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.
Posts Tagged ‘Cat Stories’
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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1897: Trilby and Barney, the Old Dog and Veteran of Cat Alley
Posted: 16th November 2014 by The Hatching Cat in Dog TailsTags: Animal Tales, Cat Alley, Cat Stories, Jacob A. Riis, Michael Coleman, Mulberry Street, New York History, Old New York, Trilby
Trilby was just a scared little puppy when she first appeared on Mulberry Street in the winter of 1895. She had run down the street at top speed with a tin can tied to her stump of a tail and the nasty little boys of the Mott Street gang in pursuit.
Seeing a narrow opening between two buildings on Mulberry Street, she darted through the gap and found herself in the confines of Cat Alley.
1906: Lulu Grover and the East Harlem Cats She Bequeathed to President Roosevelt
Posted: 26th October 2014 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Men, Cat StoriesTags: Angora cats, Cat Stories, Henry L. Stimson, Lulu B. Grover, New York History, President Theodore Roosevelt, Teddy Roosevelt
Lulu B. Grover loved her two Angora cats almost as much as she adored President Theodore Roosevelt. So when she decided to end her life on December 8, 1906, she first made sure that all the necessary preparations were in place to ensure her cats went to a good home after her death – in other words, the White House.
1900: The Brave and Brawny Black Cats of the Brooklyn Navy Yard
Posted: 17th October 2014 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Men, Cat StoriesTags: Admiral's Row, Brooklyn Naval Hospital, Brooklyn Navy Yard, Cat Stories, feral cats, Francis T. Bowles, Kings County Distillery, New York History, William L. Cowan
In the early 1890s, the Brooklyn Navy Yard was overrun with rodents. Almost all the docks in the yard were in need of repair where they had been gnawed by the rats, and the losses in rigging, spare sails, and other wares were also great. Unfortunately, there was not one cat to be found during […]
1934: Arson and Homicide, the New York Cats on the Job at Police Headquarters
Posted: 22nd September 2014 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Mascots, Cat Stories, Feline MascotsTags: 240 Centre Street, 300 Mulberry Street, Cat Stories, Centre Market, New York History, New York Police Headquaters, NYPD, police cat
From the day he was born, Homicide was destined to be a police cat. No one knows where he came from, or if he ever attended Police College, but the flat-footed feline knew exactly what it meant to be on the job in New York City.
