REPORTS FROM EARLY BRITISH CAT SHOWS 1950
1950 NOTTINGHAM CHAMPIONSHIP CAT SHOW
ARISTOCRATS OF CAT WORLD AT NOTTINGHAM CHAMPIONSHIP SHOW Nottingham Journal, 10th January 1950
Few can boast a greater reputation in the sphere of feline fashion than to be the mother of the "world's most glamorous cat." And yet to 11-year-old "Southway Whiz" - owned by Mr. John Martin, of Helpringham, near Sleaford, Lincolnshire - it is only one of many great achievements. "Southway Whiz," on view yesterday at Notts. and Derbyshire Cat Club's fifth championship show at the Victoria Baths, Nottingham, is mother not only of "Southway Nicholas,'’ who is living in Switzerland after his recent win in Paris of the title "world's most glamorous cat," but of international champion "Southway Wizard," a resident in Holland, who is another world beater, and "Southway Crusader," who claims a memorable record in this country, including the British championship. Most recent addition to the "Southway family is young "Reveller," soon to sail to the United States as a dollar export. She claims relationship to 30 of the 170 entrants at yesterday’s show.
Mrs. F. Walker, of Tollerton, Nottinghamshire, received the outstanding local award with Inwood Shadow, which was judged the best long-haired neuter cat of the show, while Mrs. N. Lythgoe-Butt, of Mickleover, Derbyshire, gained the best short-haired neuter cat prize with Doneraib Chang.
First prizes were awarded as follows:-
Blue-eyed white cat (male): Ch. Carrezn Comfort (owned by Mrs. D. Herod, of Lichfield, Staffs.).
Orange=eyed white cat (male or female): Albany Zeltweg (Mrs. A. Cook-Radmore, of Cowplain, Hants.).
Orange-eyed white kitten (male or female): Carrez Cracker (Mrs. D. Herod).
Black cat (male): Champion. Bournside Black Diamond (Mrs. E Aitkin, Banstead, Surrey).
Brown tabby cat (male): Champion, Thonghurst Morning (Miss M Wigglesworth, Thongsbridge, Huddersfield).
Brown kitten (male or female): Toncor Tabltha (Mrs. K. Sheppard, Camberley, Surrey).
Tortoiseshell cat (male or female): Ch. Chadhurst Juliet (Miss M. Rodda, Bishops Stortford).
Tortoiseshell and white cat (male or female): Posy of Carne (Mrs. G. M. Budd. Knaresborough).
Tortoiseshell or tortoiseshell and white kitten (m. or f ): Bonnie Jean (Mrs S.S. Culley, Urmston, Lancs.).
Blue cat (m) —Champion Baralan Boy Blue (Mrs E.L Henn, Bridgnorth, Salop).
Blue kitten (m), 3-6 months—Pylelgh Peter (Miss H A Crosher, Oadby, Leicestershire).
Blue kitten (f), 3-6 months—Ronada Madonna (Mrs D Brice-Webb, Bramcote, Notts.).
Blue kitten (m or f), 6-9 months— Deebank Penny (Miss M Bull, of Wlrral, Cheshire).
Blue kitten, novice (m or f), 3-6 months —Ronada Madonna (Mrs. D Brice-Webb).
Blue kitten, breeders (m or f), 3-9 months - Ronada Madonna (Mrs. D Brice-Webb).
Cream cat (f)—Champion. Bayhorne Wendy (Mrs F. Mayne, Cornwall).
Cream cat (m) – Champion Walverdere Major (Mrs M Bull).
Cream kitten (m or f), 3-9 months - Deebank Monarch (Miss M Bull).
Chinchilla cat (f)—Champion Sylvandene Salome (Mr and Mrs J.F. Barker, of Ilkeston. Derbyshire).
Chinchilla kitten (m or f), 6-9 months - Mia of Allington (Miss D. Lewis, Derby).
Blue-cream cat (m or f) – Champion Mary Lou (Miss Z. Hatfield, Cottingham).
A.V. maiden kitten (m or f) 3-9 months – Carreg Cracker (Mrs D. Herod).
A.O.V. cat or kitten (m or f) – Bluchella (Mr F. Toghill, Keyworth, Nottinghamshire).
A.V. breeders’ cat (ex. blue) (m or f) – Chadhurst Rhapsody (MissM. Rodda).
A.V. novice cat (ex. Blue) (m or f) – Posy ofCarme (Mrs G.M. Budd).
A.V. novice kitten (ex. Blu) (m or f) 3-9 months – Carreg Cracker (Mrs D. Herod).
Siamese cat, seal-point kitten (f) – Inwood Shadow (Mrs A.S. McGregor, Maidstone, kent).
Siamese seal-point kitten (m), 3-6 months – Pikha Kum Woo (Mrs V.M. Deane, Newark, Nottinghamshire).
Siamese seal-point kitten (f), 3-6 months – Avonside Charmian (Mrs O.M. Lamb, Halesowen)
Siamese seal-point kitten (m or f), 6-9 months – Briarry Sukei (Mrs B. Hewlett, Norfolk).
Siamese blue-point cat (m or f) – Ch. Pincop Azure Zelda (Mrs O.M. Lamb).
Siamese kittens (pairs) – First prize, Mrs D. Nicholas, Rushton, near Macclesfield.
A.V. Siamese cat breeders (m or f) – Inwood Shadow (Mrs A.S. McGregor)
A.V. Siamese cat, novice (m or f) – Beaumanor Bricker (Mrs L. Parker, Leicester).
A.V. Siamese kitten, breeders (m or f), 3-9 months – Maiz-Mor-Mimeesha (Mr J.F. Whiting, Glouces.)
A.V. Siamese kitten, novice (m or f), 3-9 months – Briarry Sukei (Mrs B. Hewlett)
Black cat (m or f) – Manor Nicodelia (Mrs J.L. Ridgers, Croydon).
Silver Tabby cat (m or f) – Champion Stardrift of Silverleigh (Miss M. Bracey, Bristol).
Tortoiseshell or tortoiseshell and white cat (M or f) – Champion Nidderdale Dazzle (Mrs G.M. Budd).
Abyssinian cat (m or f) – Champion Raby Ramphis (Mrs L. France, Derby)
A.V. stud (judged on progeny – Mystic Dreamer (Mrs G. Matthes, Loughborough, Leicestershire)
A.V. Brood queen (judge on progeny) – Cawstone Belinda (
A.V. Team – First prize to Mrs L. Parker.
A.V. Tabby kitten (m or f), 3-9 months – Tollerton Maid Marion (Mrs M. Oakley, Tollerton, Nottinghamshire)
A.V. Short-haired cat or kitten (incl. Siamese), novice exhibitor – Briarry Sukeu.
NEUTERED CATS AND KITTENS
A.V. long-hair cat (premier class) – Tollerton Monarch (Mrs F. Walker, Wollaton Park, Nottingham)
A.V. short-haired cat, foreign (premier class) – Doveraile Chang (Mrs N. Lythgoe-Butt, Derby).
A.V. long-hair or short-hair kitten (m or f) – Tollerton Reveller (Mrs W.E. Rigley, Woodthorpe, Nottingham)
NON-PEDIGREE HOUSEHOLD PETS
A.C. cat or kitten – Sooty (Mrs R. Oldham, Keyworth, Notts)
A.V. Siamese cat (m or f) – Torwood Shadow.
A.V. short-hair cat (m or f) – Nidderdale Dazzle.
A.V. short-hair kitten – Tollerton Silver Dawn (Mrs M. Oakley, Tollerton Notts)
Blue cat (m or f) – Romany Roma (Mrs E.L. Henn)
A.V. long-hair cat or kitten – Baralan Bly Blue.
A.V. Siamese (neuter) – Clumber Brownie (Mrs M.C. Williams, Mansfield, Notts)
Blue-point cat (m or f) – Ch. Pincop Azure Zelda (Mrs O.M. Lamb, Halesowen)
A.V. short-hair cat or kitten (except Siamese) m or f – Stardrift of Silverleigh (Mrs B.Bracey, Bristol)
Siamese adult (m or f) – Sapphire of Sabrina (Mrs E. Whidgray, Ribchester, Lancashire)
Siamese kitten, seal-point or blue-point (m or f) – Avonside Charmian (Mrs O. M. Lamb)
Red tabby cat (f) – Tancor Carrots (Mrs K, Sheppard).
Blue cat (f) – Romany Roma (Mrs C.L. Henn)
Blue cat (m or f), novice – Crowdencote Prince Kong (Mrs A. Richards, Matlock, Derbyshire)
Blue cat, senior (m or f) – Romany Roma (Mrs C.L. Henn)
Blue cat, junior (m or f) – Southway Josephine (Mrs M. Brunton)
A.V. maiden cat (m or f) - Tollerton Juliet (Miss M. Schofield, Ruddington, Nottinghamshire)
A.V. kittens, pairs – First prize to Mrs F. Mayne.
A.V. senior cat (ex. Blue) – Ch. Carreg Comfort (Mrs D. Herod).
A.V. junior cat (ex. Blue) – Albany Zeltweg (Mrs A. Cook-Radmore, Cowplain, Hants)
A.V. breeders’ kitten (ex. Blue) – Carreg Cracker (Mrs D. Herod)
A.V. novice kitten (ex. Blue) – Carreg Cracker
A.V. Brace – Southway Reveller and Ch. Southway Crusader (Mr J.H.A. Martin, Sleaford).
A.V. Team - Southway Reveller, Ch. Southway Crusader, Southway Whiz (Mr J.H.A. Martin, Sleaford).
A.V. Stud – Ch. Southway Crusader.
A.V. Brood queen – Southway Whiz.
A.V. neuter cat or kitten – Bridgeway Timothy (Mrs P.E. Chapman, Whitton, Middlesex)
Blue kitten – Trenton Verity (Mrs D.H. Harrington-Harvard, Milford Lodge, Stafford)
A.V. short-hair cat or kitten – Ch. Pincop Azure Zelda (Mrs. O.M. Lamb, Halesowen)
Siamese, seal-point adult – Inwood Shadow (Mrs A.S. McGregor, Maidstone)
Seal-point kitten – Pikha Mia Too (Mr G. Price, Huthwaite)
Midland Counties Cat Club – A.V. long-hair cat or kitten – Ch. Southway Crusader.
Midland Counties Cat Club – A.V. short-hair cat or kitten – Ch. Southwood Sunya (mrs D. Nicholas, Macclesfield)
Red, Cream, Tortoiseshell, Tortoiseshell and White, Blue-Cream and Brown Tabby Society – A.V. cat or kitten – Clown of Carne (Mrs K.R. Williams, Sutton, Surrey)
Southern Counties Cat Club – A.V. long-hair cat or kitten – Romany Roma (Mrs E.L. Henn, Bridgnorth)
Southern Counties Cat Club – A.V. short-hair cat or kitten – Stardrift of Silverleigh (Miss B. Bracey, Bristol)
Southern Counties Cat Club – A.V. Siamese cat or kitten – Ch. Pincop Azure Zelda (Mrs O.M. Lamb)
Southern Counties Cat Club – A.V. neuter – Pr. Vagabond of Knott Hall (Miss H.A. Crosher, Oadby, Leicestershire)
Kensington Kitten and Neuter Cat Clubs – A.V. long-hair or short-hair kitten – Avonside Charmian (Mrs O.M. Lamb)
Croydon Cat Club - A.V. long-hair cat – Baralan Boy Blue (Mrs E.L. Henn)
Croydon Cat Club - A.V. long-hair kitten – Pyleigh Peter (Miss H.A. Crosher).
Croydon Cat Club - A.V. short-hair cator kitten (ex. Siamese) –Stardrife of Silverlieght (Miss B. Bracey)
Short-haired cat Society of Great Britain – A.V. short-hair cat or kitten (ex. Siamese) – Raby Ramphis (Mrs L. France, Derby)
National Cat Club – A.V. long-hair cat – Romany Roma.
National Cat Club – A.V. long-hair kitten – Ronada Madonna.
National Cat Club – A.V. short-hair cat or kitten – Ch. Pincop Azure Zelda.
Wombwell Fanciers’ Society – A.V. cat, long or short-hair – Ch. Southway Crusader.
[NOTTS AND DERBYSHIRE CAT CLUB] LOCAL CAT PRIZES Leicester Evening Mail, 10th January 1950
Mrs. L. Parker, Leicester and Miss H. A Crosher, Oadbv, shared six prizes at yesterday's Notts and Derbyshire Cat Club's fifth championship show at Nottingham, taking three firsts each. Another local first prize-winner was Mrs. G. Matthes, of Loughborough.
[NOTTS AND DERBYSHIRE CAT CLUB] NOTTINGHAM CAT SHOW Nottingham Journal, 11th January 1950
Mrs F Walker, of Wollaton Park, Nottingham, won the outstanding local award at the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Cat Club’s fifth championship show where her entry Tollerton Monarch was judged the best long-haired neuter cat in the show.
[NOTTS AND DERBYSHIRE CAT CLUB PREMIER AWARD FOR MUCKLEY CORNER CAT Lichfield Mercury, 13th January 1950
At the Nottingham and Derbyshire Cat Club fifth championship show, held at Nottingham on Monday, Mrs. W. Herod, of “Clevelands," Muckley Corner, near Lichfield, was successful in winning the premier award for the best long-haired cat in the show with her blue-eyed white cat, "Champion Carreg Comfort." He was also awarded championship certificate his open class. This cat has now gained six championship certificates under different judges and has been three times best long-hair cat at different shows. Following in his footsteps is his orange-eyed white son, "Carreg Cracker," now five months old. At Monday's show he was awarded premier prize for best long-hair kitten at the show and also five first prizes.
1950 LANCASHIRE AND NORTHERN COUNTIES' CAT CLUB SHOW
[LANCASHIRE AND NORTHERN COUNTIES' CAT CLUB] PICK OF NORTHERN CATS WILL BE AT THE SHOW Manchester Evening News, 11th January 1950
Red ones, blue ones, black .. . white .. . cream .. . tortoiseshell. . . . Long-haired, short-haired, Manx, and Siamese–some of the sleekest and most fascinating cats in the North of England are coming to Manchester. More than 120 of them, groomed and polished, arch and superior, will purr their way into exhibition boxes at the Fennel-street Corn Exchange a week next Saturday. Entries have come from all parts of the North to Lancashire and Northern Counties' Cat Club for its annual show. There are 15 challenge cups and 54 special prizes.
Southwood Sunya, a champion Siamese owned by Mrs. Nicholas, of Macclesfield, and Lace Flower, short-hair tortoiseshell champion, belonging to Mrs. Budd, of Knaresborough, are to be shown. Mrs. S. Culley, of Urmston, breeder of blues and a judge at the show, said to-day: "We have many more entries than last year, and the standard will be very high indeed. Apart from the champions there will be many cats holding one or two challenge certificates."
1950 EDINBURGH AND EAST OF SCOTLAND CAT CLUB SHOW
PUSS, PUSS! The Scotsman, 19th January 1950
Edinburgh cat-lovers have a treat in store this coming Saturday when, for the first time in their short history, the Edinburgh and East of Scotland Cat Club are holding a cat show in the New Gallery, under the rules of the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy. There will be cats of all kinds on view, from the most regal Siamese to the nicest smut-nosed, short-haired kitten. Entries are now closed, so there is no use rushing up with your treasure at the last minute, but every reason for feasting your eyes at a safe distance, on the darlings of other cat-owners, and making plans for next time. That safe distance, by the way, has been planned for the benefit of the cats rather than the humans. Thoughtless visitors, one learns, are inclined to stroke strange cats, in hopes of ingratiating themselves with those most selective of creatures. Thereby they run the risk of carrying infection unawares. Even the judge, Miss Kit Wilson, will be followed in her judicial rounds by a satellite bearing a basin of disinfectant and towel. Her hands will be disinfected after handling each cat.
What I like about this show is its democratic spirit. It is by no means to be an affair of aristocrats only. True, there will be blue male adults, blue female adults, Siamese (blue-point and seal-point), and long-haired and short-haired cats of pedigree. But other such encouraging classes as "Household Pet" and "Children's Class" give the whole event a happy, homely air. The Cat Club does not, by the way, intend to spend all its substance on shows. Serious cat-lovers who have formed it are perturbed at the prevailing ignorance of cat needs and hope to stimulate interest in their right care. Eventually, they may be able to contribute something towards research into the many diseases to which cats are prone. Meanwhile, I should like to propose a class for next year's effort, should the show be repeated. It would be defined as "Strays," who are put forward on account of the very handsome one-time strays of my acquaintance who have become the pride and joy of the households they adorn. I had meant to say the households that adopted them but as everyone knows, with cats it is the other way round.
[EDINBURGH AND EAST OF SCOTLAND CAT CLUB] SMUTZ REPAYS A DEBT Sunday Post, 22nd January 1950
A tortoiseshell cat repaid its owner for saving its life three years ago by winning the championship of the South-East Scotland Cat Club's first open show at Edinburgh yesterday. Longovicus Smutz-by which name the cat is known-is a tortoiseshell white male. It's owner, Mrs Morland, Southfield, Kitswell Road Lanchester, Durham, claims he is the only one of his kind in the country. Only one in every 100,000 tortoiseshell cats born is a male. Smutz was a stray kitten, and a local veterinary surgeon had decided to put him painlessly to death when Mrs Morland took pity on him. So far he has shown his gratitude by winning three championships. This was his first visit to Scotland. There were 120 entries for the show, the first of its kind to be held in Edinburgh since the war. Judge was Miss Kit Wilson, of London.
[EDINBURGH AND EAST OF SCOTLAND CAT CLUB] CHAMPION A UNIQUE SPECIMEN The Scotsman, 23rd January 1950
"Longovis Smutz," owned by Mrs M. Morland, Durham, a cat of unique breed, had the honour of being adjudged supreme champion at the first open show held by the Edinburgh and East of Scotland Cat Club in the New Gallery, Shandwick Place, on Saturday. In the catalogue "Smutz" is registered as "pedigree unknown" but experts claim that only one in 100, 000 male pure tortoise-and-white short-haired cats are bred. In fact, the species is so rare that cat fanciers are unprepared to quote the value of such an animal. There were 43 cats taking part 31 of which were Siamese. The purpose of the show was to increase the public's interest in the better care of cats and thus to do something to reduce the number of stray cats which roam the city. Miss Kit Wilson was the judge, and Mr W. R. Anderson, M.R.C.V.S., presided .
CUPS
The 1949 Committee Cup for best Cat in Show – Mrs M. Morland’s Longovis Smutz.
Cup for best Long-haired (Adult, Male or Female) – Mrs C. Gilbert’s Craiiziepatch of Carne.
Cup for best Short-haired (Adult, Male or Female) – Mrs M. Morland’s Longovis Smutz.
Cup for best Kitten (Long-haired, Male or Female) – Mrs M. Morland’s Longovicus Daphne Witton.
Cup for best Kitten (Short-haired, Male or Female) – Mrs G.M. Stephen’s Norinna Azure.
Other class prizes were as follows:-
Blue (M or F), Novice; any other colour (M) Long-haired, Open; any other colour (F) Long-haired, Open – Mrs C. Gilbert, Berwick-on-Tweed.
Any other colour (M or F) Long-haired, Novice – Capt. J.P.P. Simpson, Errol.
Long-haired (any colour) Female – Mrs T.S. PcPhail, Renfrewshire.
Siamese (M or F) Blue-point, Open – Mrs G.M. Stephen, Nairn.
Siamese (F) Seal-point, Open – Mrs J. Howden, Stirling.
Siamese (M) Seal-point, Novice – Mrs E.M. Manclark, Edinburgh.
Siamese (F) Seal-point, Novice – Mrs J. Howden.
Siamese (S.P. or B.P., Male or Female) – Mrs G.M. Stephen.
Long-haired Kitten (any colour, M or F), Open – Mrs M. Morland, Durham.
Siamese Kitten (S.P. or B.P.), Male – J. Mathewson, Edinburgh.
Siamese Kitten (S.P. or B.P.), Female – Mrs G.M. Stephen.
Short-haired Kitten (any colour, M or F) – Mrs G.M. Stephen.
Short-haired Kitten (any colour, M or F), Novice – J. Mathewson.
Short-haired Kitten (any colour, M or F), Open – Mrs G.M. Stephen.
Adult Brace – Mrs J. Howden.
Short-haired (Beginners) – J. Mathewson.
Challenge (Adult, Long-haired, M or F) – Mrs C. Gilbert.
Challenge (Adult, Short-haired, M or F) – Mrs M. Morland.
Challenge (Kitten, Long-haired, M or F) – Mrs M. Morland.
Challenge (Kitten, Short-haired, M or F) – Mrs G.M. Stephen.
Neuter (Long-haired) Pedigree – Mrs J. Lamb, Loanhead.
Neuter (Short-haired) Pedigree – Mrs M.M. Willox, Edinburgh.
Household Pets – Mrs J. Lamb.
Children’s Class – Master D. Stephen, Nairn.
[EAST OF SCOTLAND CAT CLUB SHOW] NEWBRIDGE CAT SHOW. West Lothian Courier, 27th January 1950
At the East of Scotland Cat Club show in Edinburgh, Miss N. Reeder was awarded a second, third and reserve prize for her Siamese (Seal Point) cat, "Cal-Max."
1950 LANCASHIRE AND NORTH-WEST COUNTIES CAT CLUB SHOW
[LANCASHIRE AND NORTH-WEST COUNTIES CAT CLUB] KITTEN’S CUPHalifax Evening Courier, 23rd January 1950
At the Lancashire and North-west Counties Cat Club show at Manchester on Saturday Mr. R. Pedley, of Ovenden Wood, with his Siamese seal point kitten won three firsts, challenge cup for the best Siamese kitten in show, and three specials. Another exhibit of his was first among Siamese kittens under six months.
[LANCASHIRE AND NORTH-WEST COUNTIES CAT CLUB] CAT-CALLS Halifax Evening Courier, 26th January 1950
A friend was amused last night at the reaction of his five-year-old male cat to the noises of a “live” broadcast from a cat show in Manchester. At the start of the broadcast this cat was soundly asleep by the fireside, but during a certain “turn” he cocked his ears and leapt to the door, no doubt expecting a call from an acquaintance. No other cat was there, however, and he returned to the room dejected and although the noises continued, he was no longer deceived by a radio set with which he has had a long association. This is the first time this cat has responded to “cat-calls” on the wireless. There must be some indefinable quality in feline enunciation which cannot successfully be reproduced by those who give animal impressions. However good we humans may think them – the cats are unmoved.
1950 SOUTHERN COUNTIES (SHEPHERD'S BUSH) CAT SHOW
LOCAL SUCCESS AT CAT SHOW Gloucester Citizen, 1st February 1950
Mrs M. Lisle, of Severnside, Maisemore, exhibiting at the Southern Counties Cat Show at Shepherd’s Bush, London, won the award for the best kitten in the show with her seven-months-old Seal-pointed Siamese Redmarley Taita.
[SOUTHERN COUNTIES CAT SHOW] CHAMPION CATS Eastbourne Chronicle, 3rd February 1950
Showing five of her noted breed of Persian cats at the Southern Counties Championship Cat Show held at Elm Grove Hall, Shepherd's Bush, on Monday, Mrs Tomlinson, of Willingdon, gained two championship awards and two second places. In the tortoiseshell class she gained first and second places.
IT'S A DOG'S LIFE - EVEN FOR A CAT Essex Newsman, 7th February 1950
At 5 a.m. she was hauled ruthlessly from her bed. Breakfast that she didn't want was put in front of her. The house was in disgruntled chaos. My dachshund rolled her eyes from the depths her basket in protest and refused to budge. An hour vanished. She was snatched up again and pressed into a black travelling box. Bumpety-bump-bump-bump. We raced for the station as the train steamed into South Woodham and collapsed into icy carriage. From Liverpool St. station we travelled to Hammersmith and the Lime Grove Baths where the last show of the season was being staged by the Southern Counties Cat Club.
At the entrance we met the final obstacle; the veterinary inspection. This was an anxious moment. A chance sneeze, a watery eye, any little thing which might suggest to the suspicious eye of white-coated officialdom the dreaded word Cat 'Flu would inevitably mean her being turned away at the door, entry fees forfeited. So much hope and hard work on our part would have been wasted. But she passed this test triumphantly. The hall was a vast place dedicated for the day to the aristocracy of cat-dom. We joined other hopefuls swabbing and spraying their darlings' pens with disinfectant, offering hot water bottles, blankets to lie on, saucers of cream, hard-boiled egg, tinned salmon, chicken liver. And such a commotion of brushing and combing and surreptitious powdering (not allowed in the Show hall!) as you never saw. Bold young toms kicked and struggled and swore in owners' arms. Hats were knocked awry.
Persian cats predominated, feathery monsters in black, blue, cream, chinchilla, tortoiseshell and smoke. There was a large entry of Siamese, wailing horribly. There were Abyssinians, coloured like the desert, and rumpy Manxes. And of course She was there, my own sinuous little Russian, a very rare breed to-day which is be compared with the Siamese in shape and disposition, but is blue all over with sparkling green eyes. British cats were represented by tabbies of all colours, gingers, whites, blacks, blues. But it was noticeable that the exotic foreigners seem to attract our cat breeders more than our own discreeter types.
[The kitten, named 'Saracen Sweet Ida,' is five months old; one of only twelve in England. The species almost died out during the war. Saracen Sweet Ida is fed on raw meat and milk. British Blue cats have orange eyes; true Russian Blues have brilliant green eyes. Gerry Kiernan, the kitten's owner, lives at South Woodham; she also keeps dogs and rabbits. ]
At 10.13 a voice from the loud speaker drove all from the hall. Some of paid a shilling and climbed to the gallery from where we might watch the judging. A hushed ceremony this, with white-coated experts moving swiftly among the pens; meticulously washing their hands after touching each exhibit; pulling the cats into strange positions; blowing into their fur; staring fixedly at them, first an inch from their own noses, then at arm's length; weighing one cat's good points against another's. The quiet was only broken by feline complaint, and by the occasional "ouch" of a steward clawed by one the aristocrats. The only people present without reverence were the Press photographers who flashed their cameras where they pleased, their expressions remaining bored.
At one-thirty the judging ended. Doors were opened to the general public. Owners, and owners' friends and cat-lovers generally poured in, blocking the gangways. The hall, which had been very cold in the morning, became stifling. A faint but unmistakeable smell of "cat" assailed our noses. "Ooohs" and "Aahs" rose by the hundred, mingling with the proud accents of winning owners and the controlled nonchalance of the losers: "Oh well, I didn't really expect her to win. She's not quite on top of her form to-day."
The cats took the affair in their stride. Most slept. Some stared with cold dignity at the faces peering through the bars. Only an occasional cat, perhaps with a less immaculate pedigree than its fellows, obliged by playing with its woolly mouse. At 6.30 p.m. I was allowed remove my kitten and depart. The Show season is over. Now the time begins when all of us try to breed next year's prize-winners. It was a long exhausting day. The anxious possibility remains that she may have caught something. If she has, the day's reward will be small compensation. It reposes at the moment on my mantelpiece; one rather unimpressive blue card meaning— Second Prize. Congratulations, Cat!
1950 CHESHIRE SHOW
CHESHIRE SHOW Liverpool Daily Post , 9th June 1950
Championship Awards: Cats – Shield for best in how: Miss M F Bull, Thornton Hough, Wirral.
[Full results not available]
In the cat section at Cheshire Agricultural Show, Miss D. M. Stocks, Middlewich, was awarded first prize and a special for her exhibit in the class for household pets, non-pedigree, any age or sex, long hairs. Second prize winner was Miss S. M. Douglas, of Little Sutton.
1950 KENSINGTON KITTEN AND NEUTER CAT CLUB SHOW
[KENSINGTON KITTEN AND NEUTER CAT CLUB SHOW] BROXBOURNE CAT SUCCESSES Hertford Mercury and Reformer, 28th July 1950
“Simon Briggens” champion orange tabby owned by Mrs Walter of 88a Tudor Lodge, Broxbourne, won two more prizes at the Kensington Champion Cat Show at Bayswater last week. The same owner's “Peter” aged ten months won a third prize for household cats.“ Peter was the oldest cat in the show, in which there were 220 entries.
[KENSINGTON KITTEN AND NEUTER CAT CLUB SHOW] MORE PRIZES FOR ALLEY CATS Kensington Post, 14th July 1950
Hundreds of Kensington cats and kittens will be on show in the Kensington Kitten and Neuter Cat Club's annual show at Porchester Hall on Wednesday. All breeds of cats and kittens will be on view, varying from Siamese to alley cats. More prizes will be presented in the Household Pets class this year than in previous years. These will be for the best cat in the show, the cat in best condition and the best type of cat of its kind. There will also be some specially designed inscribed rosettes for winners in the Pedigree chases The Governing Council of The Cat Fancy have given the club permission to present some of the silver cups offered for the Outright Wins in the hall on the day. But this does not apply to the challenge cups.
[KENSINGTON KITTEN AND NEUTER CAT CLUB SHOW] BOROUGH CATS HAVE THEIR DAY Kensington Post, 28th July 1950
Last Wednesday, early in the morning, people passing the Porchester Hall, Bayswater, might have been surprised to see the number of baskets and hampers being carefully carried into the Hall. Perhaps a sudden, startled miaouw might have given them the reason for the strange procession. It was the occasion of the Kensington Kitten and Neuter Cat Clubs' annual show when cats from all over the country compete for an imposing looking list of awards. Inside the hall the exhibits were housed in numerous grey coloured metal cages stretched in rows down the room. Each row had a judge with a steward to help, they were carefully examining the cats one by one on a little table set between the lines of cages. After each meticulous scrutiny the judge’s observations were noted down in a special book, a page for each animal.
There were well over 200 entries and 103 prizes to be distributed amongst them. The cats, ranging from the ordinary black tom "alley cat" to elegant and supercilious looking Persians, took the careful attentions being paid them with the air of "Well, it's only our due after all." But no one can say that they weren't well behaved; an occasional temperamental howl or bored grunt were the only sounds that disturbed the peace of the hall as the Judges, from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m., went swiftly about their work.
The organizing committee watched proceedings from a platform at the top of the hall while visitors and anxious owners stood around the walls. Three local cats were Bridgefoot Simmie (Class 78. A.V. S-H Neuter) entered by Mrs. Grant Allen, South Kensington, Mockbridge Moonstone (Class 16, Short Hairs Blue British) exhibited by Mrs. Bentley, of Argyll Road. Kensington, and Phillimore Roary (Class 24 Blue Russian) entered by Mrs. Janke, also of Argyll Road.
PORTER’S CAT BEATS ALL THE BEST Kensington News and West London Times, 21st July 1950
Cats took control of Porchester Hall in Bayswater on Wednesday, when the Kensington Kitten and Neuter Cat Club held their annual show. Fluffy Persians gazed disdainfully from their wire cages. Elegant Siamese cats lazily washed their coffee-coloured feet, deep blue eyes fixed in an unblinking thoughtful stare oblivious of the hundreds of cat-lovers that pressed around. Cat-fanciers criticised the finer points of the feline race in loud voices, while the curious scratched their fingers on the wire cages or pushed their gloves through in an attempt to get the cats to “come and play.”
In one comer of the hall were the domestic pets; cats that would return to the armchair by the fireside at the end of the evening. But household have their pride too, and a large handsome tabby glowered in one corner brooding on the indignities that were nearly forced on him earlier in the day. For Pip had objected strongly when some strange woman had tried to pull him out of his cage and make him parade in front of her. He wasn’t going to let strangers touch him, no sir! Two green eyes flashed in anger and a long tail twitched. But cat judges are kindly people and when Pip had stood up to back away they had seen his splendid condition, small ears, and well-shaped head, and decided that he should win the President’s (Miss Rachael Ferguson, the author) award for the best cat in the Show. The award a china cat.
Pip belongs to Mrs E. Unthank of Winstay Gardens, W.8. He was shown by Mrs Waring who lives in the block of flats where Mrs Unthank’s husband is porter. Pip often spends his afternoons visiting her and she recognised his sterling qualities and persuaded Mrs Unthank to show him this year. And the result? 1st Prize for the best household cat, 1st Prize for the best adult tabby, and the President’s award. Pip blinked and stretched one velvety paw. “It all goes to show that a chap can afford to be choosey if he’s as beautiful as I.”
[KENSINGTON KITTEN AND NEUTER CAT CLUB] LOCAL CAT OWNERS WIN PRIZES Kensington News and West London Times, 4th August 1950
Two local cat owners are among those who won prizes in the Kensington Kitten and Neuter Cat Club Show at Porchester Hall. They were Mrs. Bentley, or Argyll Road, Kensington, whose Blue British shorthaired kitten won first prize in its open class, and Miss Hanerton, of Glazbury Road, West Kensington, whose long-haired tortoiseshell neuter took second prize in four classes, only being beaten by the best neuter in the show.
1950 BINGLEY SHOW
[BINGLEY SHOW] Bradford Observer, 11th August 1950
Entries for the cat class have increased by 60 to 194 and will be a great feature. This section is organised in conjunction with the Yorkshire Cat Club and has attracted the finest feline specimens in the country.
[BINGLEY SHOW] Bradford Observer, 16th August 1950
The cat section, organised in conjunction with the Yorkshire Cat Club, will be a feature of exceptional interest to a rapidly increasing circle of fanciers.
[BINGLEY SHOW] Bradford Observer, 17th August 1950
CATS
Long-haired, blue, male, adult: Mrs G M Snowden, Hull; 2, Mrs E. Slater, York; 3, Miss P, Chapman, York.
Long-haired, blue, female, adult: Mrs G M Snowden.
Long-haired, any other colour, male, adult: Mrs K Carbert, York; 2, Mrs E Slater; 3, Mrs G M Budd, Knaresborough.
Long-haired, any other colour, female, adult: Mrs K Carbert; 2, Mrs G M Budd; 3, J W Proud, Drighlington.
Siamese, male, adult: D Cooper and Miss J Hoyland; 2, Mrs I Lord, Lancaster; 3, Mrs K Carbert.
Siamese, female, adult: Mrs G Whyte Watson, Shipley; 2, T and D Spoor, Keighley; 3, Mrs M J Smith, Cross Hills.
Yorkshire County Cat Club, open challenge, male or female cat, any variety except Siamese: Mrs G M Snowden; 2, Mrs G M Budd; 3, Mrs K Carbert.
Yorkshire County Cat Club, open challenge, kitten, any variety except Siamese: 1 and 2, Mrs F E Taylor; 3, Mrs E Slater.
Yorkshire County Cat Club, open challenge, male or female, cat or kitten, Siamese only: Mrs G Whyte Watson; 2, Mrs I Lord; 3, Mrs E W Wridgway.
1950 SANDY SHOW
[SANDY SHOW] Biggleswade Chronicle, 5th May 1950
Sandy Show has been granted championship status again this year for its cat show. This will be held on the second day of the show, 26th August.
[SANDY SHOW] CATS WERE “VERY GOOD” Biggleswade Chronicle, 1st September 1950
Judges had nothing but praise for the cats, which came from all parts of the country. International judge Miss Kathleen Yorke described them as “very good indeed” and well up on last year’s entries. An exception were the Siamese classes, which were “not quite up to least year’s standard.” The Blue cats and kittens, together with Chinchillas, were far superior, said Miss M L Rodda, and Mrs M Brunton, another international cat judge, was pleased with the quality of her miscellaneous class entries. Another cat judge, Mrs J M Newton, thought the entries well up to the average. The only local entrant in this section was Mrs C M Barratt, of Beeston Green.
1950 CRYSTAL CAT SHOW (OLYMPIA)
[OLYMPIA CAT SHOW] Sheffield Weekly Telegraph, 15th April 1950
IT was after reading a recipe for one of the secrets of success that Mrs. Florence Macdonald decided to go ahead and do something that she has wanted to do all her life - hold a cat show. The secret, she read, was that if you wanted to do something very badly and really made up your mind about it, then you would do it. Mrs. Macdonald loves cats and believes that there are far more cat-lovers in Britain than is generally realised. For herself, she prefers Siamese cats, of which she has fifteen. Many of her friends disagree with her choice, but share her enthusiasm, so, with their help, she is to hold what may turn out to be the world s biggest show of cats. This is to be held in London and already there are sixteen hundred entries from all parts of Britain.
[OLYMPIA CAT SHOW] various, 29th August 1950
The dog who puts his nose through the doors of Olympia on September 21 will get a lively reception. The home of Cruft’s Dog Show is to be invaded by 2,000 cats from all parts of the country. Entries are still coming in for the competition to find Britain’s largest cat, to challenge the 40 lb American contender for the world title.
“Entries for all classes have exceeded our highest expectations,” says Mrs. Macdonald, show organiser, “but late comers can still be taken.”
This will be the largest cat show ever to be organised in any part of the world.
[OLYMPIA CAT SHOW] “MIMOSA” GOING TO TOWN Eastbourne Chronicle, 1st September 1950
According to present intentions Eastbourne's famous Siamese cat "Mimosa" is to be exhibited at the Cat Show at Olympia on September 21. "Mimosa" is jointly 'owned by Miss B. J. Perkins, Superintendent of the X-ray Department at St. Mary's hospital. and Miss P. Simmons, a teacher at Bourne Infants School. The potential exhibit first came into the news in March when she became the mother of the large number of nine kittens at one birth. Since then she has had seven kittens. In between she was stolen and left in a greatly distressed condition on an allotment.
[OLYMPIA] CRYSTAL CAT SHOW Croydon Times, 9th September 1950
Crystal's Greatest Cat Show. Pedigree and household pets. Olympia, September 21, 22.
[OLYMPIA] CRYSTAL CAT SHOW Kensington News and West London Times - Friday 15 September 1950
Will there any Kensington challengers for the title of Britain’s heaviest cat at Olympia, Kensington on September 21st? Heaviest cat in the world is one in America which weighs 40 lbs and it is doubtful if this country after years of rationing will able to forward a contestant of anything like that weight. Average weight for a cat is about 10 lbs fully grown. The Olympia Cat Show will be the largest of its kind to be held in London and about 2000 cats are expected to be exhibited there. This is said to be one of the symptoms of an increase in the popularity of cats all over the country. Kensington certainly has some famous cats to its credit, not the least among these is Mortimer and following close on his heels (or should we say paws), is The Yellow Cat who won a prize for the best household pet in one of the shows of the Kensington Cat Show and has a restaurant named after him. Then of course there is a Civet Cat but now we are in Inn Signs “Toby’s” department.
[OLYMPIA] HAVE YOU A CAT WEIGHING MORE THAN 40 lbs? South Western Star, 15th September 1950
You don't happen to possess a cat weighing more than 40 lbs. do you? Pity. Two Putney business people are looking for a cat meeting such requirements so they can tell those 48 States across the Atlantic, "We've got a cat to beat your Claus." Mr. and Mrs. H. M. MacDonald. who run a Putney High Street crystal shop, are the people concerned. They are the organisers of the "Crystal Cat Show" at Olympia later this month. This is the tale about the search for Britain's heaviest cat. In America they have Claus, a 40 lb cat. Now, Mrs. MacDonald has taken up the challenge. "Find a bigger one in Britain." So far, the weightiest specimen to her knowledge is around the 18 lb. mark. Given time, could anyone feed up a cat to reach gigantic proportions and weight? No. says Mrs. M. It is a matter of glands, like human beings. Anyway the search for a rival to Claus is on. If it turns up there will be – at the Crystal Cat Show – a prize of £1 for every pound the cat weighs.
Many cats owned by Wandsworth and Battersea folk are expected among the 1,000 anticipated at the show. The public is being invited to pick, by ballot-form as they enter Olympia, the cat they like best out of all on show. Organising is so vast a job for Mr. and Mrs. MacDonald that they have been compelled to restrict business at their shop for the time being. Mr. MacDonald, by the way was born in Battersea. And so was the show secretary, Mr. A. Towe. Almost every known variety of cat will be at the show, says Mrs MacDonald. They include a Burmese cat, and there are only three of them in this country.
[OLYMPIA] PUSS ON SHOWThe Press and Journal (Aberdeen), 15th September 1950
Catering for the aristocrats of the cat world is an elaborate process. Plans being made here for the biggest show in the world, at Olympia next week, provide for glamour treatment on an elaborate scale. Prize animals are to be feted and displayed in the most exotic surroundings. On the occasion the normal utilitarian pen is out. A Parisian touch is being introduced. Champion cats are to be displayed in special enclosures decorated with flowers are rich silk hangings, and the cats will recline on silken cushions. This show, which is likely to become as famous among cat lovers as the long-established Cruft’s among dog fanciers, has attracted international interest. Cat connoisseurs from Norway, Sweden and France are coming to London to join a panel o judges drawn from different parts of the country.
[OLYMPIA] Daily Herald, 18th September 1950
The strangest cats in Britain are coming to town on Wednesday to the cat show at Olympia. They are the cats with a difference; the ones with something to miaow about. In a section marked "Interesting Cats" will be Pinker, the Croydon cat which lived for 35 days under a ton of coal and came out none the worse. Nearby will be Stonor Spiv, from Chelsea, which purred its picture into a National Savings poster and Gloria, the Persian which escaped from a cat show earlier this year and was missing for a month. They are going to make sure she does not get away this time.
[OLYMPIA] CATS ARE ON PARADE by Arthur Gaunt, Manchester Evening News, 20th September 1950
THERE are those who declare that the dog makes the finest domestic pet, and that for affection the cat lags far behind. Not so, however, the thousands of cat lovers who are flocking to Olympia, London, to-day. The attraction will be the two-day Crystal's Cat Show, the biggest event of its kind ever organised in Britain. Of course, this will not be the first time cats in great variety have competed on the show bench. Such contests have been held regularly for more than 80 years. In fact the first cat show in this country took place in 1871, only 17 years after the first dog show–a sobering thought for those dog lovers who think that canine exhibitions and contests have a much longer history. But never before will so many members of the cat tribe have been brought together as at Olympia. The cat, indeed, has been promoted higher and higher in the list of domestic animals by means of shows during the last few decades, and some remarkable changes have occurred. To-day, by means of Crystal's Cat Show, it is hoped to improve the status of such pets still further [. . .]
[OLYMPIA] CAT SHOW JUDGE Portsmouth Evening News, 20th September 1950
One of the judges at the Crystal Cat Show, Olympia, which opened to-day, is Mrs. Audrey Cook-Radmore, Chairman of the Southsea Cat Club. She is the judge of the neuters and house pets.
[OLYMPIA] A CAT’S LIFE Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 21st September 1950
Five hundred cats are spending to-night in Olympia’s National Hall. They are exhibits at the two-day cat show which opened this morning. From what I saw at the exhibition, it is quite apparent that these cats enjoy a degree of luxury which even the most cherished Pekingese might envy. They have that sleek, well-fed look of the truly comfortable. Two Siamese kittens, Raard Ser and Raard Dar, who are being exhibited by the show's organisers, Mr. and Mrs. H. M. Macdonald, have a very high standard of living. To-night they are ensconced on a small double bed, with pink satin pillows. Their boudoir –for it can hardly be termed a cage–is furnished with miniature wardrobes and a dressing table. Illumination is provided by small crystal chandelier. At the other end of the scale a large ginger tom-cat which weighs 30 lb. One of his rivals is a 17-year-old veteran, who turns the scales at 13 lb. But mere avoirdupois cannot outweigh the luxury of satin pillows and a chandelier.
[CRYSTAL’S CAT SHOW, OLYMPIA] A WELL-BRED CAT NOW HAS A BOUDOIR Yorkshire Observer (Bradford), 21st September 1950
Well-bred cats, apparently, do not miaouw. The only caterwauling in the Crystal Palace National Cat Show at Olympia, London, yesterday, came from a stray "tom" who nosed into this "Crufts of the cat world" and was hurriedly ejected. The cream of the " catteries" did not twitch a whisker at this intrusion–all 500 of them maintained a well-bred silence. A cat's life at Olympia is not quite a bed of roses, but the Siamese, the Persians, the Chinchillas, the shorthairs, the longhairs, the blues, the red tabbies, and the tortoiseshells were all ensconced on the downiest of blankets. Some owners had transformed their cats' cages into elegant boudoirs of satin and lace. Mrs. Florence Macdonald. wife of the show's promoter–the first on such a large scale–housed her two Siamese in a cage furnished with a pale-pink miniature wardrobe, bedstead and dressing-table, handstitched satin pillows, and tiny chandeliers.
Heaviest cat in the show – 30 lb. "Tiger"–is owned by Canterbury schoolboy Raymond Collins. who says his pet "just grew" and lives mainly on rabbit. Oldest cat was "Jimmy," 13 lb. and now 17 years old. Star turns were "Stonor Spiv," who was in the film "Alice Through the Looking Glass," and "Raffles," who had more toes than any other cat in the show. Two Burmese cats, owned by Mrs. Sidney France, have coats like dark brown natural mink, and are the first to be shown in this country. Mrs. A. E. Vize, Banstead, Surrey, another of the exhibitors, owns 38 cats, which she dry-cleans every day. West Riding exhibitors are Mrs. H. B. Priston, Worsborough Dale Vicarage, Barnsley, and Mrs. K. Wainwright, West Haugh, Pontefract.
[OLYMPIA] DOGS STOLEN AT CAT SHOW Daily Herald, 22nd September 1950
Two prize Pekingese dogs went to a London cat show yesterday and vanished. Last night Scotland Yard was trying to track them down. The dogs–Rosie and Panda - were taken to the Olympia Cat Show by their owner, 68-year-old the Rev. George A. Thornton, of Hazelwell-road, Putney. Mr. Thornton left them asleep in his car while he was inside admiring the cats. When he came out he found that his 12 horsepower car, DYV 622, had been stolen. [The car was found half a mile away and the owner may have parked it there himself, or possibly someone moved it.]
[OLYMPIA] Aberdeen Press and Journal, 22nd September 1950
The proud father on the left a Blue Persian champion, "Oxleys Smasher," from Nottingham. He did not win a first prize at the cat show at Olympia, London, yesterday, but his three-month-old daughter, "My Love of Kenton," owned by Mrs F. E. Taylor, Scarcroft, near Leeds, annexed two firsts and a silver cup–which she is seen putting to good use.
[OLYMPIA] THE CAT SAT ON THE SOFAby Patrick Campbell, Sunday Dispatch, 24th September 1950
It will be as well to come to grips with it straight away. The list of entries for the Crystal Cat Show which opened at Olympia last Wednesday was entitled "The Official Cat-Log." The show contained something like 345 cats, and every one of them, nearly all the time, had at least one lady in front of it, her eyes glazed with emotion, her mind closed down, and pretty-kitty-witty sounds bubbling from her lips. Many of them were ladies of middle-age, with smoke-blue, orange, or tortoise-shell hair, in character suffciently resolute to strike terror into the heart of any male, not actually armed to the teeth, yet before these 345 cats they dissolved into a state of hysteria comparable only to that of a young mother with her firstborn child.
The cats–those that were old enough to know how to deal with riots–slept, choosing for a couch, more often than not, the neat trays of peat-moss which had been provided for another purpose altogether. Some of them, of course, had sofas. Real sofas, cat size. One family of Siamese kittens had a dressing-table as well, with a mirror and a cut-glass chandelier hanging from the roof of the cage. I watched them for some time, hoping that one of the kittens would inadvertently look at itself in the mirror, and make a gesture which might be construed as an attempt to comb its hair. I was interrupted. however, in this research by a voice raised in some kind of desperation.
"I'm not going to look at it. Vi," the voice said, "until Mrs. Davis gets here. I just won't.”
I turned. Two elderly ladies, this time, with string shopping-bags.
"Come along. Dear," said the larger one. "It's lovely. They've a little sofa, and a dressing-table. Do look."
The smaller one shook her head. "I'll look when Mrs. Davis gets here," she said, "and not a minute before. I'm just not going to let her down."
It was easy to sympathise. Some spectacles, like the Pyramids, Niagara Falls, or two Siamese kittens with their own bedroom suite, are too stunning, too far beyond belief, to be surveyed save in the company of one's closest friend.
I walked round the outskirts of the exhibition, staved off a lady selling grey flannel mice, and found a stall entitled, "Cats' Protection League and Tailwavers at Your Service." The stall was selling books– ‘The Cosmic Cat,’ ‘Cat Jeoffry’ and ‘Miaou’–charts to decipher the sex of kittens, and saucers hand-painted in the likeness of tailwaving Siamese. There was a considerable crowd about these commodities. I watched one lady fight her way through to the counter, and then hesitate in distress. "Arthur," she called over her shoulder, “you know I got no money. Can't you wake up?" Arthur, a small. depressed man in a cap, produced ten shillings, and for his wages obtained, so far as I could see, a copy of ‘Miaou’ and a Siamese saucer labelled "Contemplation." The other ladies looked at him severely. I suppose they were surprised that he should keep his wife short of money when there were all these cat-essentials to buy.
I now observed an upheaval developing around a cage bearing a large placard on top of it, which read. "The National Savings Poster Cat and Actor. Also his sister and understudy Fanny." I forced my way ruthlessly through the audience, and found a lady wearing a fawn trilby doing her best to carve a passage for the distinguished actress Miss Nancy Price. The Actor Cat had apparently played in Miss Price's 1943 production of "Alice Through the Looking Glass," and now Miss Price was to renew acquaintance with her fellow trouper. But so dense was the crowd that Miss Price and the lady in the trilby could only make short sallies on the outskirts. Every time they pressed forward the lady in the trilby received Miss Price's bouquet of gladioli, with leaves, full in the face. Miss Price gave intermittent cries: "How sweet–l'm sure he's lovely–how sweet!" In addition to the bouquet of gladioli she was also wearing a green woollen shawl. In view of the weight of her equipment I thought she did well, some minutes later, to force her way through into the orchestra stalls. I looked over her head. It was the Actor Cat, all right. In a rose-red bower, with his spare collars, neatly polished, suspended on pink and blue ribbons from the roof. I got out of the Crystal Cat Show and into a public house. Do not think I am insensitive to cats. I have three cats already, and am sufficiently sensitive to know that very shortly I shall have about 11 more.
[OLYMPIA] West Sussex Gazette, 28th September 1950
The Cat Show at Olympia, with its remarkable assembly of feline aristocracy, presented an impressive sight. One discovered that among the visitors were many owned by cats unable to claim Importance in, so to speak, the social sense, but a number of observers were loud in praise of the Idea of encouraging cat shows for the good of all cats. [. . .]
[OLYMPIA] “BIG SANDY” OF WESTON POINT Runcorn Weekly News, 29th September 1950
Mrs. Sumner, wife of the licensee of the Dock Hotel, Weston Point, is the owner of Britain’s champion heavyweight cat. As proof of this she holds a cheque for £20 and a first prize card awarded at last week’s Crystal cat show held at Olympia, London. “Big Sandy,” as this cat is most appropriately named, is but three years old, and therefore has plenty f time in which to put on still more weight. At the moment he is only three pounds short of turning the scale at a quarter of a cwt.
A red tabby, this giant among cats was entered in the class to ascertain which was Britain’s heaviest cat. Now “Big Sandy” is contentedly accepting the honour of winning the award at the first annual Crystal Cat Show organised as the opposite number to the famous Cruft’s Dog Show. There were dozens of classes covering all breeds – many of them quite unknown to the non-expert cat lovers. Mrs. Sumner has the satisfaction of winning other minor awards with her cat, such as for the condition of his coat. His owner is not a cat breeder; she is just a lover of the species. “Big Sandy” has a couple of companions in the house – but unlike them he is quite a “home bird,” his first trip outside being to Olympia to win his distinction.
[OLYMPIA] A CHAMPION CAT Lichfield Mercury, 29th September 1950
At last week's Crystal Palace Cat Show (London) Champion Morris Tudor, seal pointed male Siamese belonging to Mrs. O. M. Lamb of "Twylands," Grange Hill, Halesowen, was awarded a silver cup and also adjudged the best Siamese male. A well-known breeder of Siamese cats, Mrs. Lamb is the hon. secretary of the Midland Counties Cat Club, and has been appointed hon. show manager of the Championship Show which will be held at the Friends' Institute, Moseley Road, Birmingham, on Wednesday, October 25th.
1950 CRYSTAL CAT SHOW - The Illustrated London News, September 30, 1950
Cat lovers from all over England went to Olympia on September 20 and 21 for the Crystal Cat Show, which attracted 797 entries from 432 exhibits. Although the best exhibit in the show was a chinchilla female, Miss A Steer's Ch. Langherne Winsome, the blue Persian cats and kittens showed the best post-war standard. Siamese adults were not in their best condition at this time of year, but there were some nice kittens. The show included an exhibition of "interesting cats," including a rare male tortoise-shell and a cat with twenty-five tows and its kitten, which has twenty-four toes. Mis Pat Tucker's champion, Vectensian Copper Eyes, and her three kittens, Brutus, Branse and Bracken, were judged the finest short-haired litter at the show.
1950 SOUTH WESTERN COUNTIES' CAT CLUB SHOW
SOUTH WESTERN COUNTIES' CAT CLUB Torquay Times, and South Devon Advertiser, 22nd September 1950
Don't miss the big ALL-CAT SHOW to be held in both halls at Trinity Memorial Hall, Parkhill Road, Torquay on Wednesday, 27th Sept. Handsome Cats & Playful Kittens, All Breeds and Colours–Longhairs & Shorthairs, Pedigree & Plebian will greet you from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. The only Exhibition of its kind in the South-West. Admission: 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. – 2s.; 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. - 1s. Children Half-price.
100 CATS WERE ON VIEW. MORE ENTRIES AT TORQUAY SHOW Western Morning News 28th September 1950
The South-Western Counties second annual cat show was opened at Trinity Memorial Hall, Torquay, yesterday, by the president of the club, Mrs. Harold Michelmore, of Chudleigh. There were 325 entries, 40 more than last year, and a hundred cats were on show. The pedigree cats included blue Persians, cream and blue Russians, and brown tabbies. The chairman was Preb. R. L. Collins, Exeter; show manager and secretary, Miss J. F. Cathcart, Paignton; judges, Mrs. J. Newton, Walton-on-Thames, and Mrs. J. Thompson, Beckenham; referee judge and household pets, Mrs. D. Sampson, Sidmouth. Principal prizewinners were:-
Mrs. Mitchell, East Allington; Mrs. Classe, Starcross; Miss Cathcart, Paignton; Miss O'Grady, Paignton: Mrs. Pye Thomson. Torpoint; Mrs. Benbow, Ludlow; Mrs. Kingdom. Plymstock; Mrs. P. Cowen, Okehampton; Mrs. Taylor, Taunton; Mr. B A. Stirling-Webb, Surrey; Mr. J. Whiting, Gloucester; Mrs. Edwards, Minehead; Mrs. Woodall, Torquay; Mrs. Mayne, Calstock; Mrs. Fuller, Dulverton; Mrs. Main, Paignton; Mrs. Morse, Paignton.
Cup winners:-
Correnden Cup for best exhibit–Mr. B. A. Stirling- Webb
Barley Hill Cup for best kitten –Mrs. Benbow
Cates Cup for best Siamese adult–Mr. B A. Stirling-Webb
Sedgeclair Cup for best cat bred and exhibited by member in Devon –Miss Cathcart
Northwoods Cup for best Siamese cat or kitten - Mr. Whiting
Pekin Cup for best Siamese kitten - Mr. J. Whiting
Shatterwav Cup for stud cat in the South-Western counties throwing the best kitten–Mrs. Fuller
Sedgeclair Orange Cup for best male or female the open blue classes –Mrs. Mayne
Northway Kitten Cup for best cream kitten–Mrs. Mavne
Mrs. Showbray's cup for best L.H.A.C. tabby, female –Miss Cathcart
Longham Shield for best female Siamese cat–Mrs. Tavlor
Challenge Rally Cup for best LH. cat –Miss Cathcart.
[SOUTH-WESTERN COUNTIES CAT SHOW] 100 CATS ON THEIR BEST BEHAVIOUR Torquay Times, and South Devon Advertiser, 29th September 1950
One hundred cats were on their best behaviour in the Park Street Memorial Hall, Torquay, on Wednesday, when they had a chance to exhibit their good points at a show organised by the South Western Counties Cat Club. Aristocratic blue Persians, soulful Siamese, and cream and brown tabbies among the pedigree exhibits were next door, in some cases, to the more energetic household cats of the common species.
The judges, Mrs. Newton and Mrs. Thompson, had to deal with 325 entries - 40 more than last year–and quality was good. The show was opened in the afternoon by Mrs. Harold Michelmore, president. Show manager and secretary was Miss Trelystan Cathcart. of Paignton. and the chairman was Preb. R. L. Collins. Only three exhibitors came from Torquay. Twelve came from Paignton, and one from Brixham. Entries came from as far afield as Surrey, Shropshire, Somerset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Cornwall. Paignton and Brixham exhibitors carried away all prizes except one in the household pets class–the one being third prize for kittens, won by Miss Trott, of 42 Happaway Road, St. Marychurch, with her Blackie. Another Torquay winner was M. Woodall, 2 Devonshire Chalet, St. Mark 's Road, whose Eireanne Soni Sol won first prize In the any variety long hair neuter, cat or kitten class.
1950 EDINBURGH AND EAST OF SCOTLAND CAT CLUB SHOW
EDINBURGH AND EAST OF SCOTLAND CAT CLUB The Scotsman, 30th September 1950
The CAT SHOW arranged for 7th October has been CANCELLED owing to outbreak of feline distemper. It is hoped to hold another show in January 1951.
1950 SIAMESE CAT CLUB SHOW (LONDON)
WEST SUCCESSES IN SIAMESE CAT SHOW. GLOUCESTER BREEDER’S SIX AWARDS Western Daily Press, 13th October 1950
Mr J. Whiting, of The Firs, Maisemore, Gloucester, was prominent among the first prize-winners at the Siamese Cat Club championship show in London yesterday. Exhibiting Maiz-Mor-Marqueesa he won the classes for female kittens over four and a-half and under six months, the breeders female kitten class, and the Notts and Derby Club class for female kittens between three and nine months. His Maiz-Mor-Marquis gained firsts in the National Cat Club, male or female kitten class, the Midland Counties Cat Club class for any colour male or female kitten between three and nine months, and the Croydon Cat Club any colour kitten class. Although Mr Whiting has been breeding Siamese cats for only two seasons he has already sent a kitten to an English family in Australia. So far this season. Maiz-Mor-Marqueesa and Maiz-Mor-Marquis have won over 20 first prizes.
Group Captain G. M. Knocker, of Brook House, Ashton Keynes. Wilts, exhibiting Kluang Biru, won two first prizes in the limit neuter and premier neuter classes Miss J Emens, of Henrietta Street, Bath, gained first prize with Lek-Si in the class for female kittens over six and under nine months, and third prize in the breeders' female kitten class. With Chakra she gained second prize the novice exhibitors' class. In the Kensington Kitten and Neuter Cat Club’s any colour neuter class, Brigadier F. Rossiter, of Beckett Cottage, Shrivenham, Swindon, gained first prize with Mirza Taklif. With the same exhibit, he gained second prize In the Southern Counties Cat Club any colour neuter class.
[SIAMESE CAT SHOW] T.V. PUZZLED TWO-YEARS-OLD Northampton Chronicle and Echo, 16th October 1950
Two -years-old Peter Ross, son of Mrs. C. M. Ross, of Beechdene Cattery, Overstone Heights, was most puzzled when he saw himself on T.V. Children's Newsreel–he couldn't understand how he could be in two places at once. Peter was photographed watching a pen of kittens at Olympia. Also in the newsreel was Mrs. Ross's Siamese cat, Beechdene Topaz, who gained a third at the show. At the Siamese Cat Club show, last week, the cat secured a second, a third, and a " highly commended." There are over 40 cats at the Cattery. The oldest is a dignified tabby of 18 years.
[SIAMESE CAT SHOW] A LADY HAS EIGHT CATS BEATING RAT MENACE BEGAN HER HOBBY Eastbourne Chronicle, 20th October 1950
Hobby of Mrs. C. A. Harrop, of Kildare Cottage, Mill Gap-road, is breeding Siamese cats. One of her cats, called Singan Nymph, has won four prizes at shows. Mrs. Harrop said yesterday: "I have been breeding them since the war. It started when my husband and I lived in a country cottage in Wiltshire. We had to get cats to keep down the large number of rats round the cottage. A pair of Siamese cats got rid of the rats–and started me on this hobby!"
Mrs. Harrop, mother of three young children, has eight cats at present. There are two adult females and six kittens. "One of the adult females, Singan Nymph, won first prize in the class for breeders' blue-pointed male or female adults at the Siamese Cat Club championship show in London on Friday," said Mrs. Harrop. " She also gained second prize in the open female blue-pointed championship class. Her age? Eighteen months." Mr. Harrop. 32 years old, is an Eastbourne chartered accountant.
WON TWO FIRSTS AT SIAMESE CAT SHOW Acton Gazette and West London Post, 20th October 1950
Fourteen-months-old Sheesha, a Siamese cat belonging to Mrs. K. Dunks, of 38, Lexden-road, Acton, won two first, one second and a third at the Siamese Cat Show held in Lane-grove Baths, Shepherds Bush, last Thursday. Sheesha is one of three seal-point Siamese cats Mrs. Dunks has now. She has been keeping Siamese cats for three years, and every one she has ever entered for a show has won an award. One of those she has sold went to Nairobi. Siamese cats, Mrs. Dunks explained this week, become attached to their owners and expect to be talked to and played with. She told now Pio-liang, another of her Siamese cats came up and meowed at her bedroom door one night at 4 a.m. "I thought she wanted to come in with me." Mrs. Dunks said, "but she went downstairs when I opened the door, and when I followed her I found that another Siamese cat we had at the time had been taken ill suddenly."
1950 MIDLAND COUNTIES CAT CLUB SHOW
[MIDLAND COUNTIES CAT CLUB] CAT FANCIERS: THEY ARE A RACE APART Birmingham Daily Gazette, 5th October 1950
I have been initiated this week into the activities of the Cat Fancy, and in particular to those of the Midland Counties Cat Club. Cat fanciers are a race apart, absorbed in their hobby, and quite indifferent to the astonishment which their passion rouses in ordinary mortals. Cats, to them, are not animals but individuals, and the months between September and January, when all the big championship shows are held, are the peak of the year. During the war, when shows were barred, the Cat Fancy in the Midlands drifted apart. But Mrs. O. M. Lamb, secretary and moving spirit of the Midland Counties Cat Club, is determined to restore its vigour.
Last year the Cat Show was revived in Birmingham, but with only half its pre-war attendance - 110 cats in all. This year, on October 25, it is being held again at the Friends Institute, Moseley Road. from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. All breeds, rare as well as common, are expected to be on view, and the schedule of classes makes fascinating reading. There are entries for Abyssinian and Siamese cats, blue and orange eyes white cats, Manx cats, chinchilla and cream cats, litters of kittens, brood queens, and tabbies of every shade. Two very rare creatures are expected to attend–a pair of Burmese cats, the only ones in this country, owned by Mrs. L. France, of Derby–but since they can have no competition they will only be on view.
Among all this aristocracy of the cat world, rubbing whiskers so to speak with the cream of the fancy, will be a contingent of quite ordinary cats. One class for competition, open to all, is headed "Household Pets (non-pedigree)," which means that your cat and mine, the office cat and the children's pet, are eligible to compete for a small money prize. The closing date is next Monday, and entry forms can be obtained by telephoning or sending a card to Mrs. O. M. Lamb, Twylands, Grange Hill, Halesowen, before that date.
Breeding: it's an expensive hobby. Mrs. Lamb herself has been breeding Siamese cats for the past fifteen years, but maintains there is no profit in cat breeding. You breed cats for the love of them, and because the hobby gets a hold on you. The average price of a pedigree Siamese kitten is five guineas, but the time, expense and risk involved run away with the money. To feed their own dozen Siamese, and maybe a couple of visiting queens, Mr. and Mrs. Lamb have to prepare six or seven pounds of food twice a day–horsemeat, rabbit or fish, with some proprietary brands of cat food added for variety. The cats are groomed every morning–a good brushing and five minutes of petting to set them up for the day. "Cats," says Mrs. Lamb," appreciate personal attention like the rest of us. We shouldn't like to start the day without brushing our hair."
The male studs live in runs in a field adjoining the Lambs' house, each with a comfortable shed; the females have the run of the house and count as members of the family. Champion Pincot Azure Zelda, winner of six challenge certificates, stretches herself gracefully in front of the fire, and a couple of seal point kittens sharpen their claws on the arm of a chair. In a glass-fronted cupboard there is an array of rosettes and silver cups won by Mrs Lamb's cats. The largest and newest addition is the cup won by Zelda's father, Morris Tudor, who walked off with the prize for the best Siamese male at the Olympia Show two weeks ago. The fact that his cup has a horse engraved on it doesn't diminish his triumph in the least.
[MIDLAND COUNTIES CAT CLUB] SEARCH FOR A PALE CREAM CAT Birmingham Daily Gazette, 24th October 1950
Trains coming into Birmingham from all parts of the country tomorrow morning will be carrying some very unusual but very spruce-looking passengers. They will be cats, combed and beribboned, and destined to be judged later in the day at the Midland Counties Cat Club championship exhibition at the Friends' Institute, Moseley Road, Birmingham. Entries are not restricted to the Midland area, and it is expected that the 10.25 from London will bring at least 30 cats ranging in breed from black, white. blue and cream Persians to chocolate Siamese and red tabbies. There are 150 altogether. Some foreign gentry are also expected–Abyssinian and Burmese cats, the latter resembling a red Siamese and for exhibition purposes only. Chairman of the Midland Counties Club is Mr. T. S. V. Herod, who keeps 10 cats at his home at Brownhills, and is busy breeding a pale cream cat. His garden, he tells me, is surrounded by wire to prevent his charges escaping. The cats sleep in two dormitories built into a cat house, which has its own fenced-in run. They prefer meat to fish, and each answers to its own name. They do not respond to "Puss."
[MIDLAND COUNTIES CAT CLUB] PEDIGREE CATS ON SHOW IN BIRMINGHAMBirmingham Daily Post - Thursday 26 October 1950
Entries which totalled about 150 came from all over the country for the championship show arranged by the Midland Counties Cat Club at the Friends Institute Birmingham yesterday. The club was formed in 1902 but until last year, when it was revived after being in abeyance owing the war, had not held a show in Birmingham since 1911. The pre-war shows were held at Gloucester and Cheltenham. Every variety of pedigree cat was represented at the show. The longhair animals included blacks, whites, blues, creams, smokes, chinchillas and tortoiseshells. The Siamese included seal, blue and chocolate pointed exhibits.
The club offered shields for the best animals in each group in the whole show. The shield for long-hair adult was won by Carreg Cracker belonging to Mrs D Herod of Lichfield. The best short-hair adult was Mrs O M Lamb's Ch Morris Tudor. Mrs Lamb lives at Halesowen. Mrs L McVady of Edgware London won the shield for the best long-hair kitten with her Gaydene Candy Kisses. The best short-hair kitten was Maiz-Mor-Marquis belonging to Mr J Whiting of Maisemore. Mirza Takliff belonging to Brig. and Mrs Rossiter of Shrivenham, Swindon, won the shield for the best neuter.
RESULTS
LONG-HAIR
Black, male or female: 1 and championship, Mrs E L Henn, Bridgnorth, Baralan Samson.
White, orange-eyed, male or female: 1 and championship, Mrs D Herod, Lichfield, Carreg Cracker.
Blue, male: 1 and championship, Mrs E L Henn Baralan Boy Blue.
Blue female: 1 championship, Mrs M E Crickmore, Lowestoft, Thiepval Enchantress.
Cream male: 1 and championship, Miss M Bull, Wirral, Widdington Whynot.
Cream female: 1 and championship, Mrs A Busbridge, Swinton, Fanifold Honey-Sweet.
Smoke male or female: 1 Mrs E Slater, Fishergate, Kala Carol.
Chinchilla male: 1 and championship, E Langston, Maidenhead, Scamp o' Allington.
Chinchilla female: 1 and championship, Mesdames Broxton and Robinson, Cirencester, Merely Meggoty.
Tortoiseshell, male or female: 1 and championship, Mrs Brittlebank, Hazel Grove, Hazel-dene Amber.
Tortoiseshell and white, male or female: 1 and championship, Miss G M Budd, Knaresborough, Posy of Carne.
Blue cream, male or female: 1 and championship, Mrs O Ruffell, Oxford, Wonderland Mayflower.
Blue breeders, male or female: 1 Mrs M E Crickmore, Thiepval Beau Ideal.
Blue novice male or female: 1 Mrs S S Cullev, Urmston, Thiepval Wanderer.
Blue senior male or female: 1 Mrs M E Crickmore, Thiepval Enchantress.
Blue junior, male or female: 1 Mrs S S Culley, Thiepval Wanderer.
Any colour breeders (ex blue), male or female: 1 Mrs D Herod, Carreg Cracker.
Any colour novice (ex blue), male or female: 1 Mrs L Dyer, Birmingham, Tollerton Talisman.
Any colour senior (ex blue), male or female: 1 Mrs E L Henn, Baralan Samson.
Any colour junior (ex blue), male or female: 1 Mrs D Herod, Carreg Cracker.
Any colour maiden, male or female:1 Mrs O Ruffell, Wonderland Mayflower.
Any colour brace: 1 Mrs E M Crickmore Thiepval Beau Ideal and Thiepval Enchantress
Any colour stud: 1 Mrs D Brice Webb, Bramcote, Oxleys Smasher.
Any colour brood queen: 1 Mrs D Brice Webb, Thiepval Elf.
LONG-HAIR KITTENS
Black and white, male or female: 1 Mrs E Slater, Fishergate, Chadhurst Stella.
Blue male: 1 Mrs L McVady, Gaydene Misty Boy.
Blue female: 1 Mrs McVady, Gaydene Candy Kisses.
Blue male or female: 2 Mrs Harrington Harvard, Stafford, Priory Quick Silver.
Blue breeders male or female: 1 Mrs McVady, Gaydene Misty Boy.
Blue novice: 1 Mrs McVady, Gaydene Candy Kisses.
Cream, male or female: 1 Mrs Mayne, Calsock, Cornwall, Fanifold Kittiwink.
Brown or Red tabby, male or female: 1 Mrs E Taylor, Leeds, Red Knight.
Chinchilla male or female: 1 Mr Mrs J Barker, Ilkeston, Svlvandene Soloman.
Tortie or tortie and white, male or female: 1 Mrs P E Chapman, Whitton, Hendon, Snow Malden.
Blue cream, male or female: 1 Miss M E Schofield, Ruddington, Glenfield Jenifer.
A C breeders (ex blue), male or female: 1 Mrs C Mayne, Fanifold Kittiwink.
A C novice (ex blue), male or female: Mrs Mayne Fanifold Kittiwink.
A C kitten brace: 1 Mrs McVady, Gaydene Misty Boy and Gaydene Candy Kisses.
Team: Mesdames Broxton and Robinson.
A C Litter: 1 Mrs T J O Jones, Wallasey.
SHORT HAIR ADULTS
Red or brown tabby, male or female: 1 and championship, 1 Miss Tucker, Banstead, Surrey, Vectensian Rio Tinto.
Tortie or tortie and white, male or female: 1 and championship, Miss Budd, Midderdale Dazzle.
Any variety breeders (except Siamese), male or female: 1 Miss Tucker, Vectensian Rio Tinto.
Any variety senior (except Siamese), male or female: Miss Budd, Midderdale Dazzle.
Any variety junior (except Siamese), male or female: 1 Miss Tucker Vectensian Rio Tinto.
SHORT HAIR KITTENS
Any other colour male or female: 1 Miss Tucker Vectensian Bronze.
Any variety breeders, male or female: 1 Miss Tucker, Vectensian Bronze.
Any variety novice, male or female: 1 Miss Tucker, Vectensian Bronze.
SIAMESE
Seal pointed male: 1 and championship, Mrs O M Lamb, Halesowen, Ch Morris Tudor
Seal pointed female: 1 and championship, Mrs D Nicholas, Macclesfield, Ch South Sunya.
Blue pointed male: 1 and championship, Mrs Lamb, Ch Ptncop Azure Xillah.
Blue pointed female: Mrs A Cousins, Warwick, Easter Joy.
Chocolate pointed male or female: 1 Mrs Lamb, Pincop Poppet.
Any colour breeders, male or female: 1 Mrs Cousins, Easter Joy.
Any colour novice, male or female: 1 Mrs A Cousins, Easter Joy.
Any colour senior, male or female: 1 Mrs Lamb, Ch Morris Tudor.
Any colour junior, male or female: 1 Mrs Cousins, Easter Joy.
Any colour brace: 1 Mrs Lamb Ch Morris and Ch Pincop Azure Kym.
Any variety short hair stud: 1 Mrs Lamb, Ch Morris Tudor.
Any variety short hair brood queen: 1 Mrs V M Deane, Crawstone Belinda.
SIAMESE KITTENS
Seal pointed male: 1 Mrs J Whiting, Maiz-Mor-Marquis.
Seal pointed female: 1 Mrs W M Ford, Clevedon, Causeway Colleen.
Seal pointed male, 6 9 months: 1 Mrs Nicholas, Ryecroft, Mysterious Mick.
Seal pointed female, 6 to 9 months: 1 Mrs Deane Pikha Pin Si.
Blue pointed male: 1 Mrs Lamb, Pincop Azure Shah.
Blue pointed female: 1 Mrs Whitehouse, Birmingham, Singan Soo.
Chocolate pointed male or female: 1 Mrs Cousins, Mulberry Chota Ranee.
Any colour breeders, male or female: Mr Whiting Maiz-Mor Marquesa.
Any colour novice, male or female: Mr I Lapper Loughborough, Bradgate Peter Piper.
Any colour brace: 1 Mr J F Whiting Maiz-Mor-Marquis and Maiz-Mor-Marguesa.
Any colour team: 1 Mrs O M Lamb.
Any variety short hair, novice exhibitor: 1 Mrs D Mather Quinton, Ning Fu.
Any variety, short hair litter: 1 Mrs V M Deane.
NEUTERS
Any variety long hair: 1 and premier, Miss H A Crosher, Oadby, Vagabond of Knott Hall.
Any colour Siamese: 1 and premier, Brig. and Mrs Rossiter, Mirza Taklif.
Any variety long or short hair senior: 1 Miss E M V Vincent, Southport, Merely Victor.
Any variety long or short hair junior: 1 Master M Gwvnn. Worcester. Hallow Ming Shu.
Any variety maiden: 1 Miss Vincent, Merely Victor.
Any variety novice exhibitor: 1 Miss Vincent Merely Victor.
HOUSEHOLD PETS
Any variety male or female: 1 Mr J H Sanderson, Northfield Tiger.
MIDLAND COUNTIES CAT CLUB
Any variety long hair cat: 1 Mrs D Herod Carreg Cracker.
Any variety long hair kitten: 1 Mrs Brice Webb, Ronada Blue Orchid.
Any variety short hair cat: 1 Mrs Lamb, Ch Morris Tudor.
Any variety short hair kitten: 1 Mrs W M Ford, Causeway Colleen.
Any variety neuter: 1 Miss Crosher, Vagabond of Knott Hall
[MIDLAND COUNTIES CAT CLUB] THE SIAMESE TRIPLETS Birmingham Daily Gazette, 26th October 1950
Mowhay Sultana, a blue point Siamese cat, with her three kittens at the Midland Counties Cat Club championships at the Friends' Institute, Moseley Road, Birmingham, yesterday. They are owned by Mr. R. B. Wyand, of Barnwood Road, Gloucester. A cat in a class by itself–and because of its rarity unable to compete–stole the show. Red dish brown in colour, it is the result of four years' experimental breeding by Mrs. Doris Herod, of Muckley Corner, Lichfield, who has been crossing whites with creams. She took it to the show solely for interest purposes. Mrs. Herod intends to continue the breeding to achieve a dark red setter colour. Principal awards at the show were taken by two women who each have over a hundred prizes to their credit–Mrs. Herod and Mrs. O. M. Lamb, of Grange Hill, Halesowen.
[MIDLAND COUNTIES CAT CLUB] SOMERSET AWARDS Western Daily Press, 27th October 1950
Mrs W. M. Ford, of Windyridge, Walton Down, near Walton Bay, Clevedon, gained two first awards, two seconds and two reserves with her five months old home-bred seal point Siamese kitten, Causewav Colleen, at this week’s Midland Counties Cat Club Championship Show, Birmingham.
[MIDLAND COUNTIES CAT CLUB] Walsall Observer, 28th October 1950
Although competing with 150 thoroughbred pedigree cats from over the country, a “local" cat was the centre of attention at the Midland Counties Cat Club's annual show at Birmingham on Wednesday. She was "Carreg Rusty" owned and bred by Mrs Doris Herod of Clevelands, Walsall Road, Muckley Corner, and she is the result of ten years' experimental breeding by Mrs Herod. The colour of her coat is so rare that she was in a class by herself at the show.
[MIDLAND COUNTIES CAT CLUB SHOW] SIAMESE CHAMPION BREEDERS Gloucester Journal, 11th November 1950
Mr R B Wyand, of Barnwood-rd, Gloucester, has recently won a second prize with his Siamese cats at the Midland Counties Cat Club in Birmingham, for the class of any variety short haired litter. It was “Mowhay Sultana” (Tana at home), and her three eight-weeks-old kittens, who won Mr Wyand this award. Tana is a seal-point Siamese; her offspring are blue-points. They are her third litter. Mr Wyand has not been breeding Siamese for very long, but has had considerable success with them. Out of the present litter, he hopes to keep one kitten, already with the impressive title of “Dawny Blue Peter.” Mrs Wyand takes a keen interest in the cats.
1950 CROYDON CAT CLUB SHOW
[CROYDON CAT CLUB SHOW] MAISEMORE CAT WINS IN LONDON Gloucester Citizen, 11th November 1950
Maiz-Mor-Marquis, Siamese kitten belonging to Mr. J. F. Whiting, The Firs, Maisemore, won further successes in the Croydon Cat Club championship Show at Shepherds Bush, was judged the Best Shorthair Kitten in the show, won the cup tor the most typical Siamese kitten, the Corvine cup for best type in Male Kittens and the Nicolette Trophy for best shorthair kitten. His class successes were:- first in open kitten class for seal-pointed Siamese male, 6-9 months; first in breeders class any colour Siamese male, 3-9 months; first in Siamese cat club class, seal-pointed, 3-9 months; first in Siamese cat Society of the British Empire class, any colour, 3-9 months and first in Notts and Derby Cat Club class, any variety short hair kitten.
1950 SCOTTISH CAT CLUB SHOW
SCOTTISH CAT CLUB The Scotsman, 15th November 1950
Scottish Cat Club, under GCCF Rules, Open Show, Saturday, November 18, Christian Institute, Bothwell Street, Glasgow, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Admission 1s. Presentation of Prizes by the Lady Provost, 4 p.m.
1950 NATIONAL CAT CLUB (PADDINGTON) SHOW
MAISEMORE CAT GAINS 7 FIRSTS Gloucester Citizen, 7th December 1950
"Maiz-Mor-Marquis," the Siamese kitten belonging to Mr. J. F. Whiting, of The Firs, Maisemore, gained seven first prizes at the National Cat Club open championship show at Paddington. These winners were the following classes: Open seal-pointed male kitten; National Cat Club class, any colour male or female Siamese kitten: Siamese Cat Club class, any colour male or female kitten; Southern Counties Cat Club class, seal-pointed male or female kitten; Short hair Cat Society of Great Britain Club class, any variety shorthair kitten, male or female; Kensington Kitten Club class, any variety shorthair kitten, male or female, Notts and Derby Cat Club class, any variety shorthair male or female. Maiz-Mor-Marquis and Maiz-Mor-Marqueesa were placed first In the open class for Siamese pairs; and Maiz-Mor-Minx won the premier award In the open class for Siamese Brood Queen.
[NATIONAL CAT CLUB SHOW] CHAMPION PERSIAN CAT Lichfield Mercury, 8th December 1950
"Carreg Cracker," an orange-eyed white Persian cat, on Tuesday gained a full championship at the National Cat Club's 54th annual show in London. Owned by Mrs. D. Herod, Muckley Corner, "Carreg Cracker" was also acclaimed the best cat in the show.
[NATIONAL CAT CLUB SHOW] SHOW WINNER Portsmouth Evening News, 15th December 1950
Members of Southsea Cat Club at the National Cat Club Show in London recently, added to their list of successes. Among prize-winners were Cmdr. Luard, of Bishop's Waltham; Mr. G. B. Allt, of the Isle of Wight; and Mrs. Cook-Radmore (Chairman ot Southsea Cat Club), of Cowplain. The photo shows Mrs. Cook-Radmore’s Albany Navy Blue Eyes, who gained a championship certificate.
1950 REGIONAL SHOWS
WICKFORD CATS WIN CUPS Chelmsford Chronicle, 6th October 1950
Mrs. E. Brine, of Wick Estate, Wickford. won three cups and other prizes with her cats at a London championship cat show on Tuesday [3rd Oct].
(I cannot tie this to any London show dates)