9/12/2020

Nostalgia - Vintage cat photos

When was the last time you have felt really, really old? I don't mean feeling old after a hard workday or after climbing a steep hill or if you are groaning every time you get out of bed. I mean ancient.
Let me tell you about that one time I ordered takeout food. Most of my delivery guys were really nice. At the time I ordered quite regularly or waited for my order at the place itself, and sometimes we got into a conversation.

And then there was this one guy. He was friendly, everything was fine ... until he saw the two photos on the dresser in my hallway. These photos ...



... and said "Such nice pictures! Are you one of those girls?"

I had thought the highlight of my life had been when an English speaking student at work had called me Ma'am, but this was way better. So I replied with a smile "Erm, no, those are vintage pictures, from way before I was born."
I could tell he was not convinced, he just said "Oh, okay."
Believe it or not, I never saw him again. Had I scared him off?? Maybe my smile wasn't as friendly as I had thought? :-P

Where we got these pictures, I can't remember. The ex picked them because they went so nicely with our vintage dresser, and of course the cat reminded us a lot of our Dude.



I thought of getting one of the photos or postcards or whatever they are out to see if there maybe was a photographer's stamp, printer's info or a date, but one of them has a paper glued to the back which is cardboard and after pulling out two of the small nails on the other one, I still couldn't remove the picture, so I thought I'd better leave it alone.

The interesting part is that there's a wooden strip on each picture that is painted black with engraved words which have been gilded. It is slid in between the frame and the glass.
One says "Gute Kameraden" = "Good mates", the other one "Spielgefährten" = "Playmates".
I have tried to find out more and see if there are others like these, but didn't have any luck so far.


If you google vintage photos, you will find others like these with girls and cats, often white Persian cats. In the old times Persian cats looked more like Angora cats (we always thought that Dude was at least part Angora) and didn't have flat faces yet that some breeders try to get away from again because they cause so many health problems. They have always been popular, even Queen Victoria loved them.
Excuse me, I think I'm getting dragged down the hole of historical cat facts and vintage pictures now ....

2 comments:

  1. I love those photos! Ha! Your delivery guy is lacking in knowledge and experience. I don’t think he realized how old those photos must be. Dude was a fine looking feline!

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    1. I think he just wanted to be nice and was surprised because I was so surprised for a moment.
      Yes, he was - my sweet American, foreign exchange kitty <3

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