Part II: The Midnight Band of Mercy “I suppose I am mad. For a woman to care nothing for her appearance or how she lives is a sure sign of madness. I have nothing in common with anything except animals, and them I love.”—Grace Georgia Devide, The New York World, December 31, 1893 “The Midnight […]
Posts Tagged ‘Cat Stories’
1893: The Crazy New York Cat Ladies and the Murderous Midnight Band of Mercy, Part II
Posted: 2nd July 2014 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Stories, Crazy Cat LadiesTags: Caroline Ewen, Cat Stories, crazy cat ladies, Grace Devide, Nellie Bly, New York History, Sarah J. Edwards
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1890: The Crazy Cat Ladies and The Murderous Midnight Band of Mercy, Part I
Posted: 1st July 2014 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Stories, Crazy Cat LadiesTags: Barney Bowers, Cat Stories, Crazy Cat Lady, Grace Devide, New York History, Sarah J. Edwards, Washington Heights
Part I: The Society to Befriend Domestic Animals Like all crazy cat ladies or cat hoarders, Mrs. Sarah J. Edwards and Mrs. Grace Georgia Devide had good intentions when they opened a refuge for homeless cats in 1890. But something went terribly wrong, and a mission to provide shelter and food for friendless and maltreated […]
1916: Wang, the King of the Pirate Cats of West 80th Street
Posted: 22nd June 2014 by The Hatching Cat in Cat StoriesTags: Cat Stories, Hotel Majestic, John Pamaris, New York History, polio epidemic of 1916, SPCA, Thomas F. Freel
Wang was the leader of a pack of up to 100 stray cats that haunted West 80th Street between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues during the brutal spring and summer of 1916. The press called them the pirate cats.
1916: The Feline Silent Film Stars of Richmond Hill, Queens
Posted: 31st May 2014 by The Hatching Cat in Featured FelinesTags: Cat Stories, cats of silent film, Elizabeth Kingston, Empire Cat Club, Grand Central Palace, movie cats, New York History
A century before there was Grumpy Cat, Lil Bub, Street Cat Bob, and all the countless felines inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame, there were the “movie cats” that rose to stardom during the silent film era. I’m not talking about Felix the Cat, the cartoon cat that made his first appearance in 1919 […]
1904: Fitzsimmons and the Feline Police Squad of New York’s General Post Office
Posted: 13th April 2014 by The Hatching Cat in Featured FelinesTags: Cat Stories, City Hall Post Office, George W. Cook, Mullet Post Office, New York History, Old New York, post office cats, postal cats
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the United States government allocated funds to feed hundreds of cats that were “hired” to catch rats at post offices and other federal buildings.
