REPORTS FROM EARLY CAT SHOWS IN THE USA - CINCINNATI

The Coming Cat Show. At last the date of the cat show at Harris’ Museum has been definitely fixed. Mr Jos. T. Jukes, a gentleman who has much experience in arranging and organizing cat shows, is already on hand, and will commence to receive entries Saturday next. The show is to embrace every variety of the feline species, domestic and untamed. There will be large cats, small cats, wild cats and educated cats. Liberal premiums are offered to induce owners to exhibit their felines. – The Cincinnati Enquirer, April 3rd, 1884

Some of the cats from the Boston and Philadelphia shows are to be entered at the Harris Museum cat show, week after next. The entry-books open this morning at the Museum box-office. – The Cincinnati Enquirer, April 5th 1884.

The coming cat show at the Museum will probably be dignified with the name of a “Feline Festival.” There will be a large number of pet “Tabbies” and “Tommies” entered. Society generally has a spare corner for rare cats and dogs, and the cat show will certainly prove a haven of joy to some who have entered the age of “afternoon tea.” – Cincinnati Enquirer, April 6, 1884

THE CAT SHOW. Plebeian Cats In the Rear and Patrician Felines at the Front Door. Yesterday was the first day for entries to the Cat Show. At ten o’clock Manager James T. Jukes, without whom no cat show would be complete, was on hand for the reception of the felines. Long before that time a crowd of boys and girls had assembled at the back door of the Museum clamoring to get in. Some had cats in baskets, others had cats in bags, some held cats by the neck, others by the tail. Me-eows and Marias made the morning hideous, and a special policeman was on duty to quell what looked for a time like an incipient riot. At last the door opened and Mr. Jukes appeared on the scene. A howl of joy went up from the hoodlums. “Now, boys,” said Jukes, mounting a chair, “this is going to be a cat show, and I want to tell you this is no place for lame cats. If you have got nothing but common, ordinary tramp cats in the bags and baskets take them away." Each and every one declared his or her cat was the finest that ever sat on a back-yard fence or dodged a boot-jack. “They won't do," said Jukes, as he examined the fine point. “They won’t do, boys. They are all loafers, every one. They're plebeians. Voices all spoiled by the night air, take them away.” But the boys didn’t take them away. They disconsolately dumped the cats upon the ground, and very soon the back yard of the Museum, Lodge alley and all the neighboring yards was alive with cats. It seemed like a cat convention. Then Mr. Jukes adjourned to the front of the house and found a number of persons including half a dozen ladies, waiting to enter cats for the show or to get premium lists and inquire for particulars. One young miss had a pure white Maltese that the said had come from Europe. A milk depot man had a cat that weighed twenty-nine pounds. Several tiger cats, one or two Persians and one beautiful Angora were in the collection. In all twenty-nine entries were made, which Mr. Jukes considered very good for the first day. - Cincinnati Enquirer, April 6, 1884

Yesterday’s entries for the upcoming cat show was the largest up to date, and now more than seventy-five felines have been recorded. Among the leading entries yesterday were two Angoras, one a blue and the other a white. They are owned by the Superintendent of the Adams Express Company, this city, and are two of the handsomest specimens of Angoras we have ever seen. Tiger cats, wild cats, Cincinnati cats and all varieties of domestic cats are coming in quite freely. Mr. Jukes, the manager, says the variety and beauty of the entries thus far exceeds all his previous experience in the way of cat shows. A lady from Dayton enters Nellie and Daisy, two beautiful Maltese. A very handsome cat is named from Franklin, Ohio. The handsomest cat receives $50; the homeliest, $35; the largest, $25; the smallest, $10; the most intelligent and best educated cat, $25. Prizes are given for all classes. In addition to the money prizes given by the museum management, Mr. Harris will award sewing-machines, silver forks and knives, china sets, roller-skates, arm-chairs, baby-carriages; silver, gold and celluloid cat collars are given away very extensively, and we expect to see over three hundred cats in competition. The entries still continue to come in. - The Cincinnati Enquirer, April 8, 1884

ANOTHER CAT-ASTROPHE. (Cincinnati Enquirer, April 13, 1884). Inauguration of the Feline Festival — Tommies and Tabbies That Are Joining in the Great Chorus, “M-e-o-w.” The returns are now all in, and at one o’clock this afternoon the inaugural overture of the Feline Festival at Harris’ Museum will be commenced. Every cat in the show will join in the closing chorus of “M-e-o-w.” There are Tabbies and Toms to the number of 150, including specimens from Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, New York and Ohio. No less than twenty towns of this State are represented in the exposition. The four Angoras of the show are owned in Cincinnati, two by Colonel L.C. Weir and two by Mrs. Thresher. “Tip" and Desdemona” are mates, one blue, the other white. Tip” has one blue and one yellow eye. J. Raum & Co. show a Maltese Tom that weighs twenty-six pounds. “Romeo” and “Juliet," owned by Gracie Groomall of Covington, are white Prussians, pretty as pictures. “Sambo," owned by Mrs. Glasgow, weighs twenty-five pounds, and is one of the tiger species. “Jim,” "Malty” and “Maria” are a trio of Russians, the only ones in the show. “Jumbo” is an Australian, but is owned at Mount Sterling. Ohio. H.P. Rose of Cleveland, has a pure white cat with blue eyes. It is the only blue-eyed cat in America.

St. Thomas, Canada, sends us a beauty in the way of a Maltese. John L Sullivan is as tough-looking as his name Indicates, and Roscoe Conklin is all puffed out in front, a true prototype, even to the curl that hangs over his forehead. One of the prettiest cages in the show is that sheltering a cat and two kittens owned by Dr J.J. Makin, of Pleasant Ridge – Daisy, Snowball and Malty – pure white Maltese. No cat show could be a cat show without a catalogue, and this one is favoured with a very neat one. A dozen or more essays upon the feline tribe have been received, and a waste-basket full of cat conundrums. The cat parade takes place promptly to-morrow morning at ten o’clock. The Manx or stumpy-tailed cats of the show are from Jackson, Mich. The Maltese are more numerous than others, but Angoras, tigers, Persians, civets, ocelots, lynxes, pumas and wildcats are not scarce. As a whole it will be possibly the most representative cat show ever given in America. The following is a list of the entries, with the names of the cats and their owners.

Maltese Class. Lillie and Carrie, Miss C.F. Alexander; Beauty and Nellie, Mrs R.H.Cohen; Laura, Nettie and Fannie, Mrs D.H. Jones; tabby, Beauty, Baby and Pet, Mrs . C. Cooke; Dixey, Winkelman Brothers; Lollie, D.C. Pendery; Tom and Jennie, Emma Brown; Lizzie and Mart, Hella Brown; Jim, Moll, Nell and Maria, M. Ragendorf; Skipper, Clifford Hechinger; Tom, F.D. Maher; Fritz, Charles Schaller; Tom, R. & J. Cronan; Zip, W.H. Goldberg; Cute, Charles Stewart; Cute and Babies, Mrs R.H. Cohen; Thomas, Mrs Jos. Leopold; Tom and Maria and family (10 in all), C. Levy; Billie and Tommy, Miss Lillie Dulhagen; Fanny and kittens. J. Nash; Pet, Willie Lee; Rex, Joe Eaton; Tom, P. Donald; Joe, B. and B.

Heavy Class. Nora, weight, 21 pounds, J. Raum & Co.; Flossie, weight, 23 pounds, John Croll, Franklin, Ohio; Mary Anderson, weight, 31 pounds, Jonn Cleven, Boston, Mass.; Thomas Tough, weight 23 pounds, James Clonk, Pittsburg, Penn.

Mollie, tiger cat and kittens, Nannie Arrico; Tab, black rabbit cat, F. D. Foster; black Russian cat, C. F. Hake; Oceanic, Australian cat, George E. Owings, Mount Sterling, Ky.; Tom and Nick, real black and tiger cats, Patrol Company No. 1 ; Tommy, three-legged cat, Joe Strauss; Bess and Kit, Prussian, Joe Strauss; Fanny Thomson, white and gold color and blue eyes, Mrs. Ray; Annie and family, Cincinnati Type Foundry; Pete, N. Hubert, Fairmount; Tom and Jerry, A. Wester; Tug Wilson, tortoise shell. Mrs. Lulu Dickson; Sally and kittens, W. Berkgratz; Maux, G. W. Cary, Jackson, Mich.

Bob-Tailed Species. Tom and Jennie, B. G. Eveslage; red cat, Peter Conle; Clarence, ocelot, Boston; Maud, lynx, Easton, Penn.; Emma, Turkish, Wilkesbarre, Penn.; Henry Irving, Angora, London, Ohio; Bob Ingersoll, Russian, Hoboken, N.J.; Chas. Parsloe, Chinese, Newark, Ohio; Our German Senator, Japanese, New York City; Tom, Persian, Philadelphia; Jerry, puma, Baltimore; John L. Sullivan, Indian, Boston ; Peter, three-legged cat, New Orleans; Josephine, Sicilian, Lexington, Ky.; Joe, a coal black, H. M. Davis, American Israelite; Leo and Blanche, Angora, Ben Thrasher; Sam, T. Stokes; Jumbo, black (weight, thirty-one pounds), Mary Loftus; Bengal, a tiger cat, John Renner; Jumbo (weight, thirty-three pounds), George Smith; Tommy, educated cat, S. T. Fitzgerald: Billy (tiger), J. M. Regan; Tip (Angora), L. C. Weir; Desdemona (white Angora), one blue and one yellow eye, L. C. Weir; Tabby, Master James Loeb; Daisy, educated cat, Louisville; Tom, the Galley Slave, educated cat, Cincinnati; Maria (Manx), Newport; The Berner Jury, domestic cats, Cincinnati; The Fourteenth Regiment, educated cats; Roscoe Conkling, John Clarkson, 59 Center street, Portland, Me.

THE FIRST GRAND NATIONAL CAT SHOW AND FELINE FESTIVAL, to be held at Harris’ Mammoth Museum, begins this afternoon. Everything is in readiness, and Manager Harris declares it to be the greatest novelty he has ever got up since his connection with museums. Cats of all kinds are entered in the contest. Prizes will be awarded to the handsomest, largest, smallest, best educated, most curious and homeliest cats. Beside the great cat show a monster stage performance will be given by an excellent company of artists, among whom are Lilian Van Wert, balladist; Deven and Oakly, grotesque musical artists; Master Frankie Jones, the boy wonder; Prof. Welser, the prince of magicians; Minnie May Thompson, the juvenile prodigy; Monsieur DeLeon, modern Hercules, and Lulu, the inexplicable human phenomenon. The great cat parade, headed by Currier’s Band, will pass the principal streets Monday evening, leaving the Museum at ten o’clock promptly. - Cincinnati Enquirer, April 13, 1884

THE CAT SHOW. All day yesterday and all last evening the crowds surged into Harris’ Museum. Some surged in, and other surged and were unable to get in. Fully as many were turned away at the door, and last night the total of paid entrances footed up even fifteen thousand. The cat show is unquestionably ta hit, probably the biggest hit of the season. Over three hundred felines are on exhibition, and some of them are pretty, others coarse, some ugly and some indifferent, but in its entirety the ct show surpasses the expectations of the management and delights the visitor. – The Cincinnati Enquirer, April 14, 1884.

Next Saturday will be souvenir day at Harris’ Museum. To every lady and child attending the Great National Cat Show an elegant cat plaque will be given. – The Cincinnati Enquirer, April 15 1884

To-day manager Harris will introduce another feature in the way of presenting every lady and child attending the cat show with a handsome cat fan. Besides the souvenirs, those present will have an opportunity of witnessing the distribution of prizes to various owners of the lucky felines. – The Cincinnati Enquirer, April 19, 1884

ARRANGEMENTS COMPLETED FOR THE FORTHCOMING POULTRY EXHIBIT – The Cincinnati Enquirer, December 7th, 1901
The members of the Cincinnati Poultry Association last evening held an enthusiastic mating at the Dennison House, at which arrangements were completed for their fourth annual show, which will take place at Music Hall from January 13 to January 18. [. . .] An entertaining feature will be a cat show, the first of its kind ever held here.

ENTRIES FOR COMING CAT SHOW – The Cincinnati Enquirer, January 12, 1902
Preparations for the opening of the Cat Show on next Thursday morning are progressing swimmingly, and success is now assured. The space set aside for the show, the gallery of Horticultural Hall, is a positively ideal place for the exhibit. Those who have attended other cat shows declare that the arrangements are superior to any they have ever seen in other cities. The hall is to be entirely hung in Persian rugs, with a few seats placed here and there for the leisurely observation of the pampered pets. The cages will be placed in a double row down the center of the hall, making the easiest arrangement possible for the critical examination of the judges and the most satisfactory as well as beautiful for visitors.

Up to date the following entries have been made. The little two-year-old son of Dr. Kaighn, of Newport, will be the youngest exhibitor at the show. He enters “Sis Hopkins," a tabby female. The others are:

Simon B Jordan. Walnut Hills — Under 9 months Long-haired male, white, pointed with black
Mrs. Julius Copperberg, West Simmsbury, Conn. - One Persian cream male, Petronius.
F. J. Hooker, Reading Road. Avondale — Brown tabby famale.
Mrs. Fred Barker, Chase Avenue, Walnut – Long-haired male kitten, named Harrison.
Mrs. A. B. Thrasher, Antonio — Black, long-haired gelding, Medea, cream long-haired female.
Mrs. E. R Pierce — Davy, orange, longhaired male; Papita, light tabby; Daphne, cream imported female; Prince of Orange, orange and white points; Apollo, cream and white long-haired male; Zoroaster, cream male.
Mrs Edward H Totman, Chicago — Sockalexis, cream kitten, male; Wehtawaso, cream kitten, female.
Mrs. Frank L. Norton, Chicago – Sweetheart, shaded silver Persian.
Mrs. Sierra Nevada Jones, Clifton – Royal Laddie, white Persian male; Margery, white Angora female.
Mrs. Clinton Locke, Chicago – Turpin, long-haired Persian male; Melrose Lassie, long-haired blue Persian female; Lucy Clare, long-haired Persian smoke female; Siam, Royal Siamese male, imported from Siam 1899.
Jane Hamilton Smith, Willow Brook, Worthington, Ky. – Emperor II, brown tabby male; one orange with white points; one cream with white points; one black with white points.
A. Wilhelms & Sons, Gilbert Avenue, Walnut Hills – Tortoiseshell with white short-hair, female; black gelding, pointed with white.
Miss Florence Dittman, Avondale – Trio, pure white Persian, amber eyes.
Mrs. Louise Kinney – Mariani, Persian chinchilla male.
Rookwood Cattery, Newport — Winter, White Persian male; My Lady Two Eyes, white Persian female; Cupid, black Persian male, Lady Thelma, black Angora female; Emperor III., Abysinnian [sic] male; Flurkin, white Persian, female; Bounce, white Persian male; Snooks, white Persian male, Zadia, white Persian female; Rowena, white Angora female; Dewdrop, white Angora female; Margery Daw, white Angora female; Lady Soot, black Angora female; Princess Rujuh, black Angora female; Carmencita, cream Persian female; Micawber, brown tabby Angora; Tortilla, tortoise-shell female.
Albert Nelson Brooks, College Hill – short-haired gray tabby male, short-haired maltese tabby female.
Mrs. E.A. Wilson, Belfast, Maine – Midnight, black male; Star of the East, or Twinkle, blue tabby male.
Ellsworth Lawrence Kaign – Sis Hopkins, brown tabby Angora female.

MRS. C. HAMPTON LANE - SHE WILL JUDGE THE CATS – The Cincinnati Enquirer, January 16, 1902
Mrs C. Hampton Lane, of Chicago, who is to serve as judge of the cat show which opens to-morrow morning In Music Hall, arrives over the Big Four to-night, and will be the guest of Mrs. E. K. Pierce, manager of the cat show. Mrs. Lane is an authority as well as an enthusiast. She is devoting the month to the various cat shows about the country, having attended those In Cleveland and Detroit. After judging here she will attend and assist at the Beresford cat show in Chicago and act as judge at the cat show in St. Paul the last week in January. Mrs. Lane la a very charming and delightful woman, whose intelligence is not by any means limited to the subject of cats.

CAT SHOW – The Cincinnati Enquirer, 7th January, 1903

Society is beginning to bestir itself to make the second annual cat show of this city at Music Hall, January 14-15, one of the largest and most attractive of the shows given in this country. A great number of the entries of fine pets will be made by ladies prominent in Cincinnati society, while many will be sent from points between Chicago and New York. It is expected that more than 100 cats will be exhibited in the rows of cages in the art galleries.

The two-day limit on the time for holding the exposition is placed In accordance with the new rule reducing the time to this humane period for caged cats.
As In other cities in this country and abroad, the annual cat show is be a society event, the exhibitors here and elsewhere being ladies of the fashionable set. Some entries of valuable pet cats have already been made with Mrs. E.R. Pierce, manager of the show, which Is to be given under the auspices of the Beresford Cat Club. Among the most valued already promised for the show is an imported silver tabby Angora, of Mrs. Louise Addy Kinney, which will be among the most attractive in the halls.

Mrs. A.B. Thrasher will enter a solid black Persian cat, and an orange Persian tabby will he shown by Mrs. G. M. Allen. Mrs. E.R. Pierce will have two blue Maltese kittens and also a solid cream colored tabby. Other exhibitors from Cincinnati will be Mrs. Stearns of Avondale; Mrs. Chez; Mrs. J. J. Hooker; Mrs. J. O. Woodward; Mrs. George F. Belden; Mrs. William Hathersly and others.

Silver cups, money and special prizes have been offered, and there will be a great deal of good-natured rivalry among local exhibitors for the premiums on their pets. There are 50 clubs and individuals who will give premiums and special prizes.

Mrs. Ethel R.R. Champion has been selected Judge of the show, and Dr. S.A. Cantelon, veterinary surgeon. Miss Champion is from Staten Island, N.Y. Mrs. E.R. Pierce, who is manager of the show, stated yesterday that all cats to be exhibited will have to be entered for the show within the next few days, as the catalogue for the affair will contain the names and some of the photographs, together with numbers to designate the pets on exhibition. She reports that already a great number are enrolled, and that those desiring their pets in the official catalogue will be required to have their names and descriptions of the cats in the manager’s hands before the end of the week. Mrs. Pierce said yesterday that finer and more costly cats are entered for this year’s show than the previous year. Cats that have been abroad and those that have occupied placed in the big New York and Boston shows will be seen at Music Hall.

COMMON CAT WON – The Allentown Leader, 30th January 1903
A plebeian cat. with no trace of lineage, carried off highest honors at the Cincinnati cat show. The prize winner was even nameless. He was just a plain, ordinary cat, whose birthplace was the stable of the National Lead Company. Henry Crout, one of the employes of the company, thought it would be a good joke to exhibit the stable cat, and forthwith took him to the cat show with the result that the stable cat was selected as the best cat in the exhibition.

TRIUMPH OF AN UPSTART - various, 31st January, 1903
Fan (suburbanite belle) – “ Wasn’t it too bad about our cat show?"
Nan – “What about It? I haven't heard.”
Fan—“A coarse looking man came there with a big tomcat he’d picked up in a brewery, and carried off the highest prize. It just ruined the show.” - C. W. T.