What makes a Museum? - Watch this space!

As most of you will already know, The CFA Foundation made its own mark on history when it established the Feline Historical Museum, in June 2011, on the ground floor of the CFA building in Alliance, Ohio. This was a ground-breaking endeavour, and one which from a historian's viewpoint was long overdue in the realm of cats; as for well over 120 years, no concerted effort had been made by any major registry around the world, to safeguard and pool together, important artifacts and documents relevant to the distant and ongoing history of the fancy.

Silver collar awarded to "COSEY" at the 1895 Madison Square Garden cat show, New York City. From the Collection of The CFA Foundation, Inc.

Under the management of The CFA Foundation's board of directors, the collections housed within the museum have grown exponentially, and the historic value and type of items being catalogued and housed in perpetuity has, likewise, continued to grow at the same or greater exponential rate.

Collections such as these require the donation of both historic items and sometimes cash or bequests in order to be able to grow and to provide professional restoration, ongoing safe storage, meaningful cataloguing, and exhibitions to showcase the plethora of extremely interesting cat fancy related items that form the basis of the collections.

And at times, decisions have to be made to prioritize the work and to ensure that appropriate technologies are used to secure the items in the collection for future generations, and to find ways to manage access to the information they contain, by cat fanciers and researchers alike.

Letter from Harrison Weir to Digby Seymour, dated Jan.18th, 1876, gifting him a copy of his book,'The Poetry of Nature'.	Show Catalogue of the Grand American Cat Show, held in the Horticultural Hall, Boston, Monday Oct.18th, 1883.	Catalogue of the Reading Championship Cat Show,(UK), Wednesday Oct.15th, 1913.
Photo-set courtesy of The Harrison Weir Collection.

The purpose of this section of the site, is to provide another form of access, to those of you who wish to browse items included in the combined collections of both the CFA Foundation's Feline Historical Museum and The Harrison Weir Collection, as well as at other locations around the world. In this sense, this is a Digital Museum, providing a visual and informational pathway to these historic documents, art and articles, which are an important part of the history of the Cat Fancy and the people who have been involved or associated with it.

As time permits, the editors, Karen Lawrence and John Smithson, will add more items to the list below, giving you direct access to the amazing stories behind the documents and artifacts that are part and parcel of the amazing history of the Cat Fancy … so as the heading above suggests … WATCH THIS SPACE!

18th Century c1790s, Mother Cat & Kittens, original watercolor by Gottfried Mind c1799, Hand Colored Satirical Print, by George M. Woodward, UK 19th Century 1846, Sussex Barn Cat watercolor painting, by Harrison Weir, UK c1861/1862, Government of India Horse Medallion, designed by Harrison Weir, UK 1871, The Crystal Palace Tankard, Lewes, UK 1872, Crystal Palace Prize Winning Cat, UK 1878, Boston National Cat Show Medal, Boston, MA, USA 1880-1897, Samuel C. Perkins Scrapbook, USA c1876, Letter from Harrison Weir to Lady Nevill, UK 1883, Grand American Cat Show, Boston, USA 1883, 1st Prize, Boston Cat Show, Boston, USA 1883, Boston Cat Show Medal, Boston, USA 1884, National Cat Show, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA 1886, Fanciers Show Medal, UK 1890, National Cat Club-Notice of Meeting, UK 1892 & 1893, Crystal Palace Medals, London, UK 1893, Pen and Wash artwork by Harrison Weir 1895, Cruft's Cat Show Gold Medal (Xenophon), UK 1895, Cruft's Cat Show Gold Medal (Holmwood Doris/Holmwood Trixie II), UK 1895, Scottish Cat Club Medal, Edinburgh, Scotland 1895, National Cat Show Collar and Medal, New York USA 1895, National Cat Show Catalog, New York USA 1896, The Cat & The Convalescent by Harrison Weir, UK 1896, Illustriertes Katzenbuch by Jean Bungartz, Germany 1896, 3rd Prize Rosette, Northampton Cat Show, England 1899, "Our Cats" Magazine, Volume 1, UK 1899, original sketch of Donkey, by Harrison Weir

20th Century 1901-1902, Crystal Palace Medals, London, UK 1902, NewFoundland Dog, artwork by Harrison Weir, UK 1903, Woodwatd Challenge Cup, Joliet, Illinois, USA 1904, Silver Chalice, Sheffield Cat Show, England c1905, Original Louis Wain Watercolor c1905, Original Pen/Ink Sketch, attributed to Louis Wain 1907, 1908, 1912, 1916 Boston Cat Club Ribbons, Boston USA 1911, G. Heitkemper Co. Trophy, Oregon Cat Club, Portland, Oregon USA c1909-1914, Painting of Don Giovanni,New York City, USA 1910-1912, CFA Registration Slips, New Jersey, USA 1912, The "Wilson" Veterinary Medicine Manufacturing Co. Ltd. Medallion, Middlesex, UK 1914, Pacific Cat Club Challenge Cup, San Francisco, CA, USA c1920-1925, Valley of the Moon Trophy California, USA 1924, National Cat Show medal, London, England 1927, Canadian National Exhibition Pin, Toronto, Canada c1930's, American Cat Association medal, USA 1931, Connecticut Cat Club - Campbell Fraser Challenge Trophy, Connecticut, USA 1935, Milord O' Mendip Memorial Cup, UK 1936, Medallion - Coupe de Mle Tzaut - Cat Club de Paris, France 1937, Beresford Cat Club Trophy, Chicago USA 1938, La Feline Bruxelles Bronze Medal, Brussels, Belgium 1940, World's Fair Cat Show Trophy, Long Island, USA 1950, Malvern Trophy, New Zealand 1973-2015, CFA Medal of Honor, USA Undated, Beresford Cat Club Fob, Chicago USA Undated, Friends of Room 8 Medallion/Pendant, Los Angeles, USA

Supplement to Fur and Feather, Jan.24th, 1913, showing famous Blue Persian cats from the Oaklands Cattery.	Pitcher awarded to Best Cat owned by a member, donated by the Westchester Cat Club, for the World's Fair Cat Show, New York, Oct.27th-28th, 1940.	Signed and numbered segment opposite the title page of Our Cats (1889) by Harrison Weir, from a large format limited edition of only 120 copies world-wide.
Photo-set courtesy of The Harrison Weir Collection.

A Note from the Editors:

The editors invite donations of an historic nature in the form of data, photographs or related club artifacts to The CFA Foundation's Feline Historical Museum. If you feel you have any information, or an item which would add value to our pages celebrating the history of our Clubs, please check the CONTACT page and send us an email.