It was a cold November night in 1920 when good luck brought the orphan kitten to the Opera Café at 561 Seventh Avenue (near 40th Street). John “Jack” Bleeck, who had just taken over the place after working as a bartender there for nine years, saw the kitten outside and invited her in.
Archive for the ‘Cat Mascots’ Category
1920: Jack Bleeck and Minnie, the Mascot Mouser of a Men-Only Speakeasy
Posted: 11th April 2015 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Mascots, Cat Men, Cat StoriesTags: Artist and Writers Club, Cat Stories, Cat Tales, Hartsdale Pet Cemetery, John Bleeck, New York History
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1921 & 1936: Billy and Rusty, the Famous Felines of the Algonquin Hotel
Posted: 7th March 2015 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Mascots, Cat Stories, Feline MascotsTags: Algonquin Cat, Algonquin Hotel, Ben Bodne, Frank Case, Matilda III, New York History
In 1936, a rather disheveled kitten about seven months old stepped into the lobby of New York City’s Algonquin Hotel on 44th Street. Like most stray cats, he was fighting for survival on the streets, and a hotel lobby was as good a place as any to search (or beg) for food and shelter. Frank […]
1904: Siamese Jane, the Sacred Cat of Siam That Was Smuggled Into Brooklyn
Posted: 7th February 2015 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Mascots, Cat StoriesTags: Atlantic Basin, King Chulalongkorn, King Rama V, New York History, Red Hook, Siamese cat, USS Satsuma
In 1878, the first documented Siamese cat to reach the United States moved into the White House. In 1904, the crew of the steamship Satsuma brought a very sacred Siamese cat and her kittens to Red Hook, Brooklyn.
1933: Tommy Mulligan, the Lighthouse Cat of Norton’s Point on Coney Island
Posted: 18th January 2015 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Mascots, Cat StoriesTags: Coney Island, Coney Island History, Coney Island Lighthouse, Herbert Greenwood, New York History, Norton & Murray, Norton's Point
“Remember when the Norton’s Point Lighthouse was built? Several times I was down there and climbed to the top of the unfinished structure. What a wilderness of sand dunes the point was at that time. With a friend I used to go often to the Coney Island beach in winter and dig clams, which were […]
1905: Bright Eyes, the Kitten Mascot of the Joralemon Street Tunnel
Posted: 3rd January 2015 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Mascots, Cat StoriesTags: Brooklyn Heights, Joralemon Street Tunnel, kitten mascot, New York History, Richard Creeden, tunnel blowout
“Then all of a sudden I strikes water and opens my eyes. I was flying through the air, and before I comes down I had a fine view of the city.”–Joralemon Street Tunnel worker Richard Creeden, March 27, 1905 The following story is about a little kitten who arrived at the Joralemon Street Tunnel in […]
