**The Cat as Photographic Model! A friend sent me a link to other
talented cat models.
Harry Pointer's Brighton Cats.
***I found this and could not resist posting a link: A 1978 TV commercial for Little Friskies!
*Attention Fans of the Banjo Cat
This talented kitty now has his own CafePress shop! The Banjo Cat Shop has shirts, buttons, and magnets and tote bags.
We have had this cabinet card of a cat playing a banjo for years. Although some photographers used stuffed animals for genre images we feel that this kitty is alive if obviously annoyed at being posed with a banjo, top hat, and gloves. I believe the photographer is Louis De Ribas, a Boston photographer who patented a drop shutter in 1887. The time, the place, and the name seem right.
I used a slide (*now replaced with a scan of the original) of it recently for a demonstration to a friend who is considering the purchase of a scanner. The scan was only going to be a demo and I didn't even plan to save it. When we looked at an enlargement of the scan we saw faint writing on the image. That became a demonstration of contrast enhancement.
The only part we could read was ".... to Me Quickly My Darling" and "copyright ....." Was this the title of the song the cat was "playing"? A Google search brought us to "Come to Me Quickly My Darling" from the 1874 comic operetta Evangeline. It was loosely (very loosely it seems) based on the Longfellow poem Evangeline. It toured and was revived periodically for over 30 years. Its popularity seemed partly explained by the liberal use of ladies in tights but texts also mention a two-person dancing heifer and an amorous whale. Isn't the internet amazing!
*Note #3 I found the graphic that I mention in one of my comments. It is the cover of an 1885 program for Evangeline. In the lower left you will see a man with an umbrella riding on the back of a whale. This is obviously the "amorous whale" mentioned in the quote below. It also shows a dancing cow although the picture is obviously of a real cow although the quote mentions a "two person heifer" which suggests it was two people in a cow costume. There is also a balloon ascension and an Indian with an upraised weapon. This show really had a LOT going on!
The music and words for the song the kitty is playing, "Come to Me Quickly My Darling", is now posted on Google Books! Go to the URL for the Evangeline Book and click in page 101 for the song.
deatonstreet, josefnovak33, and 436 other people added this photo to their favorites.
Mando Maniac
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willowswhimsy 48 months ago | reply
I'm impressed, the photographer did well here, as someone who owns cats, I can tell you cat's don't pose!
Photo_History - Here but not Happy 48 months ago | reply
Willows... I have other photographs of cats posing which I will post someday. I have read that some of the "dressed animal" photographers used stuffed animals which I find beyond appalling but the guy looks alive to me.
willowswhimsy 48 months ago | reply
I agree, he looks alive, the pose is too specific to be a stuffed animal. He seems to be 'resting on the Banjo' so how is it staying up? My first thought was that it was manipulated but I can't see how it was done if it was.
corinn12 48 months ago | reply
Ah, one of the original LOLcats. I wonder how they got the cat to stay in that pose? I don't see any hands. All I can think of is that the banjo must be strapped around its midsection, and that the strap goes around some kind of stick/rod/prop in the back, to hold the cat vertical...? Hmmm.
ArGali Photography 47 months ago | reply
Cool cat!!!!! all he needs is an agent..
You are the CAT'S MEAWWW!!!
From The Cat's Meawww Award group.
lauralemur (life is upsidedown right now) 44 months ago | reply
Found this on ebay - I'd like to know if the seller is the original "reprinter"...also, can't believe people are bidding knowing these are reprints:
cgi.ebay.com/Reprint-Cat-And-Dog-Americana-Cabinet-Size-P...
Photo_History - Here but not Happy 44 months ago | reply
Laura, I guess it could be someone else's card that is copied, I am sure mine is not unique, but I suspect it is mine. If so, it will likely be from my flickr image which is not a resolution to give a very good print. That cat is my most popular image on flickr.
*I don't even send a stern note anymore. It really does not do any good.
*I could not resist. I send an eBay message asking why the seller said "I do not think the images are original" and "I believe them to be a reprint" since they are selling dozens of images with the same statement. It really does not seem credible that they could not be sure about that many images. I did say that I did not intend to interfere with the auctions.
lauralemur (life is upsidedown right now) 44 months ago | reply
I'm guessing it's from yours too. The other image I remember seeing sold on ebay a while back - the scan was probably taken from the auction I would imagine. You're right, that IS a funny claim for the seller to make on multiple auctions! I just can't figure out who is bidding on these.
DubSnipe 44 months ago | reply
Look, a kitty that plays drifting!
banjobud 41 months ago | reply
very compelling pic!!!
the ghost of me 40 months ago | reply
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Extraordinary postcards of Cats, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Joana Joana 37 months ago | reply
I beg your pardon?
hammerturtle 33 months ago | reply
hello - are you able to email me about usage of this photo? we'd like to use it for something, but would need urgent clearance?
laura@everybody-s.com
thanks.
би╲хром 32 months ago | reply
so cool !
moggierocket 32 months ago | reply
Recommended for the cat who turned on and off by bi.chrome.
Da_Lightner 29 months ago | reply
Are you allowed to take someone else's work, slap it on a t-shirt and profit?
As an artist, I am very turned off by this weak attempt to make a buck off the (albeit probably short) stint of internet fame.
it is a sad day when something fun and neat can't be shared with the world because there's some jerk who can only think about how to make money from someone else's effort.
Photo_History - Here but not Happy 29 months ago | reply
WHAT are you talking about? If this jerk, that is me, had not bought this cabinet card 30 years ago, kept it safe for all these years, then posted it on flickr two years ago so it could be "shared with the world" you never would have seen it. I think that Louis De Ribas, dead for more than 100 years, had a sense of humor and would be delighted that more than 46,000 (and counting) people have seen his work.
AlvarosVintageGuitars 25 months ago | reply
Cool photo!
plaisanter~ 11 months ago | reply
Thank you for bringing this to my attention, it’s wonderful!!
Photo_History - Here but not Happy 11 months ago | reply