Wartime Kangaroos

A special edition of the wartime pets series! As we've seen in past posts, soldiers are very, very fond of keeping pets and mascots of all kinds, from the expected dogs and cats to pigs, goats, and foxes. Out of all the unusual pets, perhaps the most surprisingly popular was the kangaroo (or wallaby). Australian soldiers played with them at home, then took them along on journeys to far-off fronts. Foreign troops stationed in Australia were also keen to seize their chance of kangaroo adoption. I don't know if they do make good pets, but these fellows certainly seem thought so!

An Australian soldier with a pet kangaroo near the Pyramids, Egypt, about 1915. Source

Soldiers with a kangaroo in Malaysa, 1941. Source

A soldier with "Joey" the kangaroo in Malaya, 1941. According to the caption, he was smuggled in a box labelled "Medical Supplies." Source

Adorable Kittens of 1902

Nothing meaningful or insightful, just some very, very cute kittens from 1902. 

These photographs come from the Canadian Copyright Collection of the British Library (which the BL put on the Wikimedia Commons). From 1895 to 1924, to register copyright in Canada you had to send one copy of the relevant work to Canada, and one to the British Library. So whoever took this pictures copyrighted them--why isn't known, although I suspect it was for use on postcards, as lots of similar kitten photo postcards can be found. No other information is known (including why they are called "The Globe Kittens"), although pretty much every site mentioning the Canadian Copyright Collection on the Wikimedia Commons has shared at least one image of the set (I haven't found any posts with all, though! and all are just so darn cute). 

British Library

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British Library

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British Library

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Cat Eats Corn

Another look at the fluffy side of LIFE magazine. This is one of my favourite examples of "fluff"-- photographs of a cat that apparently likes to eat corn on the cob. I'm sure that only one of these pictures was actually published, possibly on the last page which for a while was reserved for a light-hearted picture (I haven't yet found it, but still looking), but of course, an actual real-life photojournalist was dispatched to do this so as per the course he shot a range of pictures to get the best one/one that would best fit the page. So the LIFE archives, as well as containing some of the defining photographs of our era, includes a whole bunch of photos of a cat eating corn. 

1951, by Allan Grant. 

Allan Grant, LIFE © Time Inc.

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Allan Grant, LIFE © Time Inc.

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Allan Grant, LIFE © Time Inc.

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Wartime Pets Part Five

I feel I've said everything I have to say on the topic in the last four posts from this series; essentially, I absolutely adore photographs depicting men (and sometimes women) at war with the pets and mascots that were more common than we realize. I feel it is so humanizing and so touching--tender moments in difficult times. 

Walter Sanders, LIFE © Time Inc.

A sergeant holding the puppy mascot of the 36th jet fighter group, Germany, 1948. Source

Library and Archives Canada

Nanny, the pet goat of a Canadian Mobile Veterinary Section, takes a cigarette from an officer, 1917. Source

© IWM (TR 2145)

One of the RAF's top aces in WW2, Johnny Johnson, with his pet lab Sally, 1944. Source

Cigarette Card Animals

From the mid 19th century to about the 1940s, cigarette cards were a common feature of cigarette packets. They would be published in series (usually 25 or 50), encouraging smokers to buy more from the same brand. Now, I don't condone smoking in any way-- but a lot of them are really great! The good old New York Public Library (this blog's star collection of the month, apparently!) has tens of thousands, a huge number of which are digitized. I am definitely going to be featuring these on a regular basis from now on! Today, a cute, silly series featuring animals and well-known phrases (from nursery rhymes to cliches to ad slogans). They are photomechanical reproductions of probably heavily retouched photos-- no date is provided but as one includes the phrase "back up your troubles in your old kit bag," from a song written in 1915, they must date from after that. My guess is 1915-1930.

New York Public Library

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New York Public Library

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New York Public Library

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The Photographer's Cat

Gjon Mili is one of my favourite photographers, and I've shared photographs of his on many occasions (A general selection, stroboscopic photographs, filming of West Side Story, and 1940s nightlife in Paris). He did a lot of shooting in his own studio where he could control the lighting, of which he was a master. 

Also at his studio was his gorgeous black cat, Blackie. Blackie, it seems, never hesitated to make friends with Mili's sitters, and Mili in turn didn't hesitate to use Blackie in his shots. He also used Blackie as a sitter himself, resulting in the kind of gorgeously lit black-on-black shots only Mili could create. 

Gjon Mili, LIFE © Time Inc.

Blackie and nightclub entertainer Maune de Revel, 1946. Source

Gjon Mili, LIFE © Time Inc.

Blackie joining a model in a bridal fashion shoot, 1945. Source

Gjon Mili, LIFE © Time Inc.

Blackie sitting on a piano as opera star Jennie Tourel plays and sings, 1952. Source

The Cat Show

Photographs from a cat show in Los Angeles, 1952, shot by George Silk, some of which appeared in the December 1952 issue of LIFE. 

George Silk, LIFE © Time Inc.

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George Silk, LIFE © Time Inc.

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George Silk, LIFE © Time Inc.

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Cats and Dogs

As regular visitors to the blog know, I love old pictures of pets almost as much as people in the past loved taking pictures of them. I have just heaps sitting around waiting to be shared. Today, a small start on that!

I couldn't decide whether to post cats or dogs... so here's both!

Alfred Eisenstaedt, LIFE © Time Inc.

Dog walkers in Central Park, NYC, 1964. Source

Library of Congress

A woman with a "smoke Persian" cat, c. 1910. Source

Ralph Crane, LIFE © Time Inc.

A Siamese cat nuzzling poet Rod McKuen as he plays a record, San Francisco, 1967. Source

Best Friends

Pet post time! Today, people and their dogs.

Nationaal Archief

A girl with a puppy, undated. Source

National Media Museum

A girl photographing a dog, c. 1910. Source

State Library of New South Wales

Huskies pulling a sledge, Antarctica, 1911-14. Source

Wartime Pets Part Four

Considering how much I love this series, it's been a very long time since I had a wartime pets post. But, at last, another collection of soldiers, sailors and airmen with their animals.

 © IWM (K 554)

An Australian soldier with Joey the kangaroo, a mascot smuggled into Malaya, c. 1942. Source

© IWM (C 111)

'Alyosius', the lamb mascot of an RAF squadron, 1939. Source

Australian War Memorial

An RAAF man with a pet monkey, Algeria, ca. 1944. Source

The Kittens of the LIFE Archives

All the vintage kitten photos you've ever wanted, and more!

Anonymous photographs from the LIFE archives. 

LIFE archives © Time Inc.

Have you melted yet? Source

LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

Nice squirrel. Source

LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

 I think I'll have him write the rest of these posts. Source

LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

Poor humiliated kitty. Source

LIFE archives © Time Inc.

Real friends chew on branches together. Source

LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

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LIFE archives © Time Inc.

This one looks like myyy kitten. :) Source