Cat’s Christmas Party Postcard by Louis Wain, 1910

The following is an abbreviated version of an amusing Christmas story published in the Shepherdstown Register in Jefferson County, West Virginia on February 8, 1868. The original author was not provided in the article, but it was written by a lady with fond memories of two “old maid” sisters who lived together in a little yellow cottage:

“But the best time we ever had in that dear yellow cottage was at a Christmas party which the old ladies gave for their cats…Midge was my cat, a dowdy little gray cat, whom nobody ever called good-looking, but who I loved dearly….At last the invitations came–all sent out in one forenoon, two days before Christmas…on bright pink paper. ‘The Miss Ferrys request the pleasure of your company on Christmas Eve, from six till nine o’clock. You will please bring your cat. There will be a Christmas Tree for the cats. Each cat is expected to wear a paper ruff. The servants can be sent to take the cats home at half past seven.’

I did not know what a ruff was, but mamma explained it to me, and showed me the picture of an old queen in one. We cut one out, and put in on Midge, but she tore it off in about half a minute…[mamma] thought it would be more work than play; but we could all carry half-a-dozen extra ones in our pockets…

By quarter before six o’clock, on Christmas Eve, a droll procession was to be seen walking towards the yellow cottage. Each boy and girl carried a cat hugged up tightly in their arms…” Inside the parlor, “there sat Tom, and Spunk, and Spitfire, and Yellow, all in a row, in their highest chairs, with enormous paper ruffs on…There they sat as solemn as judges…

 By quarter past six the company had all arrived; twelve girls, eight boys, and twenty cats…At half past six the doors were thrown open in to the little library, and there stood the Tree. It was a thick fir-tree and it had twenty splendid Chinese lanterns on it, all in a blaze of light. Then there were twenty-four phials of cream, tied on by bright red ribbons; twenty-four worsted balls, scarlet and white and yellow; as many as two hundred gay-colored bon-bon papers, with fringe at the ends…”

After a bit of fighting and corralling, “then the cats’ high chairs were brought in and placed two on the right, and two on the left of the tree…they all looked as grave as if they were watching for rats. Miss Esther rang a bell, and the maid brought in twenty-four small tin pans on a waiter; then Miss Jane told us each to take a phial of cream off the tree and empty it into a pan for our cat. Such a lapping…it sounded like rain on window blinds. After this, Miss Esther distributed the bon-bon papers by handfuls, and told us to ‘let the dear cats eat all they could.’ Some of the papers had nice bits of roast veal in them; some had toasted cheese, and some had chicken wing…They all wanted chicken wings’ after once tasting one of those, they despised the roast veal, and even the cheese…I saw Willie Dickinson turn his back to the people, and slyly bite a mouthful off a chicken wing before he gave it to Iron Gray. This made me hungrier than ever and I am ashamed to say that I , too, watched my chance, and popped a bit of veal into my mouth…”

Lastly, Miss Esther “took a red worsted ball from the tree, and threw it out into the parlor. Midge sprang after it like lightning; then we all took balls and threw them out…pretty soon the door-bell rang; the mail came into the parlor and said ‘Judge Dickinson’s man has come after Willie’s cat.’ Then we all laughed harder than ever, and Willie called out, ‘That is no way to speak. You should say, ‘Mr. Iron Gray’s carriage has come.’ Next came our Bridget after Midge…In a few minutes the cats were all gone…” Then, at last, there was a “nice old-fashioned sit down supper…all wholesome and plain…Miss Esther and Miss Jane walked around the tables all the time, and slipped apples and oranges into our pockets for us to carry home.” The kids returned home with one “splendid Chinese lantern” and unforgettable Christmas memories from the little yellow cottage. 

Click here to visit a page on the Virginia Chronicle website and read the full story from the original newspaper.