Early U.S. Cat Magazine -- The Cat Courier

One of the earliest cat magazines in North America was published in the Great Lakes Region. The Cat Courier began publication in 1912 with Mrs. Elizabeth L. Brace of Rochester, NY as the editor and publisher.

By September 1922, the magazine had changed ownership to Mrs. Gertrude Taylor of Detroit, MI. Subscription was $2.00 a year.

The Cat Courier, Volume II, Number 15, 

June 28 and July 5, 1913
Courtesy of The CFA Foundation, Inc. 

GC, BW, NW Surrey Hill Secret, black Persian

In 1977, CFA's Best Cat award went to GC, BW, NW Surrey Hill Secret, a black Persian female, owned by Gene Darrah. To this day, Gene's license plate is "SECRET".

Note that the Best Cat won a $500 cash prize. 

 From Cats Magazine, September 1977
Courtesy of The CFA Foundation, Inc.

Silver Phantom, Chinchilla Persian

Silver Phantom, owned by Mrs. James Conlisk, of Gowanda, NY, was a chinchilla Persian imported from England. He was born June 14, 1905, CFA registration number 292 in Volume I of the Studbook and Register of The Cat Fanciers' Association. He was exhibited at the Crystal Palace show in England, and at the Madison Square Garden show in 1907. The following advertisement offered him at stud, for a fee of $20.00

From The Cat Courier, Volume II, Number 26A, December 13 and 20, 1913
Courtesy of The CFA Foundation, Inc. 

Persian cats from 1938 and 1941

Here's a photo of G. Princess Riffer, of Plymouth, Michigan. She is shown with 'Black Bear of La Petite Mansion', a black Persian male born April 28, 1938, and 'Candykid of La Petite Mansion', a cream Persian male born April 15, 1941.

From All-Pets Magazine, March, 1942
Courtesy of The CFA Foundation, Inc. 

The early American Shorthair

Here's an advertisement showing the 'Domestic Shorthairs' of Mrs. Bryna Shine of Detroit, MI. These Domestic Shorthairs were winners at the Detroit Persian Society show in 1943. Domestic Shorthairs were the early version of the American Shorthair (and CFA did change the name officially from Domestic Shorthair to American Shorthair).

Mrs. Shine's prize winning Domestic Shorthairs, 1943
From All-Pets Magazine, March, 1944
Courtesy of The CFA Foundation, Inc. 

Skyway Cattery

A successful mid-20th century breeder was Vi Schuh of SKYWAY cattery. Based in the Buffalo, NY area, Mrs. Schuh had a collection of some very interesting and exciting lines in her Persians.

If the SKYWAY cattery name sounds familiar to you, Mrs. Schuh was the mother-in-law of CFA Judge Don Williams, who inherited the use of her cattery name and continued to use it in his breeding program.

An advertisement for Vi Schuh's SKYWAY cattery
From All-Pets Magazine, April, 1957
Courtesy of The CFA Foundation, Inc.

An early 1900's cattery

In 1905, Gowanda, NY was the home of Mrs. James Conlisk, and her cats. In the early 20th century, it wasn't uncommon for cats to be housed in buildings separate from the home.

 Two of the buildings housing cats belonging to Mrs. James Conlisk
From The Cat Journal, May, 1905
Courtesy of The CFA Foundation, Inc.

Rosecrest Cattery, Alliance, OH

Rosecrest Cattery of Alliance, OH had cats featured on the cover of several issues of The Cat Gazette during 1936 and 1937. Owned by Mrs. Chester G. Naylor, the cattery specialized in silver and solid color Persians. Little has been learned about Mrs. Naylor, although we have discovered that she had a daughter, Mary Jane, and that her husband was tragically killed in a train accident while working for the railroad.

The following, printed in the June, 1939 issue of The Cat Gazette gives us a glimpse into one of the early catteries in Ohio:
 
"The editor had the pleasure of a week's visit with Mr. and Mrs. C.G. Naylor. The Rose Crest farm is a beautiful place and we had a wondrful time every moment of our stay there. The Naylor home is a true garden spot. It covers one acre filled with fruits and flowers of every kind. There is a fine cozy heated cat house in which two families of young ones were just opening their eyes on a very comfortable world. Besides the cats, there is a gorgeous collie, a collection of prized Bostons and a hundred baby chicks."

The Royal Canadian Cat Club

Until its resignation in February 2019, the Royal Canadian Cat Club, established in 1902, was the oldest active club in the CFA Great Lakes Region. It was located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and for many years managed the cat shows held at the Canadian National Exhibition.

Mrs. J.R. Reynolds, pictured left, was President of the club for several years. This photo was published in The Cat Courier of August 9 and 16, 1913. The results of the 1913 Toronto show includes the following statement by Miss Elizabeth Brace, publisher of The Cat Courier, who attended the show:

"The entries were not quite as numerous as last year, but they were of far better quality as a whole. The entries from the U.S. were many and will no doubt increase as they find out the fineness of the Exhibition Shows.

"There never was a show at which everyone seemed so contented with the awards, and Mrs. Hewitt said there was not one complaint, which is certainly marvelous."

Major Edwin Sydney Woodiwiss

Major Edwin Sydney Woodiwiss (1871-1942) was a driving force in both the very early cat and dog fancy in England.  He had a profound effect on the development of both the Siamese and Abyssinian breed under the WOODROOFFE cattery name, plus he also bred English (British) Shorthairs and Manx.  He was well-known for his winning dogs - Dachshund and Schipperke.

You can read all about his fascinating history at http://cat-o-pedia.org/docs/ESWoodiwiss.pdf

Major Edwin Sydney Woodiwiss, with one of his prize Dachshunds (1897)

The Creation of CFA Regional Representation

At the CFA Annual Meeting in 1950, the The Mo-Kan Club proposed an constitutional amendment to allow for regional representation, and a committee was appointed to make recommendations to the board regarding the proposal. The office of Regional Vice-President was established in 1952, when the Constitution change called for the election of regional representatives. The results of that first election for the (then) six regions were: Miss Elsie Hydon, North Atlantic; Mrs. Lawrence Pelton, Great Lakes; Mrs. Matil Rotter, Middle West; Mrs. Garvin, Southern; Mrs. Bess Morse, Southwest; and, Mrs. Denning, Northwest.

Mrs. Pelton, of Hubbard, OH, continued as Regional Vice-President for several years. She was also a judge, and served as CFA Recorder from August 1957 to August 1958. She bred solid color and parti-color Persians under the cattery name 'Wycliffe'.

Advertisement from All-Pets Magazine, December 1945
Courtesy of The CFA Foundation, Inc.

Blue Persian - Wooloomooloo

THE NAMING OF CATS!!

Many cat fanciers who have been breeders or who are currently breeders sometimes struggle to find names for their cats, especially if they are looking for something to promote a specific theme, or which they would like to be unique. When the magnificent blue Persian male bred by Mrs. A. Smith and shown by Mr. W.R. Hawkins appeared at, and won top honours at, the first Crufts Cat Show in 1894, his name was singularly unique, appearing as he did in the catalogue as ‘WOOLOOMOOLOO’.

In Our Cats Magazine, in an article entitled ‘Pillars of the Stud Book’ published in 1901, Miss Frances Simpson explains how he came by that name: 

“In the blue Persian world, perhaps Wooloomooloo and Beauty Boy can claim more descendants than any other stud cats of this breed (variety). Wooloomooloo first made his debut at Crufts Show. Curiously enough this was the year in which I was sojourning in the suburb of Sydney, N.S.W., after which this noted cat was named.”

You can read all about the fabulous Wooloomooloo on The History Project at cat-o-pedia.org/wooloomooloo.html

 

Fashionista Cats

Occasionally, the Feline Historical Museum has guest cats in attendance for a day.  During 2018, they hosted a "Fashion Day" with the Fashionista Cats, which drew a lot of attention from visitors.  These delightful - and exceptionally well-behaved - Cornish Rex took the opportunity to show off some of their more extravagant costumes.

Cleveland Persian Society - 1912 First Prize Ribbon

CLEVELAND, OHIO FANCIERS SHOW
1912 FIRST PRIZE - CAT SHOW RIBBON

Having attended the CFA International Show in Cleveland in October, 2018 and spent some time talking to members of the Cleveland Persian Society in their booth there, it was a thrill to be able to very recently add the below historic cat show ribbon to The Harrison Weir Collection.

Legends of the Cat Fancy - Royal Patronage

ROYAL AND ARISTOCRATIC PATRONAGE

The Cat Fancy profited much from aristocratic patronage virtually from the beginning, with socialites like Lady Dorothy Nevill, Lady Mildred Beresford-Hope, Lady Cust and the Duchess of Sutherland all lending support. But by the late 1890’s members of the Royal Family were also adding their social weight behind the Fancy, none more-so than Queen Victoria’s grand-daughter HRH Princess Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, who became Patron of the National Cat Club.

 

The young Princess was supported in her hobby by both her parents, each of whom also owned a Persian cat. This one, is a fine specimen of a Red Tabby & White, named ‘Ladybird’, who was the personal favourite and pet cat of the Princess’s father, Prince Christian. 

The family occupied Cumberland Lodge, a royal residence situated at the southern end of Great Windsor Park, for which Prince Christian held the honorary position of Ranger, from 1861 to his death in 1917.  This position had previously been held by Prince Albert, the Prince Consort, and is today held by Prince Philip, current Prince Consort. Princess Victoria built a fine cattery at Cumberland Lodge, and from there also exported some fine pedigreed Persian cats.

Legends of the Cat Fancy - Mr. H.C. Brooke

WOLF MAN & CAT FANCIER EXTRA-ORDINAIRE

Our photo dates from 1902, and shows cat fancier and judge Mr. H.C. Brooke, well-known for his love of Manx and foreign shorthairs, especially Abyssinians. Many years after this photo was taken, he served as President of the Abyssinian Cat Club. He was a remarkable naturalist with specialist veterinary knowledge, and immense respect for wildlife. His love of foreign animals included many rare dog breeds, but his most remarkable ability was to take in young wolves and domesticate them.

From the pages of Our Cats Magazine, in an issue dated November 15^th, 1899 we read the following announcement: 

Mrs H.C. Brooke writes: - “We have another Wolf now, she is a monster for her age, not six months. She already stands twenty-one inches at the shoulder. She is in the house all day, and goes out for miles every day. When I am writing she generally lies beside me on the sofa. Seven weeks ago today she came over, and was then quite wild.”