rppc

Getting a Grip on Kitty

Posted by

0

Scan(2)

Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: Just like something out of a Lilian Harvey film from 1930, this German photo of man, child and katze caught my eye recently. A bit of google search tells me that Vandenheuvel is a surname, although obviously also an advertisement here. It could perhaps, be the name of the man and girl. I like the little girl – she is at a gangly stage with her legs a bit out of proportion (tights bagging at the knees) to the rest of her, big smile and of course clutching her tuxedo cat; him, one ear cocked in vague irritation, tucked neatly under her arm. The man, smoking a pipe, with a smile more in his eyes than on his lips, looks like a nice man. While everything about them is a bit worn, there is a sense of ease if not actual prosperity about them.

A girl and her cat – a favorite theme of mine. While cats have been my friends and confidents since childhood they, like me and especially the childhood me, are also notoriously willful. It is very hard to get a cat to do something that wasn’t the cat’s own idea to begin with, as we all know. This includes getting them to sit still in a photo.

The way she is holding the cat is what my family refers to as cat prison. Obviously cat prison is a gotcha grip on a cat that guarantees the best result for holding onto said puss. The hold in the photo is one of the dependable ones and certainly one of the few that can be employed for photo taking – although in looking over some photos we’ve also been know to employ the method of flipping them over on their back like a baby. As a kid I used to carry our huge orange tabby Pumpkin around like the girl in the photo – which he allowed if not actually encouraged. (Pumpkin and I were close. He would have taken anyone else’s arm off.) My father coined the phrase cat prison – his preferred hold is on his lap with his two large hands holding the cat on his lap – nothing fancy for him. Usually employed in his case for brushing said kitty. It can be the only way to get a photo of some cats – but it is also the struggle of man against the determination of cat – a never ending battle.

 

 

Tuxedo on the Job

Posted by

0

Scan(1)

Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: The slide back over to photographs continues with this recent acquisition. It made me laugh out loud – not sure that was its intended purpose, but it did. It was never sent and there is nothing written on it. Somehow the woman and the dog look like sister and brother. The birdcage appears to be empty – that little fellow has flown the coop one way or another I guess. For me, best of all of course, is that sharp looking tuxedo cat; all a-point, looking like the only one with any sense in the family. This woman looks as if she can use the help.

For regular readers it is not news that I tend to favor tuxedo cats. Although my very first cat was white with black cow-spots, and the one I really considered my furry sister was a calico, it has been tuxedoes that I have been drawn to adopting in my adult life. My first tux was a childhood pet, Mitzy. She was a pretty and precise little black and white girl who lived an extraordinarily long life considering I believe I was a teenager when we acquired her and she lived long enough that Kim met her. I forget now exactly how we ended up with her – I have a vague memory of a neighbor boy coming over with her and announcing that he knew we had cats and did we want this one? The young man in question was not a model citizen and I guess Mom had no real choice, but to take Mitz in.

Mitzy seemed to end up as my brother’s cat to some degree, although I think it would be fair to say that we were what I will call cat wealthy at the time. There were a few dogs too. I think my parents were taking the in for a penny in for a pound approach with animals and kids abounding at that time. Mitzy was a precise cat – as girl cats and especially tuxedoes tend to be. Kept her whites white and her black hair shining. Would always enjoy a few pets and didn’t fight with the other cats or cause much trouble, a model citizen. As I mentioned, she lived into her twenties. A Methuselah of cats. A series of tuxedoes in the family followed: Otto, Milkbone, Zippy, Roscoe and now the mantel is worn by Cookie who is asking for dinner as I write this. If it was Miss Cookie in this photo she probably would have eaten the bird and struck up a fight with the pooch. Not all tuxedoes have the same sense of responsibility.

Graduation Day

Posted by

1

Graduation crowd

Pam’s Pictorama: I have owned this photo postcard for many years. It is one of my early purchases, on eBay I’m pretty sure. The light appealed to me – these girls in white, daisy chain and crowns of flowers – in this halo of light was irresistible. Observing it further it is a bit curious. It appears to be the twenties or thirties, unless their clothes are just old fashioned. It is interracial which seems somewhat surprising for the time. However, presumably left to their own devices, they have divided themselves into black and white groupings within the group. There is nothing on the back to provide further information and it was never mailed.

I especially love the girl three from the end on the right. She is beautiful, but out of all of them she seems to express the most poise, confidence and charisma. I wonder about the boys, they appear younger and have only a supporting role in this play it seems. These kids appear only semi-posed. If they had been properly posed some of the shorter kids would be in the front.

I couldn’t find much on the history of the daisy chain although it is clearly a long one. At Connecticut College, my alma matar, we called a commencement tradition the daisy chain although it was actually a laurel chain. (It was held by women from the rising junior class at commencement.) The symbol of the laurel a bit easier to figure. Still, the idea of flowered crowns and garlands seem an apt way to honor the passing of a stage out of childhood and onto the dubious road to adulthood.

As a kid you are pushed through various graduations, markers ending one stage and another, virtually starting in kindergarten and then junior high and high school. I remember when I graduated from college and somehow it dawned on me (admittedly very late in the game) that it was all just over – a lifetime of school. Now I was dumped into life, faced with the job of getting on with it and figuring it out. I was stunned and terrified. So, to all you new grads out there, here’s to you and please know, it works out just fine.

 

 

 

Catville

Posted by

0

2oh.jpg

Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: I have a complicated relationship with posed cat photos. I find a lot of them (think cat weddings, cat hanging laundry, cats using a short-wave radio type Harry Whittier Frees photos) smarmy and the cats vaguely drugged and tormented looking. However, once in a while Frees and his wanna be’s hit it on the nose for me. (See a past post, Flying Dutch Kitties for a favorite example.) These cards by an unidentified photographer are another example.

Although neither card has been mailed, the second one has the following written in a neat script on the back, Mrs. Wm. Durrant, 810 West Fifth St, Plainfield, NJ.

I especially like the first shot – this cat looks nicely set up with the drinks and pipes, paws folded neatly in front of him. The cards seem a shade less than professional somehow and there is no studio marking or numbering system. The cat appears to be a gray tuxedo – a cat who is always in formal wear, by definition. Despite my disparaging of some of the Frees photos, I readily admit to a yen to pop a pair of specs on the kitties, bunny ears – or perhaps a well chosen chapeau. As I have mentioned previously, Kim has rescued the kits from this fate. I know it is undignified, but I can’t help but think it would be so much fun! I almost wonder if this was an early, similar attempt by someone with a well behaved cat.

This kind of dressing the cats up fiesta, always leads me to thinking about the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Dogville Comedy shorts. Made between 1929 and 1931, these shorts, enacted with an all dog cast, usually featured dog-centric remakes of popular recent films of the day. The selection of these on Youtube was a bit thinner than I expected. However, for those of you who have not experienced these before I will recommend you give this group of three a try, Dogville Comedies. The Dogway Melody is perhaps the best of the lot and is the last.

As with the cats posed in the Frees photos, sadly one has to assume not all was happy in Dogland when these were being made. Still, in my mind I imagine instead, a series of Catville shorts with all cat casts – all singing, all dancing cat productions!

To Ruth

Posted by

0

s-l1600-9.jpgPam’s Pictorama Photo Post: This card takes a few minutes to kick in. I was first attracted by the matching striped cats on either side, tails in the same position like bookends, and nice, white bibs. The mostly white cat seems to be younger and of a different origin, but it’s always hard to tell with cats.

This card was never sent, but written on the back, in a child’s writing in pencil it just says, to Ruth. In my imagination, Ruth was away and missing these kitties. (Maybe because I am just home from a long business trip – and missing my kits!)

Kim says he doesn’t see it, but I clearly see the people taking this photo, reflected in the window. There is a woman, hair up high, behind the larger of the two striped cats, and a harder to see one, perhaps a man, above the smaller one. In this way it becomes a sort of a family portrait. If your cat family is like mine, it is rare enough that three cats gather peacefully together long enough for a photo however. Definitely worth documenting.

 

The Easter Kitty

Posted by

2

Scan copy

Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: Of course every day is a cat holiday in my book, but I have been holding this card for an Easter nod. Mr. Bunny is certainly the picture of calm and cool and fluffy at a dish (must be water because I can’t think of a food cats and rabbits share) with not one but three kitties. Granted, two are juniors kits, look about eight months old, not quite full size yet. They look like they could stir up plenty of trouble, yet somehow the bunny is not what they have in mind today. Something has the attention of the black one (Blackie’s great-great-grandfather?) off camera. Senior cat seems to be contemplating something too.

I can’t decide if what we see in the upper right corner is someone in a long dress – perhaps making sure everyone plays nice? I also like what we see of this yard. It is pleasantly run down and lived-in, but in a cheerful way with the potted plants and worn stairs. Clearly there was meant to be some sort of pre-fab decorative border, although on this one it has gone awry. (More sloppy printing! How disappointing for the recipient of the photo!) This card was never used and I assume just kept to commemorate a lovely afternoon with the pets outside; everyone enjoying themselves on a sunny day.

I have never known a rabbit very well. My colleague Morgan has a small black and white named Petunias, and I enjoy video clips and photos of his antics. I knew a woman who adopted her neighbors miniature rabbit, Bun Bun. He was extremely affectionate and holding him was the first time I realized that rabbits purr! Fascinating! My brother had a magnificent, enormous rabbit, Juliette. She deserves her own post really. He was an excellent rabbit parent – and later adopted a bird. Edward is pet-less now – a fact I think he should remedy.(Edward, consider this a public rebuke for your petlessness!) Eventually another animal will adopt him and his girlfriend, I’m sure. After all – he’s a Butler and they have a way of finding us.

Well, wouldn’t this make you exclaim!

Posted by

1

 

Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: I can only feel fortunate that there was a cat on this card which allowed it to turn up in one of my searches. As it is, I have a soft spot for photo collage/montage cards, but the loopy handwriting all over makes it a really rare find. (Just a few examples of photo collage posts you can check out include, Cat Photo Collage and Dawn of a New Year.)

As you can see below, on the back, in the same decorative hand, it is addressed to Miss Mable Chandler, 402 Lincoln Ave, Eau Claire, Wis. c/o Miss M. Hammond and sent with a penny stamp, 8 PM, August 28, 1907 with a departure from a place in Wisconsin I cannot read (it appears to be BPM?) and it arrived in Eau Claire at 11 PM that evening. There is a small cryptic symbol – initials? – in the upper left corner.

I hardly know where to start with the image. The original card seems pretty cryptic to begin with. The woman at the top of the exclamation point is holding something – was it a bowl? – that our sender has inked over into a sort of smiley face. The decorative ferns and leaves in the background work visually, but what the heck are they there for? Then the woman with a white cap and finally, Mr. Kitty staring out, over the edge to the embracing couple below, a bit critical if you ask me. They, of course, are snuggled up and the writing nearest them reads, What is the fine definintion of a “Kiss“ and next to it, Ans: 0÷2 Can you make it out if not ask me Jean. Next to the couple she has written in a dialogue balloon, This is an Illustration of the ans.

I wonder if the card itself was a one off? If not – what the heck was it all about? I guess I may never really know, but I am pleased to have this dolled up example of someone’s handiwork in connection with it.

BAK

Springtime with Kittens

Posted by

0

Newer

Pam’s Pictorama Post Post: This photo postcard is just so neat and tidy – I love it. A woman settled into this leafy patch, perfect white picket fence behind, with two wonderful kittens and a dog who appears to be very happy to guard all involved. The little handful of striped kitten on her shoulder seems a bit smaller (younger) than the one on her lap, but perhaps that is because we cannot see him or her clearly and they are siblings. The gray kitten is all happy sleepiness although that striped one looks like trouble. What is it with those tabby cats?

The woman looks like she is pleased to be posing with her pets on her mossy seat – and she is nicely turned out. I especially like those print stockings. This is an odd question, but is that a small photo sticking out of her hair? Keeps catching my eye. The gray kitten looks just like a pair of identical kittens I had when I was a kid – Ping and Pong, the offspring of Winkie. I can easily imagine being this contented woman – posing with my precious pets!

The back of this card reads, Kind regards & best wishes, Yours Sincerely, L. Scrugg 13.8.13. It is written in a beautiful, looping hand in red pen. It was never mailed. Like many, it must have been given to the recipient and treasured, as it remains today in our house.

Conga Line with Cats

Posted by

0

Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: This was one of those second chance images that I recently caught up with on eBay. The row of toothy, grinning black cats behind this series of come hither girls is an image that I love.

I do not remember seeing the KAO Stunt Show 1911 (75 encircled) that is printed on the negative at the bottom on the first card. This card was pasted into a black paper album according to the evidence remaining on the back. Also printed on the back is, Strauch’s Student Life Series University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. I cannot seem to find a full history on this, but it would seem that this series of photo postcards just illuminated the fun and games of being at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, in the teens. This one below was recently sold on eBay and May Day in particular seemed to be a wild and wooly time there. (It is numbered 10 I see and mine is 75 so we will assume it was a substantial set.)

s-l1600-3

I must say, between May Day and dancing girls in front of a line of smiling black cats, it certainly would have attracted me to attend U of I. (Connecticut College was just never that interesting.) Another card recently sold on eBay, just called May Day 1913, shows a couple of hundred people seated in bleachers, presumably watching the festivities. Someone has circled part of the crowd to point out themselves and a group of people they knew. It too was in an album. So it seems it was a series of pro photos issued annually by the school, highlighting the year at the school. You have my assurance I will be keeping an eye out for more.

The ABC’s of Kitties

Posted by

0

School scene

Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: I was watching this postcard on eBay and forgot about the auction. Kim noticed it coming up for auction and scored it for me as a Christmas gift. It is of a certain genre, but I never saw one very much like it before.

All three cats look peevish, including the one sitting on the shelf behind the little girl – what project have they been gotten into now?  The one on the lap of the boy thinking, “Okay – so it’s a cat. So what?” I generally refer to that as a piss cat expression in our house.

While I am sorry for these kitties, I cannot begin to catalogue all the games I made my cat play when I was a child. I remember putting a reluctant Snoopy (patient heavy-set male, white with black spots) in a baby carriage on myriad occasions. I also distinctly remember trying to balance the cat on the back of the German Shepard – circus animals! Without success of course. (And I used to try to ride the dog like a small pony – but I guess that is a dog story.) Still, that cat slept with me and remained game for whatever I stirred up as a kid. The dog followed me around faithfully (I’m sure I was good for dropping bits of food here and there) and would have ripped anyone who tried to hurt me in two.

Kim feels strongly that I should not dress the cats up and take their picture, despite an equally strong desire on my part. I guess you never really grow up. However, I’m sure Cookie and Blackie thank Kim for saving them from that indignity.