Archive for the ‘Cat Mascots’ Category

In Old New York, most warehouses and other large buildings in Lower Manhattan were infested with mice and rats (many still are, of course). Despite its military affiliation, the U.S. Army Building was not immune to the enemy vermin. The best soldiers cut out for the job of extermination were the Army cats.

When the police began incarcerating stray cats in the jail cells at the Stagg Street station, their mascot cat was none too pleased to share his home with the mongrel intruders. He was willing to put up a good fight to preserve his domain.

The Algonquin Hotel may have had Billy and Rusty the cats, and the Hotel Lincoln may have had Abe the cat, but these male cats could not be mothers. Minnie was not only the mascot of the Hotel St. George, but she was a mother to 160 kittens.

There is a saying that goes, “Cats rule. Dogs drool.” When it came to picking a side during the women’s suffrage movement in Brooklyn, the cat in this story ruled. She picked the winning side–the Brooklyn Woman Suffrage Association.

With the 2023 baseball season upon us, the story of the Brooklyn Robins feline mascot is a great “Did You Know?” story to share with the cat lovers and baseball fans in your life.

The story also has ties to the Old Stone House of Gowanus, where hundreds of Maryland soldiers lost their lives while trying to save George Washington and his troops during the Revolutionary War.

This is Part 1 of a two-part story.