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June 2010 Archive 27 June - The Celebrated Broody Cat of Excelsior, Minnesota  Here's another treasure from the Museum's scanning queue - a carte de visite by H. A. Ball, c.1870, of a cat mothering a brood of poor orphan chicks. The text as printed on the reverse of the carte:
Truly a Cornelia among cats! There's a very fine turn of phrase and word choice in the text that should shame the average Twitterer - ...followed them about with a watchfulness that was wonderful, and guarded them from the dangers incident to young chickenhood... - ...she has displayed the fierceness of the feline nature, but to all who belong there she is as gentle as a kitten need be. It's too bad that the cat's name wasn't recorded, but being a farm cat, she probably didn't have one. And yet she's conferred a sort of immortality to Wm. Simpson and H. A. Ball of Excelsior, Minnesota. Previously Featured Vintage Cats from the Collection: Cat in a Carte de Visite Cabinet Card Cat Sleeping Cat Stereoview link 27 June - Off to the Cleaners, or Lunacy and Lunars  Portrait of Sir Charles Wallingford. Oil on canvas, 1630, by Pieter van der Norbeeck. If you're planning a visit to the Janus Museum to view our renowned portrait of Sir Charles Wallingford, you'd better pick another leading cultural institution instead - Sir Chas. is off to the conservators for a thorough cleaning. It seems that things got out of hand during last night's Young Benefactors Evening, and the gallant cavalier now sports a couple of unsightly Jägermeister and Mojito stains. The Young Benefactors program is another brilliant scheme of our Development staff - get a bunch of youngish lawyers, lobbyists and Beltway Bandits, dripping with cash, seduced by Culture (as represented by the Janus Museum) and they'll open up their bank accounts to us. Gus and I were even drafted to serve as waiters, for god's sake. Well, the proceeds from last evening's bacchanal may pay for half of the cost of cleaning off poor Sir Charles. Thank god, though, we coshed the Jäger-spitter before he got to Captain John Wallingford. I do find that an otherwise elegant Museum fundraiser is marred slightly when one is forced to concuss the guests, don't you? But after the cops and the ambulance left, I was able to get a little observing time in -  ... And got a few more shots of the Strawberry Moon. Also assisting was...  ... Leroy, who was, as usual, very helpful. link 26 June - The Moon and Cats and I  The Moon being full and rising late last night, I took the Museum's Galileoscope and a tripod out into the Circle for a bit of observation, accompanied by Cats Leroy and Natasha. Not having an adapter tube as suggested in these instructions for Galileoscope photography, I merely held my camera up to the eyepiece and snapped away. The cats enjoyed the nocturnal activity and ran about, though neither of them pestered me for a peek through the scope. It was all very pleasant, and it made me wonder if Galileo took his cats along when he observed the heavens - would make a good children's book, I bet - like Captain Kidd's Cat. The name of June's full Moon, by the way, is the Strawberry Moon. There's no lack of Moon songs, of course; let's hear the Moon part of The Sun Whose Rays from The Mikado: ...Observe his flame,... Sung by, I think, Valerie Masterson. Oh, and let's watch - ... The wonderful Shirley Henderson as Leonora Braham, who originated the role of Yum-Yum, from Topsy-Turvy - fabulous movie. link 25 June - Somewhere a Steer, Sometime  The steer was on the move and so was I, trying to get to the car before the storm reached us. It's somewhere along the Blue Ridge, I think. Probably taken... oh, around 1980, maybe. I should've kept track of these things better, I know, me being an archivist. But really, in a couple of hundred years, what difference will it make? However, I'm fairly certain it is a steer - Hereford, I think. With the threatening clouds and all, the shot reminds me of the Museum's wonderful painting, White Poodle Frightened by a Storm by Ianthe A. Gergel. link 25 June - Sleeping Lizards  No. 335. Crocodile on a Sand Bank in the Nile. Albumen Stereoview by Francis Frith, c.1860. Janus Museum Collection. Myself, I try to stick to photographing cats and dogs, or, if I'm feeling particularly brave, rabbits. But Francis Frith (1822-1898) was obviously made of sterner stuff - here's his shot of a crocodile - just look at the teeth on that boy - taken on one of his three trips to Egypt between 1856 and 1860. This particular view was even noticed by the Press - here's a review from the Times of London: You look through your stereoscope, and straightway you stand beside the fabled Nile, watching the crocodile asleep upon its sandy shore, with the superb ruins of Philae in the distance. The scene changes, and you are in the Desert…... Quoted by Here's Travelblog. If I ever have the opportunity to photograph a crocodile, even a sleeping crocodile, I'll use a powerful telephoto lens while sitting in an armored car, or, better yet, a tank. While wearing armor. link 20 June - Father's Day Song  That's my Pa, Milton Szégy-Légy, grimacing on the left, during a visit to the House of David, c.1920. And here's a Father's Day song, especially for Father's Day - It's Father's Day, composed by Harry Ruby and sung by Zero Mostel from his album Songs my Mother Never Sang. link 19 June - Boaters Boating and an Amazing Coincidence  Here's a superb image from the Museum's Haberdashery in Photographs collection - two straw boaters messing about in a boat, c.1920, presumably after Straw Hat Day. If there had been a third hat in the picture, it would have made an excellent book cover for a new edition of Three Men in a Boat. Curiously, I know of a song concerning rivers and straw hats - it's River Blues, also known as Ready for the River: ... Performed here by Bruce Hutton of the Double Decker Stringband and Hesperus, from his solo album Roll Back the Carpet, now tragically out of print, though another recording, Old Time Music - It's All Around is available through Smithsonian Folkways. Here's an odd coincidence - I was strolling through the town of Bethany Beach, Delaware one morning in the summer of 1978 and chanced to witness Bruce, who I didn't know at the time, being photographed at an "old-timey" photo saloon - that portrait is the one used on the cover of Old Time Music - It's All Around:  Truly, an amazing occurrence, and one that bears retelling, which I will. link 18 June - The Passing of the Old Stump  There was a mellow old tree stump, the remnant of an ancient oak, located a bit east of the North Wallow in the historic Circle, Washington Grove - it was a favorite with Cat Leroy, who would hop up and seek a bit of attention; thus, it was known locally as the Old Petting Stump. One could just sit on it and meditate on important matters...  ... Or use it as a stage for a striking tableau...  ... As in this dramatic presentation, Cat with Toy Hand Grenade, after Diane Arbus. Also used for our brief examination of the lolcat phenomenon. And it was a fine location...  ... For a little shut-eye on an autumn day. So it was a hell of a shock for us the other day when, on hearing a racket out in the Circle, we stepped out on the Historic Cottage porch and saw...  ... A crew armed with a stump grinder, grinding up the old stump, totally without warning. Shouldn't there have been a public hearing? I would have tied myself to the stump, but couldn't find any rope.  Natasha sadly views the pile of mulch, all that remains of the Old Petting Stump. Poor old Leroy was too distraught to pose. link 14 June - Gems from the Scanning Queue  Today in the Janus Museum's scanning queue - a superb view of a double platen planer, photog. unknown, c.1920. Note the disembodied hand in the lower left corner, turning a wheel. Next...  ... A 9th-plate tintype of a gallant gunner with his 6-pounder, Fort Washington, Maryland. And now...  ... A somewhat foggy but extremely rare ambrotype view of the old Castle of the Smithsonian Institution - previously unpublished. Here's another view of the Castle from the Collection. Previous Scanning Queue Treasures: Carmen Miranda and the Assassin link 14 June - Cephalopodiana  Too beautiful to even think about eating: a Pelagic Octopus (though not a Tuberculate Pelagic Octopus). Photograph by Chris Newbert. Many thanks to our cephalpod correspondent Grahame for sending the snap, via Pharyngula, via National Geographic. link 13 June - Alejandro Gatito  Please say hello to young Alejandro, who showed up scared and hungry in neighbors Margot and Ned's garden last week. He was given a couple of square meals and was soon captured by Friend of the Museum Rebecca. She took him to the vet, who pronounced him about eight weeks old and healthy - not even a flea on him. Neighbor Mimi dubbed him Alejandro, and so far the name suits him pretty well. He's now very friendly and affectionate - and over-the-top cute.  Peake (left) checks out the new boy as Nutmeg purses her lips in disapproval. So Alejandro is now looking for a permanent home. Tragically, the Curator has ruled that the Museum does not require a new museum cat, but we have hopes that he'll be adopted in town, near the Circle.  The prototype of the new kitten-sized pickelhaube arrived most opportunely - Alejandro was very good and submitted to posing in it. By the way, Mr. Pradeep informs me that the first consignment of cat-size pickelhaubes has been finished and is on the dock, ready for shipping. link 11 June - Surprise Shipment of Charcuterie  Came home the other afternoon to find a package from Brother Granville at the door - inside was a styrofoam cooler which held the goods temptingly arrayed in the photo above. From the lower left and going clockwise, we find German style salami, bratwurst, natural casing frankfurters, shinken speck, pork sausage links, and Polish sausage - truly a coronary in a cooler. It's a superb assortment of goodies from Koenemann's Sausage of Volo, Illinois. I've had to store it all in a freezer in an undisclosed location to preeserve it from those ravening hounds, Gus and the Museum Fellows. Previous Sausage-Related Postings: Ceci n'est pas une Saucisson Polonais Alarming Russian Sausage Choucroute Recipe Wild Magyar Sausage Advert Socialist Weiner Poster Visit to the Kielbasa Factory Ex Voto Chorizo The Self-Serving Hotdog link 5 June - The Merchandise-Hungry Cats  The latest eBay cat-related ex voto - a token giving thanks for a miraculous intervention - tragically casts the kitties in an unfavorable light. Here's the translation of the inscription: Anastacio Sanchez writes: I was selling my birds one day when I suddenly realized I had a line of cats following me and hungry for my merchandise so I ran and asked the Virgen de Zapopan for help and in that instant a large dog came out and chased them away for which I now give thanks.So hurtful - I'm certain that the cats just wanted to look at the birds. Previous Cat-Related Ex Votos: Unmupped Kittens - More Miraculous Trusting Cats Miracle of the Trusting Cats Big Blue Cat Miracle Brave/Ugly Cats Miracles Miracle of Feline Augmented Literacy Pretty Hairy Kittens Miracle Demonic Fear of Kitties Cat Scratch Fever Miracle Miracle of the Cat Husband The Miracle of the Embarrassed Cats Tragic Love Canción de los Gatos San Pascual's Cat Aunt Honorata's Cats The Perfect Cat Storm Cat Pi Milagro Greedy-guts Miracle Cat link 1 June - Tom, Jerry, and Franz Joseph I  His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty Franz Joseph (1830-1916), King-Emperor of Austria-Hungary*, may have appeared in lots of cartoons, but the only one I'm familiar with is Tom and Jerry's Johann Mouse - it's your basic Cat on Mouse scenario, but set in Vienna and complete with waltzes - His Imperial and Royal Majesty appears at the 5 minute, 27 second mark. *The Emperor's Official Grand Title (according to Wikipedia) was: His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty,And after 1867: His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty,link |
