The cat is regal in Kittens and Cats: A First Reader, 1911. The premise is simple: dress up your cat, take a picture and give it a witty caption. So we get to meet Hero Cat, Queen Cat, Party Cat and the very much of its time Dunce Cat.
Author Eulalie Osgood Grover added backstories to the images supplied by the Rotograph postcard company of New York City and most likely taken by cats photographer Harry Whittier Frees (1879–1953).
An article in Life magazine, dated March 1, 1937, tells us that Frees “rents all models from neighbors, breeders or pet shops. His only assistant is his housekeeper, Mrs. Annie Edelman, who sews all the costumes.”
And on the choice of cats for his photos Frees states in his book Animal Land on the Air:
“Rabbits are the easiest to photograph in costume, but incapable of taking many ‘human’ parts. Puppies are tractable when rightly understood, but the kitten is the most versatile animal actor, and possesses the greatest variety of appeal.”
When not writing about cats, Eulalie Osgood Grover (1873 – 1958) was a prolific writer who created of a series of reading primers for young readers centered around her characters known as the “Sunbonnet Babies”. The Sunbonnet Babies Primer, published in 1902, was illustrated by Bertha L. Corbett and revolved around the adventures of Molly and May, two little girls whose faces were completely hidden by large sunbonnets. She wrote 27 books that sold over four million copies.
In 1911, the Rotograph Company was taken over:
The Rotograph Co., well and favorably known to every dealer as makers of “Post Cards of Quality,” have recently been absorbed by the Illustrated Postal Card & Novelty Co., 520-524 West Forty-eighth street, New York, whose plant is now said to be the largest one in the United States devoted exclusively to the manufacture of postcards. They employ 500 people. Their factory is equipped with special postcard machinery of every description, and operated by German experts in the line.
It’s most likely that these images were also sold as postcards. And to honour that we’ve made them available as such in the shop. You can order them here.
Get your own high-quality postcards in our Shop here.
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