Once upon a time–around 1638–a farmer named Hendrick Harmensen took his cows from New Amsterdam and re-settled on a point of land along the Bowery Bay, where the East River and Flushing Bay meet on the northern tip of what we now call East Elmhurst, Queens. For several years, Harmensen–also known as Henrick the Boor […]
Archive for the ‘Cat Stories’ Category
1940: Strato Lizzie, the Mascot Cat of the TWA Pilots at NYC’s LaGuardia Airport
Posted: 12th February 2019 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Mascots, Cat StoriesTags: Daniel Rapelye, Glenn H. Curtiss, New York City History, North Beach, Strato Lizzie
1
1912: Captain, the New York City Feline Mascot of the RMS Carpathia
Posted: 3rd February 2019 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Mascots, Cat StoriesTags: Captain Rostron, Carpathia, cats in history, Chelsea Piers, New York City History, Pier 54, Titanic
On April 11, 1912, the RMS Carpathia departed from Chelsea Piers in New York City for Fiume (present-day Rijeka, Croatia), carrying about 740 passengers. The ship never reached its destination on this particular departure. Just after midnight on April 15, 1912, Carpathia‘s wireless operator, Harold Cottam, received some messages from Cape Cod stating they had private traffic for the Titanic. […]
1910: Nellie, the Beloved Class Cat of Brooklyn’s Van Pelt Manor Grammar School
Posted: 20th January 2019 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Mascots, Cat StoriesTags: Bensonhurst, Brooklyn History, J. Lott Nostrand, New Utrecht, New York History, Van Pelt Manor
As I often explain, not all of the cat stories of Old New York that I share with my readers have fairy-tale endings. Of course I prefer to tell happy stories. But I also believe that the kitties that met tragic ends also deserve some attention. This story of Nellie, the classroom mouser of the […]
1916: The Christmas Kittens and Movie Cats of New York’s Empire Poultry Palace Show
Posted: 22nd December 2018 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Stories, Featured FelinesTags: Animals in history, Elizabeth Kingston, Empire Poultry, Grand Central Palace, New York City History
Although the first National Cat Show at Madison Square Garden II in May 1895 is often cited as the first cat show in America, there were actually quite a few cat shows in New York City and other American cities before this “official cat show” took place at the Garden. During the late 1800s, New York […]
1912: The Presbyterian Labor Temple for Cats and Dogs on Fourteenth Street
Posted: 27th October 2018 by The Hatching Cat in Animal Stories, Cat Stories, Dog TailsTags: 242 East 14th Street, New York City History, Presbyterian Labor Temple, Rev. Charles Stelzle
“We don’t mind a stray cat, or a dog either. If a stray dog finds a friend in the temple, we’ve brought the kingdom of God just so much nearer.” — Presbyterian Labor Temple, 1912 The above notice appeared in the weekly calendar of the Presbyterian Labor Temple, located on the corner of Second Avenue […]
