Posts Tagged ‘Cats of Old New York’

October is Black Cats of Old New York Month!

On September 19, 1904, Captain William Dean of the NYPD Harbor Police contacted the New York Times to brag about the rescue of a large black cat. The cat, which the men named Mike, joined another black cat named Fanny on the Harbor Police patrol boat.

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…)

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.

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…)

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…