Lilla Cabot Perry. Woman with a Cat. Oil on canvas, 1901. Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.
I wish she would not ask me if I love the
Kitten more than her.
Of Course I love her. But I love the Kitten,
Too; and It has Fur.
Peabody, Josephine Preston. “Concerning love,” in The Book of the Little Past, 11. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1908.
Contexts
Josephine Preston Peabody’s The Book of the Little Past (1908), illustrated by Elizabeth Shippen Green, gathered previously published and unpublished poems in which the author touched upon various subjects from a child’s perspective. A favorable 1908 review from The Bellman, a Minneapolis literary magazine, asserted that the volume would be “read and remembered and quoted as few poems of children are,” and referred to Peabody as “one of the first of American lyric poets.”
Lithograph, "Pussy's Family". DL*60.2338. Peters Prints Collection.
Anecdote of a Cat
Author Unknown
Annotations by Josh benjamin
Haskell and Allen. Pussy’s Family. Lithograph, c. 1872. National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C.
Volumes have been filled with accounts and praises of the sagacity of dogs; but cats seem to have been generally considered an ill-natured, stupid race. The following anecdote, related in “Good’s Book of Nature,” proves that there are some exceptions to this dishonourable character.
“A favourite cat, that was accustomed, from day to day, to take her station quietly at my elbow, on the writing table, sometimes for hour after hour, whilst I was engaged in study, became, at length, less constant in her attendance, as she had a kitten to take care of. One morning, she places herself in the same spot, but seemed unquiet; and instead of seating herself as usual, continued to rub her furry sides against my hand and pen, as though resolved to draw my attention, and make me leave off. As soon as she had accomplished this point, she leaped down on the carpet, and made toward the door, with a look of great uneasiness. I opened the door for her, as she seemed to desire; but, instead of going forward, she turned round, and looked earnestly at me, as though she wished me to follow her, or had something to communicate. I did not fully understand her meaning, and being much engaged at the time, shut the door upon her, that she might go where she liked. In less than an hour afterwards, she had again found an entrance into the room, and drawn close to me; but, instead of mounting the table, and rubbing herself against my hand, as before, she was now under the table, and continued to rub herself against my feet; on moving which, I struck them against something that seemed to be in the way; and, on looking down, beheld with grief and astonishment, the dead body of her little kitten, covered over with cinder-dust. I now entered into the entire train of this afflicted cat’s feelings. She had suddenly lost the nursling she doated on, and was resolved to make me acquainted with it, that I might know her grief, and inquire into the cause. She found me too dull to understand her expressive motioning,—that I would not follow her to the cinder-heap, on which the dead kitten had been thrown,—and she took the great labour of bringing it to me herself, from the area, on the basement floor, up a whole flight of stairs, to lay it at my feet. I took the kitten up in my hand, the cat still following me, and inquired into its death, for which, I found no one was very much to blame; and the yearning mother having thus gotten her master to enter into her cause, and share her sorrows, gradually took comfort, and resumed her former station at my side.”
Cornelis Visscher. The Large Cat. Etching with engraving on off-white laid paper, c. 1657. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York, N.Y.
Author unknown. “Anecdote of a Cat.” The Juvenile Miscellany 4, no. 1 (March 1828): 86-88.
Contexts
During the 19th century, cats were not commonly the domesticated companions they are now. Throughout much of history, aside from ancient Egypt, they were severely mistreated and considered evil. By the mid-1800s, cats were still subject to an undeserved reputation on par with weasels and raccoons, as noted by cat historian Paul Koudounaris in” ‘The Feline States of America’: How Cats Helped Shape the US.”
In an excerpt from her book The Pug Who Bit Napoleon: Animal Tales of the 18th and 19th Centuries, Mimi Matthews recognizes that although cats still lacked the popularity they now have, many Victorian-era cat owners cared enough to hold elaborate funerals for their pets. Several other articles on Matthews’ website offer some historical context for cats.
Cat and Kittens, by Clementine Nielssen. Oil, late nineteenth or early twentieth century. Public domain.
“Now children,” said puss as she shook her head,
“It is time your morning lesson was said,”
So her kittens drew near with footsteps slow,
And sat down before her, all in a row.
“Attention, class!” said the cat mamma,
“And tell me quick where your noses are.”
At this all the kittens sniffed the air
As though it were filled with a perfume rare.
“Now, what do you say when you want a drink?”
The kittens waited a moment to think;
And then the answer came clear and loud—
You ought to have heard how the kittens meow’d!
“Very well. ’Tis the same with a sharper tone,
When you want a fish, or a bit of a bone.
“Now what do you say when the children are good?”
And the kittens purred as soft as they could.
“And what do you do when the children are bad?
When they tease and pull? Each kitten looked sad.
“Pooh! said the mother, “that isn’t enough;
You must use your claws when the children are rough.”
“Now sptiss as hard as you can,” she said;
But every kitten hung down its head.
“Sptiss! I say,” cried the mother cat;
But they said: “O mammy! we can’t do that.”
“Then go and play,” said the fond mamma;
“What sweet little idiots kittens are!
Ah, well! I was once the same I suppose,”
And she looked very wise and rubbed her nose.
Anonymous. “The Kittens’ Lessons.” The Youth’s Companion 16, no. 2 (September 1882): 104.
Contexts
Begun in 1881, The Youth’s Companion—a name that many nineteenth-century publications shared—was a monthly student magazine that published articles written by pupils of the Catholic-run boarding school located on the Tulalip Indian Reservation. A federally recognized tribe located in the mid-Puget Sound area, the Tulalip Tribes received reservation lands—22,000 acres—in 1855, with its legal boundaries established by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1873. According to the Tulalip Tribes website, “it was created to provide a permanent home for the Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Skagit, Suiattle, Samish, and Stillaguamish Tribes and allied bands living in the region.”
Nineteenth-century Indian boarding schools aimed to assimilate Native Americans into white culture. They separated children from their families, required students to dress like white Americans, and prohibited them from speaking their language. They also emphasized so-called “industrial” training: boys learned agricultural and industrial skills, while girls learned how to cook, sew, and clean a household. Students were often expected to become servants or to provide manual labor help for whites.
Like many contributions to Native American student periodicals, this poem was published anonymously. Students living on reservations during this time often received educations governed by white religious authorities who emphasized moral training. The poem provides some basic natural history lessons about cats. It may also offer advice to students that as they get older, they should reject ill treatment by others.
Marr, Carolyn J. “Assimilation Through Education: Indian Boarding Schools in the Pacific Northwest,” University of Washington Libraries Digital Collection. This article includes historical contexts and features “A Typical Daily Schedule.”
———. “Between Two Worlds: Experiences at the Tulalip Indian Boarding School, 1905-1932,” Hibulb Cultural Center & Natural History Preserve.
Contemporary Connections
“Tulalip History Minute 04—The Tulalip Indian School presented by Mary Jane Topash,” the Tulalip History Project. Provides Tulalip-sponsored background on the tribe.
Detail, cat with game. Oil painting, Alexandre-François Desportes, late 17th-early 18th century. Public Domain.
A blind girl in a hospital had learned to feed herself, and at meal times a tray containing her dinner was placed on her knees. One day while she was eating, the pet cat of the establishment placed herself before the girl and looked long and earnestly at her, so earnestly that the attendant, fearing the animal meditated some mischief, took her out of the room. Again, the next day, at the same hour, the cat entered the room, but this time walked quietly to the girl’s side, reared herself on her hind legs, and noiselessly reached out her paw to the plate, seized a morsel that pleased her, and, silently as she came, departed to enjoy her stolen meal. The girl never missed her loss, and when told of it by her companions laughed heartily. It is evident that the cat, from observation, had entirely satisfied herself that the girl could not see, and by a process of reasoning decided she could steal a good dinner by this practical use of knowledge.
Tulalip Indian School Classroom, May 1914. Courtesy J. A. Juleen / Everett Public Library’s Northwest History Room.
Anonymous. “A Knowing Cat.” The Youth’s Companion: A Juvenile Monthly Magazine Published for the Benefit of the Puget Sound Indian Missions 2, no. 1 (July 1881): 39.
Contexts
Begun in 1881, The Youth’s Companion—a name that many nineteenth-century publications shared—was a monthly student magazine that published articles written by pupils of the Catholic-run boarding school located on the Tulalip Indian Reservation. A federally recognized tribe located in the mid-Puget Sound area, the Tulalip Tribes received reservation lands—22,000 acres—in 1855, with its legal boundaries established by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1873. According to the Tulalip Tribes website, “it was created to provide a permanent home for the Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Skagit, Suiattle, Samish, and Stillaguamish Tribes and allied bands living in the region.”
Nineteenth-century Indian boarding schools aimed to assimilate Native Americans into white culture. They separated children from their families, required students to dress like white Americans, and prohibited them from speaking their language. They also emphasized so-called “industrial” training: boys learned agricultural and industrial skills, while girls learned how to cook, sew, and clean a household. Students were often expected to become servants or to provide manual labor help for whites.
“A Knowing Cat,” like many contributions to Native American student periodicals, was published anonymously. Students living on reservations during this time often received educations governed by white religious authorities who emphasized moral training. This story represents a significant change from the didactic texts that students were normally expected to compose. It showcases feline intelligence, a common theme in nineteenth-century American children’s writing.
Marr, Carolyn J. “Assimilation Through Education: Indian Boarding Schools in the Pacific Northwest,” University of Washington Libraries Digital Collection. This article includes historical contexts and features “A Typical Daily Schedule.”
———. “Between Two Worlds: Experiences at the Tulalip Indian Boarding School, 1905-1932,” Hibulb Cultural Center & Natural History Preserve.
Contemporary Connections
“Tulalip History Minute 04—The Tulalip Indian School presented by Mary Jane Topash,” the Tulalip History Project. Provides Tulalip-sponsored background on the tribe. “Editorial: Getting to the truth of Tulalip boarding school,” September 26, 2021, HeraldNet (Everett, Washington). Caution: includes information about abuses at the school.
