Posts Tagged ‘Cats of Old New York’

1894: The Famous Boxing Cats That Headlined at NYC’s Huber’s Museum

Posted: 12th September 2022 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Stories, Cats in the Mews
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Forget the light bulb. Let’s talk about Thomas Edison’s short film starring Professor Henry Welton and his famous Boxing Cats! This 1894 film may very well be the first ever funny cat film ever made. (I even found out the names of the Boxing Cats…)

1903: Morris, the Faithful Police Cat of the Sheepshead Bay Station in Homecrest

Posted: 12th August 2022 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Stories, Feline Mascots
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For fifteen years, Morris served as the ever-watchful feline mascot and mouser of the Sheepshead Bay police station, which was located in the Homecrest neighborhood of Sheepshead Bay. As official police cat of the 68th Precinct, it was his job to nab the rats and other vermin with which the rural district was infested.

The Pole-Dancing Fire Cats of Gotham

Posted: 14th July 2022 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Mascots, FDNY Horses/Mascots
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Here’s a tribute to a few “pole-dancing” fire cats that I’ve featured in earlier posts, as well as some snippets of fire-cat stories that will be in my upcoming book on FDNY animal mascots (in other words, this is a tease…)

1951: The Black Cat That Brought Good Luck to the Brooklyn Dodgers

Posted: 14th June 2022 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Stories, Cats in the Mews
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In 1951, the Brooklyn Dodgers were favored to win the National League race. The 1950 World Champion New York Yankees were expected to come in second place in the American League. That April, the two teams played against each other in a three-game exhibition series. The first game took place at Yankee Stadium on Friday, April 13. A black cat may have brought some good luck to the Dodgers that day…

1924: Tom, the 20-Pound Brooklyn Cat of Gage & Tollner on Fulton Street

Posted: 23rd May 2022 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Stories, Cats in the Mews
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Tom and his brother cat were born in Gage & Tollner’s restaurant in 1917, when the famous oyster bar and chophouse was on the ground floor of the circa 1875 Craft building at 372-374 Fulton Street. No one knows what happened to his mother and brother, but Tom “apparently recognized his proper sphere in life” and stayed on at Gage & Tollner, where he dined on scallops alongside great icons like Mae West and Jimmy Durante.

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