Greenwich Village in the early 1900s was home to many notable cats that made the headline news. There were the Bohemian cats led by Crazy Cat, who reigned supreme around Sheridan Square during the 1910s. And there were the more refined gentlemen cats like Old Timer, Mr. White, and Jonathan, who occupied the feline throne on Greenwich Avenue in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Archive for the ‘Cats in the Mews’ Category
1934: Old Timer, Mr. White, and Jonathan, the Gentlemen Cats of Greenwich Avenue
Posted: 7th March 2021 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Stories, Cats in the MewsTags: Cats of Old New York, Emily Burmeister, Greenwich Avenue, Monument Lane, New York City History, Road to the Obelisk
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1920: Kelly, the Cat That Sailed on the RMS Aquitania in a Sealed Mail Sack
Posted: 16th January 2021 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Stories, Cats in the MewsTags: Cats of Old New York, Eamon De Valera, Irish Republic, RMS Aquitania, Seafaring cats
On Saturday, December 11, 1920, employees at the New York General Post Office got a big surprise while opening some mail delivered to the United States from England via the steamship RMS Aquitania. Inside one sealed mail sack was a small male kitten.
1933: Poor Mary Kane and The Federal Hall Felines of Bryant Park
Posted: 1st January 2021 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Stories, Cats in the MewsTags: Bryant Park, Cats of Old New York, Federal Hall, Grover A. Whalen, New York City History, Walter R. Herrick
In 1932, the George Washington Bicentennial Planning Committee partnered with Sears, Roebuck and Company to construct a wood and plaster replica of Pierre Charles L’Enfants’s Federal Hall at Bryant Park. Few humans took interest in the structure, but it made the perfect home for a family of stray cats and a flock of pigeons.
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.
1910: The 300 Cats Wanted to Act at the Manhattan Opera House
Posted: 17th September 2020 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Stories, Cats in the MewsTags: Cats in the Mews, Cats of Old New York, Manhattan Opera House, New York City History, Oscar Hammerstein
On September 16, 1910, The New York Times ran a small article about a want-ad soliciting 300 cats for performances at the Manhattan Opera House on 34th Street.
According to the article, the stage director would accept all cats–with or without stage experience–to take part in the production of “Hans, the Flute Player.” The comedic opera was going to be the opening act for Oscar Hammerstein’s opera house.
