Archive for February, 2014

1883: Funny, Awkward, and Beastly Portraits of the Gilded Age

Posted: 28th February 2014 by The Hatching Cat in Animal Attractions
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During the Gilded Age of New York City, when cabinet card photographs were in vogue, it was not unusual to find some very awkward portraits in the Victorian parlor.

1898: Peggy the Pug, Tom, and the Cat Martyrs of the USS Maine

Posted: 22nd February 2014 by The Hatching Cat in Dog Mascots, Feline Mascots
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During the 1800s and early 1900s, the Brooklyn Navy Yard served as a pseudo receiving and distributing station for the animal mascots of American warships. Some of these animals, like Tom of the USS Maine, were born at the Navy Yard, while others stopped in to visit from time to time during their many years […]

1930: Tammany, the Democratic Boss Cat of New York’s City Hall

Posted: 15th February 2014 by The Hatching Cat in Featured Felines, Feline Mascots
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I once wrote about Old Tom, who was a very popular mascot of New York’s City Hall in the early 1900s. Although several other cats took over Tom’s place at City Hall after he died, none of these felines were as popular as Tammany, who occupied City Hall during the administrations of Mayor Jimmy Walker […]

1911: The Corona Cat Farm of Queens That Wasn’t

Posted: 8th February 2014 by The Hatching Cat in Featured Felines
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“If, as the Arabs suppose, the spirits of gentlewomen are re-embodied in cats, there is a delicate appropriateness in this dedication of cat fur to the adornment of living gentlewomen.” –The New York Times, October 12, 1890 “What Smart Women Are Wearing” In the 1800s and early 1900s, furs were all the rage in Paris […]

1907: Subway Nellie, the Dog That Christened the IRT East River Subway Tunnel

Posted: 5th February 2014 by The Hatching Cat in Dog Tails
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On November 27, 1907, the very first train to go to Brooklyn via the new Battery-Joralemon Tunnel left the Wall Street station in Manhattan at 12:30 p.m. This train carried about 200 men, including officials of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, engineers, and reporters. Oh yeah, and a mixed-breed dog named Subway Nellie. In my […]