On July 28, 1902, The New York Times reported that a seven-month-old, 45-pound, grey-brown panther had gnawed his way out of a large pine shipping box near the park’s Puma and Lynx House. It was the first time the captive cat–which had just been shipped via a Ward Line steamship from Mr. Charles Sheldon of the Mexican Zoological Society in Chihuahua to Director William Temple Hornaday of the New York Zoological Society–had ever experienced a taste of freedom.
Archive for the ‘Cat Stories’ Category
1902: The Great Bronx Zoological Park Panther Hunt
Posted: 18th November 2020 by The Hatching Cat in Animal Stories, Cat StoriesTags: Bronx Zoological Park, John Spears, New York City History, panther escapes, Raymond Lee Ditmars, William Temple Hornaday
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1904: Hafiz, the Literary Cat Who Lived in Manhattan’s First Apartment Building
Posted: 11th November 2020 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Men, Cat StoriesTags: Hafiz, Oliver Herford, Rutherford Stuyvesant, Stuyvesant Apartments
One of the most notable literary cats of the early 20th century was Hafiz, the pet cat of American humorist, author, and illustrator Oliver Herford.
Hafix, who lived in Manhattan’s very first apartment house, was described as “a smoky Persian of remarkable size and beauty.” His unique coloring was “brightly lionesque”–a mix of tawny orange striped with gray and black. His deep eyes were amber by day and emerald by night.
1912-1918: Reddy, Bounce, and Peaches: The Photogenic Pets of William Davis Hassler
Posted: 30th October 2020 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Men, Cat StoriesTags: 150 Vermilyea Avenue, Cats of Old New York, Inwood history, Reddy the Cat, William Davis Hassler
Inwood photographer William Davis Hassler took thousands of photographs in the early 1900s, many featuring his young son and his two pet cats, Reddy and Peaches, and pet dog, Bounce.
1906: Thomas, the Horse-Saving Blacksmith Cat of Lenox Hill
Posted: 22nd October 2020 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Stories, Cats in the MewsTags: 428 East 75th Street, Alois Dill, Arch-Brook Mansion, Henry Bock, New York City History, Richard Riker
“Thomas, a big cat, was the hero of a fire that destroyed the upper part of a stable at 426 and 428 East Seventy-fifth Street early yesterday morning.” So begins a story about the cat in The Sun on November 26, 1906.
1895: The Brooklyn Bridge Watchman and His Brooklyn Bridge Watch Cat
Posted: 13th October 2020 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Men, Cat StoriesTags: Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn History, Cats of Old New York
Before the Brooklyn Bridge was built, there were tenements where the approaches are now. And in those tenement buildings–according to the Brooklyn Bridge watchman–were cats. Lots of cats. One special cat with superior skills became a Brooklyn Bridge watch cat.
