Cats of Yore
One of our favorite Instagram accounts is Cats of Yore, which features amazing vintage cat art curated by Molly Hodgdon. We spoke to Molly to learn about her collection of photos and postcards and the inspiration for sharing them with other cat lovers.
1. How did you start Cats of Yore?
It all started on Twitter. I love looking through the online collections of museums and photo archives for cat-related materials, and one night it occurred to me that other people might like to see these treasures. So instead of just collecting bookmarks on my laptop I started posting images with links on Twitter, never really expecting anyone to take much notice. Two and a half years later it turns out that lots of people are interested! Since people loved it so much I established Cats of Yore accounts on multiple other platforms, including Instagram.
2. Can you tell us about your fascination with cats in terms of art and history? When did it start?
I’ve loved cats as far back as I can remember. It always seems like a magical gift that we got to live with these beautiful, loving, funny creatures. It wasn’t until I got older that I started thinking and learning about how unusual our relationship with them is, how we didn’t grab them out of the wild and domesticate them like so many other animals – they chose to come in live with us and are intimately entwined with so much of our history. They have played important roles in human civilization, such as aiding in the development of agriculture (through pest control). So my love of historical cat imagery encompasses a lot of things: cats are simply pretty and I love looking at them, it evokes all the warm feelings I have from a lifetime of feline relationships, and I’m constantly driven to learn more about our very long and unique relationship with them.
3. How did you start collecting?
I’ve always been a big fan of ramshackle antique shops, yard sales, flea markets, thrift stores, rummage sales, and anywhere else one can find other people’s discarded old “junk”. The problem with loving junk treasures is that you quickly run out of room, so instead of collecting cat figurines and other tchotchkes I really started focusing on photos and postcards because I can store them easily in my albums. Over time I realized how much the cats mean to me – each one had a name and was loved enough for a photo to be taken and saved but then was eventually forgotten. I feel a need to gather up all the forgotten cats and bring their memory to life again by sharing them with everyone.
4. What are a few of your favorite personal pieces?
A lot of people adore vintage photos of cats dressed up in little costumes, but that’s really not my thing at all. I hate seeing how uncomfortable or even frightened they look in restrictive garments. I love photos of cats just being happy, and photos that show how much happiness they bring to the people who love them.
5. What’s one of your favorite posts?
One of the first viral posts I had was a thread of cats destroying stuff throughout history. I included pieces of art from many different countries and centuries, all of them celebrating cats going bonkers and breaking, ripping, or spilling things – and there were plenty to choose from. I love it because it was the first time I really saw that no matter how much people complain about it, we love cats for being uncontrollable and disrespectful. Most people see it as a feature, not a bug. Another along similar lines was a thread I created of cats stealing food from still life paintings. Again there were plenty to choose from and again people were utterly enchanted by these scenes of utter impertinence.
6. What is the most interesting cat art or historical cat story you’ve run across?
My favorite stories are about cats and humans saving each other. So often in extreme circumstances like war or poverty people have been able to survive and rediscover joy by saving and caring for cats. There are many examples from every era, all over the world, but one that sticks with me is the Civil War journal of union soldier Eben Fiske. He did a lovely sketch of a stray tabby named Virginia that he looked after for fourth months before sending her home with a soldier who was being discharged for illness. Fiske wrote that she “regularly purred herself to sleep” in his arms. Source.
7. Tell us an interesting fact or two about your two kitties!
One fact is that they have no teeth! Fergus and Francie both have a virus called FIV, which for the most is very manageable and not a big deal but in some cases it can lead to a condition called stomatitis where the gums becomes painfully inflamed. Unfortunately the only fix is full dental extraction. Toothless cats get along just fine, though! Once healed they can resume whatever their normal diet was.
Another fact is that they are best friends! They came from different shelters as adults, two years apart, no relation at all, but they bonded almost immediately and do everything together.
8. What do you want people to get out of the posts you share?
Primarily I want people to simply enjoy them, just a small moment of calm happiness in their otherwise chaotic and infuriating timelines. It’s important to keep abreast of issues that matter to you, but it’s also important to balance some of that out with beauty and goodness or your mental health can truly suffer. I also want people to realize how much cats mean to us both as individuals and as a species. As I said before our relationship with them really is quite unique and special. I also hope people can see how sincere I am in my love of cats, that this isn’t just a gimmick account created for clicks and clout. I’m a person, not a bot, and I’ve never profited from Cats of Yore. I have only used it to raise money for animal shelters, low cost TNR clinics, and farm sanctuaries, to promote adopting special needs shelter pets, and raise awareness around feline welfare issues like declawing, overpopulation, and unethical breeding.
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