August 23, 2017August 27, 2017 by greg-in-washington

Colouring the Past (cats!)

This post is about an unusual vintage cat food mat, Mt. Rainier, some guest cats, Opie and her new toy from the tooth fairy, and an interesting blog called “Colouring the Past” featuring some cats.

Cat Mat

I used this mat almost 20 years ago, I reckon. I was looking for photos of cats eating at the time, but those were few and I did not see the mat. It surfaced the other day when I was cleaning out cabinets. I was surprised and remembered it instantly. What I notice about it of course is the cup of hot chocolate the cat has! Today we all know chocolate is bad, and would not conceive of drawing a cat with chocolate. At any rate, I am using it again, at least for a while. When Zeke first saw it on the floor, he creeped up to it and slowly extended his paw to touch it, in order to see if it moved, I guess. As usual, no camera handy.

cat food mat

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February 14, 2017February 14, 2017 by greg-in-washington

Valentine greetings and vintage cards

Cats, vintage, Zeke
cats, Valentine's Day, vintage valentines, Zeke
10 Comments

Valentine greetings and felicitations to all! One again I dig into my father’s collection of cards he saved as I child, and present some more children’s vintage Valentine cards from the 1920’s. I have no cards with cats upon them. There are, however, several with dogs shown. The cards shown today are all from the 1920’s. I have plenty more of these for the future to show. Note that I deleted all previous Valentine Day posts.
23 vintage valentines follow: Continue reading →

November 23, 2016October 11, 2016 by greg-in-washington

Happy Thanksgiving!

Once more I will dive into my father’s postcard collection. He kept many of them when he was a child, which I found after he died carefully stored away in a box. Most of them are Valentines–some of which I previously posted. Today for Thanksgiving I have only one “new” one to post. It was copyrighted in 1917 but sent in 1922.

1917 postcard

Zeke warns: Don’t eat too much Turkey on Thanksgiving!

Like every Thanksgiving, the cats will be prowling about underfoot when they smell the turkey roasting. Fear not that they will each have some!

August 3, 2016August 5, 2016 by greg-in-washington

Vintage Squeaky Cat Postcards

Cats, video, vintage
cats, Marigold, postcards, Squeaky cat postcards, video
15 Comments

This post is about squeaky cat postcards.

The squeaky cat postcards below were all given to me as a gift. I had never seen them before. Squeaky postcards of all kinds were made in the 1950’s and early 1960’s. Cats were not the only subject. Two pieces of paper were glued together with the squeaker placed inbetween the layers. All the cards have a bulge in the middle. The squeaker is the same sound regardless of the photographs displayed. I did no photo-editing at all on the photographs. None of mine were ever mailed so I have no definitive date on any of them. Someone must have just been saving the cards. They are devoid of publisher except for #2 which was made in France. All of the others were made in Japan. I saw many for sale on the internet with asking prices varying from $1 each to double digits–good luck with that double digit asking price!

I made a short video so you could hear the “squeak” and watch Marigold who was sleeping being disturbed by the noise.

Photographs of the individual postcards follow:
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May 15, 2016 by greg-in-washington

Sunday Comic: The Cat Lady’s Walk is Disturbed

The comic “Cat Lady’s Walk is Disturbed” comes from my vintage German book “Germania Kalender 1916”. This post was previously published on my old Feline Cafe blog on Blogger several years ago. I used to do more old book stuff then. I am squinting my way through everyone’s blogs the past 10 days or so today, making a few comments–ignore my spelling. Comics and graphic novels are what I read these days as they are easier for me to read.

The Disturbed Walk of the Cat Lady I

The Disturbed Walk of the Cat Lady II

‘These books were published for German-Americans by George Brumder in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I also have “1913”. They were published annually from the 1880’s into the 1920’s, and have a characteristic red cover. (I have personally seen copies from the 1880’s into the 1920’s but whether they were published earlier or later, I do not know. During the First World War, the name was changed to “America Kalender.”) The books contain “almanac” data like tide tables and moon phases, photos, illustrations, current events, biographies, poems, jokes, short stories, as well as children’s stories. I might post more cat joke items as time goes by.’

Germania Kalender 1916

December 8, 2015December 8, 2015 by greg-in-washington

Opie loves Christmas music / Vintage Christmas postcards

Cats, vintage
cats, Christmas cards, Opie, postcards, vintage Christmas cards
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Opie

Opie is a cat that enjoys music. She especially likes when I put a platter on the old record player purchased in 1974. I have an older and larger console model from the 60’s which works perfectly well, but you see I now use it as a TV stand.

Opie likes the screensaver

I had to protect the cloth over the speakers to prevent the cats from scratching them. My eyesight is poor so I must sit very close to see properly. Opie is waiting for me in my chair. She likes to sit in my lap and watch or sleep. I have several boxes full of records. I do sit and play them now and then. The most used ones are the Christmas albums, which are played in December.

Opie loves music

Vintage Christmas Cards

My father kept all the holiday cards he received until 1930. Here are a few. They are all postcards and not folding cards. Some I can exactly date and others I cannot.They are mostly from the 1920’s. Cards do not show any publishers or origin.

1916