Judges at the Richmond Cat Show, held (for the first time) as an extension of the annual dog show at the Old Deer Park in 1902. The photograph was included in a series for Frances Simpson’s ‘Book of the Cat’ (p. 73). The accommodation at the Crystal Palace thirty years earlier was evidently rather more five-star.
Introduction
On the eve of the world’s first Cat Show, held in 1871 at the Crystal Palace in London, organiser Harrison Weir was frankly boring a friend with his flights of ecstasy on cats. Just when the argument seemed lost, a happy inspiration struck him.
“STOP,” said my friend, “I see you do like cats, and I do not, so let the matter drop.”
“No,” said I, “not so. That is why I instituted this Cat Show; I wish every one to see how beautiful a well-cared-for cat is, and how docile, gentle, and — may I use the term? — cossetty. Come with me, my dear old friend, and see the first Cat Show.”
Inside the Crystal Palace stood my friend and I. There lay the cats in their different pens, reclining on crimson cushions, making no sound save now and then a homely purring, as from time to time they lapped the nice new milk provided for them. Yes, there they were, big cats, very big cats, middling-sized cats, and small cats, cats of all colours and markings, and beautiful pure white Persian cats; and as we passed down the front of the cages I saw that my friend became interested.
If you like what I’m doing here on Clay Lane, from time to time you could buy me a coffee.
Buy Me a Coffee is a crowdfunding website, used by over a million people. It is designed to help content creators like me make a living from their work. ‘Buy Me a Coffee’ prides itself on its security, and there is no need to register.
