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 Stories’ 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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1914: Bendola Bailey, the Brooklyn Cat That Starred on Broadway
Posted: 2nd April 2015 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Stories, Featured FelinesTags: 88 Joralemon Street, Clara N. Bailey, New York History, Philip Livingston, The Garden of Paradise, William Nungasser
In Scene VII of The Garden of Paradise by Edward Sheldon, the Queen of the South asks her page to fetch her kitten, Pandora, from the garden. In this cameo role, the kitten is carried on stage, placed on a thrown, and almost stepped on as the Queen tries to escape from a planned marriage […]
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 […]
1895: Nicodemus, the Prize-Winning Alley Cat of New York Prankster Brian Hughes
Posted: 28th February 2015 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Men, Cat StoriesTags: Brian G. Hughes, Brightside, Monroe, New York History, Nicodemus, Puldeka Orphan
One of Brian’s biggest jokes involved a stray cat that he purchased for a dime in 1895 from a young bootblack on Hester Street who was just about to drown it. According to one news report, Brian bought the cat because he was attracted to the cat’s six toes.
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.
