.

I am left to wonder – so, she played at the theater and then what? Rented an apartment in the building? Otherwise, why did her photo turn up there? We will probably never know. Nonetheless, she is not forgotten and enjoyed on a daily basis by the staff of the building and those residents who visit their storage in the basement.

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Century Theater Stage

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Century Theater Exterior

Army Cats

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: I don’t believe that I have ever before been compelled to copy out the eBay listing for an item wholesale, but this one was quite interesting and contains information that is nowhere to be found on this card:

Original RPPC photo of a trooper of I Troop, 4th Cavalry holding two cats at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, circa 1913-1915.

Photo from Corporal Edward W. Lewis, S/N 731612. Lewis was born in 1888 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania and worked as a miner there before WWI. From 1913-1915 he was in I Troop, 4th Cavalry in Hawaii. Later he was in the 6th Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division in France from 1918-1919. After WWI he settled in Massillon, Ohio.

From the archives of the World War History & Art Museum (WWHAM) in Alliance, Ohio. WWHAM designs and delivers WWI and WWII exhibits to other rmuseums. Our traveling exhibits include Brushes With War, a world class collection of 325 original paintings and drawings by soldiers of WWI, and Iron Fist, an HO scale model of the German 2nd Panzer Division in 1944 with 4,000 vehicles and 15,000 men.

So it seems to be part of a de-accessioning for the above museum and of course, I love it because it fits so nicely into a Men and Cats theme which runs loosely through my blog! (These include but are not limited to: A Man and His Cat, Men and Cats, and Men in Hats with Cats.)

Somehow one doesn’t really think about Hawaii in WWI (as opposed to the big role it got in WWII), but of course the war was there too. I wonder what this long-ago Pennsylvania boy thought of Hawaii? Surely the army in Hawaii must have offered some advantages over the mines of Pennsylvania, although home is home and he was very far away. France followed Hawaii for him. I am glad we know he made it through and settled in Ohio – maybe keeping cats there and thinking of his army kits. These are two great scrappy kitties, barely out of kittenhood, but ready to take on the world. A striper and a tuxedo – tops in my book! Give them the enemy, Germans or mice, and let them at ’em!

Pajama Party

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: Sleepover! Oddly, despite the jammies, the women all sport shoes, and for the most part, have socks on. Their hair is neatly done and the pajamas don’t look as though they were yet slept in. Only one night gown wearer among them and a variety of pajama ensembles – I like the dark striped pair on the woman with the black cat best. This fine feline fellow clearly could be Blackie’s ancestor, although I can’t see the tell tale white spot on the chest. What a great little guy though!

This photo postcard was pasted into an album, bits of the black paper still stuck to the back, but there is no writing on the card. I wonder when I see photo postcards like this – why a postcard? Was it so each of the women could have one? Why not just a photo? It isn’t the first time when viewing a rather singular image from someone’s life on a postcard that I have pondered this. Before I started collecting them I thought photo postcards were generally done by itinerant photographers or at seaside resorts. Clearly there were ones being made by amateurs like snap shots.

There is no evident likeness, so if these women are related I doubt they are sisters. The story here seems to be lost to the sands of time, but there was a jolly sunny morning, probably close to 100 years ago, when some young women, in their pajamas, scooped up their young black cat and had their photo taken. And a good time was had by all!

Nice pajamas makes me think about several years ago when I agreed to visit some folks for my job (I am a fundraiser for anyone who doesn’t know) and this required that a colleague and I spend the night at their house in a somewhat remote part of Connecticut. I realized that, although it was unlikely and undesirable that anyone would see me in my sleeping attire, it was tempting fate to show up to sleep in one of Kim’s torn t-shirts, silk slip or other common sleeping attire of the time. But where to go to buy something respectable to wear to bed?

It finally occurred to me, walking home along Madison Avenue after dinner out one night – Brooks Brothers! And yes, indeed, Brooks Brothers makes what I can only describe as the office equivalent of sleepwear in the form of cotton pajamas – much like the ones sported here. However, over time owning that first pair, the cotton softened and they eventually became my own permanent sleep and lounge uniform. I am, in fact, blissfully wearing them now as I write this.

Merry Christmas 2015

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Pam’s Pictorama: First, if you haven’t received yours yet, please know these cards are still making their way across the country and the world. We started off with a good lead on getting cards out this year, but somehow the month ran away with us once again.

Of course, Cookie and Blackie are featured on the card. I have never had cats from the same litter and the idea was that they would get along better – right? Not our kits – life is a constant battle over turf and access and it was an obvious theme for our card this year. Every night, just as I turn the lights off, a battle begins and eventually I hear Cookie scream and up I go, yelling for them to knock it off – usually waking poor Kim in the process!

Early in December one mad, daily romp through the apartment ended up with Cookie racing up Kim’s work chair to get away from Blackie (a favorite Cookie maneuver) and BAM! the top broke off the chair! Staples supplied a new one within days (the old one had come off the street so it wasn’t like it owed us much) – and then a fight broke out over the lovely, huge chair box which awaited opening the following weekend. I share below a series of photos of Cookie and Blackie fighting over the box spot which I took originally to amuse my mom – and ending with Cookie winning possession of the old chair before it was whisked away.

Merry Christmas and may we all triumph in 2016!

Cookie Owns the Chair Box

A Blackie Takeover!

Cookie in Action

Blackie Retreats

Cookie, Queen of the Old Chair

Chow Time

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: As far as I can tell, written at the top is Daly Ranch and what a fine farm it seems to be! I count fifteen cats here – although close inspection might make an argument for a sixteenth. It came from a photo album and there’s nothing written on the back. This looks like a pretty happy gathering of the tribe – although that dish looks a little small to keep this crowd happy. (And are those wanted posters of cats on the back building I wonder?) More interesting than great photography, this photo is very a pleasing idea for me. I mean, who doesn’t want a farm full of cats?

When I was little our cats came running whenever we used the electric can opener (do they even make those any longer?) which is how cat food cans were opened at that time, before the pop top most use today. Later, they also came to my mother calling Chow time! And, in fact, if a cat went missing we were more likely to call that than their name. This gang stampeding at feeding time was the first thing I thought of when I saw this.

Whenever Kim and I talk about striking it rich, or a well-endowed retirement, I usually reply cheerfully, Cat farm in Connecticut. Why Connecticut I’m not entirely sure. Art Spiegelman once described such a place to me in Connecticut – actually a sort of retirement home for cats – and I think it stuck in my mind. Although I see it as something the size of a horse farm, but just lots and lots of delighted kitties – and I spend my days romping with them and dispensing ear and chin rubs.

Cat of Christmas Past

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Pam’s Pictorama: The Christmas card parade continues with this one from a couple of years ago of Zippy. I paused a moment writing that – was Zippy our or my cat? Unlike Otto who was my very first cat but adored Kim, Zippy never really decided that he was also Kim’s cat. This really wasn’t Kim’s fault – he was always good to Zips. Made sure Otto didn’t beat up on him too much and did everything right – and cats love Kim. Still, despite living in extreme close proximity for many years, Zippy remained devoted only to me – and he adored me.

It started one day 20 odd years ago when I wandered into a store where I liked to ogle antique jewelry, over on First Avenue, down near the 59th Street bridge. On that day, there on the counter, was an adorable black and white tuxedo kitten who, in design, could have been a brother to my cat Otto. He had a bad eye, an infection from being born on and living on the street, which would ultimately wax and wane over the years. When I went over to pet him, he hurled himself into my arms. Well, I don’t really need to say it, I was a goner. Although I went home without him that day, I was back shortly thereafter and Zippy and Otto started a long, contentious relationship.

Shown here, is the one Christmas we celebrated with Zippy alone, as a very elderly cat. Zippy lived to 20, the following spring, and he was a bit tatty, if scrappy at that point – as shown here.

I don’t think I knew it, but I assume I was influenced by this print which I picked up somewhere along the line, and was living in the flat files. I found it while looking for our cards. I am sure I had it – or others like it in mind. Here’s to Zippy!

Cards of Christmas Past

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Source: Cards of Christmas Past

Tom Turkey and Cats

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: As another Thanksgiving slips into the past, sending us racing toward Christmas and the New Year, it seems to me like a moment to pause and consider the relationship between large fowl and cats – sort of an interesting one. As shown here, they can certainly co-exist, but there always seems to be something lurking deep in the instinctual cat brains which is saying, “It’s really large alright, but I think I can take him. Yum!” I don’t know off-hand if cats actually do kill turkeys, geese or other large birds. I may have told the story of the neighbor’s cat, Tiger Lily, who jumped on the back of a goose one day with evil intention, only to be taken out into the river by the irate bird – requiring her to abandon her plan and swim back to shore. This leads me to think that for a cat killing a goose is harder than it looks. Turkeys look even tougher.

As some of you may know, my mother aided and rescued injured water fowl for years. More often then ducks or geese, this most frequently took the form of swans with various injuries – many had swallowed fishing line which required surgical removal by a vet, but others had been pinioned and thoughtlessly left to starve in a pond with no food source. (Swans, geese and ducks cannot survive on scraps of bread and food does not just appear in small man-made ponds for them.) Anyway, at one time my mother had a (relatively) small swan she was caring for and she would bring it into the house at night. Water rats can and will kill an injured bird so it was necessary and I cannot remember why the garage was not a suitable place. Anyway, my mother’s cats would all watch with huge, shining eyes when this swan was brought past them, through the house, to spend the night in the guest bathroom. They would gather by the closed bathroom door…considering, thinking, dreaming.

This card was never sent, but on the back, in pencil is written Lottie’s Tom & cats. Lottie’s gray cats have clearly multiplied and to my count there are seven in this photo. The one with the white bib looks somewhat philosophical, but the two gray ones coming at the camera – and Tom the turkey for that matter – have something more in mind. They are coming right at the camera. Take care, turkey eaters!

Greetings from Felix in Kuala Lumpur

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: Although I detoured slightly last week from my Felix fiesta, I am putting a cap on it (this edition anyway) with this really interesting series of photographs. One of the things that makes these unusual is that I purchased them as negatives. I was not able to purchase the entire lot – they were sold separately and went for a fair amount of money. However, with the exception of the one below, I feel I got the best of them. (Note the two small Felix dolls at the base of the huge one!)

The One That Got Away

I do not know what the story is here. At first I thought it was a family album of negatives, but after I saw the images of the large Felix that seemed less likely. Not surprisingly they were sold by a person in Great Britain. Then, after considering the whole collection I have developed the theory that perhaps they came from a photographer’s collection of negs. They are old, large format negatives and if I were able to print them by hand (which I would love to do someday when I have access to a darkroom again) I would be interested in seeing them as contact prints – perhaps even done as platinum prints. For now we send our thanks to our good friend, Eileen Travell, for scanning these and creating these positives.

They were taken in Kuala Lumpur and the larger than life Felix is in front of the Whiteaway Laidlaw department store in the one photo. Whiteaway Laidlaw was a British chain throughout India and the British empire of the East, undoubtedly supplying the British nabobs and wealthy locals with the necessities of European life away from home. It’s nickname was Right-away and Paid-for as it operated, not surprisingly, on a cash only basis. (Not unlike our Whole Foods-Whole Paycheck of today?)

So many questions remain. Was the photographer one of those who traveled around with his Felix doll props, much like the many I have shown with Felix on the beach throughout Britain, Australia and New Zealand? It is notable that the big Felix in these photos is very reminiscent of a postcard I treasure that was featured in an early post, Felix for a Cause. I would dare say the very same model. Enough to say, the sun never set on the British empire – nor on Felix evidently.

In addition to thanking my co-worker and friend Eileen Travell, Photographer for the Metropolitan Museum for making these “prints” for me, a very special thanks to Nora Kennedy and her colleagues in the Photograph Conservation area of the Museum who looked at the negatives and told me how to store them.

Mona + Boots

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: This is the kind that makes up one strata of my cat photo collection. Happy people posing with their cats, and I have written about it at some length in previous posts. (Found here including A Girl and Her Cat, a title I seem to have used again – A Girl and Her Cat, and for the boys, Men and Cats.)

There is no date, but I am guessing that Mona and Boots are shown here in the 1940’s – based on her hair and clothes. Boots is exactly the kind of lovely fat (I will guess boy) cat that I like best – have a good look at that mug on this guy. People always seem at their best in a photo with a cat – it relaxes them and makes them less self-conscious. I am also a fan of photos with these snaggle-tooth edges that I remember from my early childhood.

It used to make me sad to see family photos scattered to the four winds, sitting in a box in a flea market. After all, I can’t rescue them all. (I’m sure I’ve mentioned that we live in a studio apartment which we have crammed all this – and more – into.) However, over time it is interesting to me that these photos have somehow transcended their original record of these folks (and cats) that had emotional meaning for someone.

Now these are images of interest in their own right, a representation of a specific time and place, seventy or more years ago now, Mona with her pleated skirt, ankle socks and carefully curled hair, standing in her lovely Anywhere USA neighborhood, and holding Boots who looks exactly like any number of friendly pudgy tuxedo cats today. While I will continue to bemoan what the loss of the family photo album means to our visual cultural history of record, at least my future self will not be sad to see boxes of unloved photos at the flea markets of the future. The images of today and tomorrow will largely float along some place in the electronic world of the internet, along with this post.