With capes, crowns, and plenty of cattitude, the Northern Cat Fanciers\u2019 events turned ordinary pets into stars during a golden era for felines in Sault Ste. Marie<\/p>\n
From the archives of the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library:<\/p>\n
Fabulous felines? Cat-sized capes and crowns?\u00a0Trophies and ribbons?\u00a0Yes, to all!\u00a0The Sault Ste. Marie of the 1980s celebrated the cat in all its glory through cat shows, featuring dozens of our residents\u2019 furry friends.\u00a0One of Sault Ste. Marie\u2019s cat clubs, The Northern Cat Fanciers, held one such show on November 2, 1980.\u00a0 Inquiries about the cat show came from as far away as New Mexico, Nebraska, and Washington.\u00a0One of the most popular categories in the show was Household Pet Cat, and it was a featured part of the Northern Cat Fanciers\u2019 event.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the weeks leading up to the show, organizers warned the other furry hopefuls that \u201cMorris, a polydactyl red tabby, will (once again) be in competition.\u201d\u00a0Morris was crowned king of the show at the previous cat show, much to the delight of his owner, Tina Duncan, and was expected to be furrrocious competition for the other felines at the November 2\u00a0show.\u00a0Nine Lives Cat Foods donated the Morris Trophy for best household pet cat winner in memory of their famously finicky cat Morris, who was the star of their television commercials.\u00a0The trophy was for the category of cats that did not conform to a registered breed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
More than eighty cats registered for the cat show, some from as far away as Kentucky.\u00a0One fancy cat that attended was from Winterburn, Alberta, although this worldly cat made its way to the show from Florida, where it preferred to winter.\u00a0Judges for the show came from Ohio, Winnipeg, Michigan, and right here in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.\u00a0It cost a cool $12 to enter a cat in the championship classes and $5 for household pets.\u00a0Spectators would pay no more than $1 for admission, with children and seniors able to watch the feline contenders for free.<\/p>\n
The show took place at the union hall on Dennis Street and attracted entries in such breeds as Persian, Balinese, Manx, Abyssinian, and even an Ocicat kitten.\u00a0 The coveted King of the Cats award ultimately went to a new furry face named Nemo.\u00a0Nemo, a long-haired domestic cat, showed off his beautiful black fur, offset splendidly by his fancy white mustache and socks.\u00a0Resplendent in his crown and cape, Nemo sat proudly to have his picture taken with his new trophy, presenting a dashing royal figure.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The following year found the Northern Cat Fanciers\u2019 third major cat show at the Rankin Arena on the summer solstice.\u00a0Ribbons were given out to household cats judged to be the best in categories that included best colour and best condition.\u00a0Registered \u2018champion\u2019 cats were awarded points from all four judges for a \u2018best of the best\u2019 winner.\u00a0The 1982 show included a \u201crare chocolate point Sacred Cat of Burma kitten\u201d as an entrant. Approximately 150 people attended the show, which featured 76 entries.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, the Northern Cat Fanciers\u2019 show wasn\u2019t just a competition, but a celebration of our beloved pets, most especially the fabulous feline variety.\u00a0The Humane Society and the Sault Ste. Marie Kennel Club had displays set up at the show.\u00a0 Perhaps most importantly, the Humane Society also had cats in attendance who were looking for their furrrever homes \u2013 available for adoption and perhaps future cat show contenders?\u00a0The Northern Cat Fanciers also invited \u201cother animal clubs\u2026to put in a display in the show that would\u00a0help to promote the welfare of all animals.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Northern Cat Fanciers\u2019 shows allowed our Sault felines to be worshipped as any cat will tell you is its due!\u00a0After all, aren\u2019t all cats champions by simple virtue of their felineness?\u00a0It isn\u2019t called the cat\u2019s meow for nothing!<\/p>\n
Each week, the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library and its Archives provide SooToday readers with a glimpse of the city\u2019s past.<\/p>\n
Find out more about what the Public Library has to offer at\u00a0www.ssmpl.ca<\/a>\u00a0and look for more “Remember This?” columns\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With capes, crowns, and plenty of cattitude, the Northern Cat Fanciers\u2019 events turned ordinary pets into stars during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44,46911],"class_list":["post-77046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-news","tag-remember-thissault-ste-marie-public-libraryremember-this-sault-ste-marie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}