48 Adorable Cat Images From Throughout History That Prove They Were Always The Main Character

“Miss Iris Davis… spends a great deal of time recovering cats with the aid of a “lassoo” from the debris of bombed house. So far she has rescued six hundred of these feline strays, 8 November 1940.“ From the Imperial War Museums' online photograph collection

Little boys. 💕 Postcard from my collection, unsent, 1902.

Boy with cat. Photo taken in Natal, South Africa by Constance Stuart Larrabee, 1949. From the Smithsonian online virtual archives

Beautiful scene in Scotland. By Mary Ethel Muir Donaldson, ca. 1920s.

Proud. 🏆 Photo from my collection, ca. 1970s

This is a photo from a sweet and funny book called The Silent Miaow by Paul Gallico with photos by Suzanne Szasz. It’s a cute manual that teaches stray cats how to train humans and get them to let you move in and take over. 1964.

Snug. ☺️ From April’s Kittens, written and illustrated by Clare Turlay Newberry. 1940.

Three cats. Three of them. All cats. Photo by Hilding Mickelsson, undated. From the Hälsingland Museum in Hudiksvall, Sweden

I’m in ur sink, questioning ur decor choices. Photo from my collection, ca. 1960s.

Showing bottle ships to kittens is a top tier hobby. Photo of Jakob Olaussen by Kjell Søgård, 1967. From the Norwegian Forestry Museum in Elverum, Norwa

Very fancy potato postcard from my collection, date unknown.

A very pleasant loaf. 🍞 Oil painting by Abraham Cooper, 1817. From the online collections of the Ashmolean Museum

Before the internet kittens had to call everyone individually to explain how small and cute they were. Unknown photographer, ca. 1920 - 1935. From the online collection of the Powerhouse Museum - a collective of museums in Sydney, Australia.

Morning and evening, 1898. From The Angora Cat: How to Breed, Train, and Keep It. By Robert Kent James, 1898. From the Library of Congress.

This is really marvelous tabby coat appreciation. 💕 Watercolor by Norbertine Bresslern-Roth, 1920.

Proposal for Sistine Chapel redesign. Photo from my collection, no date/info.

This meeting of the High Council of Tater Tots has been brought to order. Undated, from the Upplandsmuseet in Uppsala, Sweden

Cat in Cherry Tree. Wood engraving print by Eileen Mayo, 1947. From the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

“Toodles the cat celebrated his 18th birthday on St. Patrick’s Day in 1940. A stout 19 pounds, he is deaf and beginning to lose his teeth. Toodles is set in his ways and doesn’t like his daily routine interrupted, especially… his afternoon nap.” 1940. From the Tacoma Public Library online digital collections.

Portrait of a beloved loaf. Photo by John Holyland, ca. 1865 - 1880. From the Maryland Center for History and Culture.

Sleepy heap. Painting by Henriette Ronner-Knip, 1903. Sold by Bonhams auction house in 2011.

His Majesty. Postcard from my collection, mailed 1907.

A Beauty, 1901. 🍐 From the Auckland Libraries, accessed thanks to the DigitalNZ project.

A Beauty, 1901. 🍐 From the Auckland Libraries, accessed thanks to the DigitalNZ project.

Lil meowboy. Photo from my collection ca. 1950s.

Superb mixed bean salad. 🫘 Photo from a book in my collection: The Book of Kittens, edited by Brant House, 1951.

“Mary, posed by a small Christmas tree.” Ca. 1935. Photo by Ephraim Burt Trimpey. From the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Dancer Lisan Kay worshipping her cat. 1942. From the Jerome Robbins Dance Division of the New York Public Library Digital Collections.

Just a little guy. Photo from my collection, no date/info.

Here is an angel of summer coming to give you hope in this freezing month! 🌼 Photo from my collection, ca. 1970s.

Mother, no. Photo from my collection, no date or other info.

Christmas explosion with two cats. Photo from my collection, 1972.

This photo says “Edna Wilke” on the back and I hope that was the name of the kitten. Photo from my collection, ca. 1950s.

Vintage art for a Chesapeake & Ohio Rail Road calendar by Charles Bracker! So sweet. The sleeping kitty is "Chessie", one of the most successful cat advertising mascots of the 20th century. This was sold by Ripley Auctions of Indianapolis in 2009.

A greeting for negligent penpals and procrastinating authors. Postcard from my collection, 1911.

Two cats, by Walter Inglis Anderson ca. 1940. From the Walter Anderson Museum of Art Permanent Collection.

Noir goddess. Photo from my collection, no date/info

From The Adventures of Nip and Tuck: Just Cats. Written by Elizabeth Francis and illustrated by Barbara Roe Hicklin, 1959

Goblin mode activated. By a follower of Sebastian Stoskopff, ca. 17th century. Sold by Christie's auction house in 2005.

Illustration from Two Too Many by Nora Unwin, 1962.

Warming the beans. 🥰 Photo from my collection, ca. 1950s.

Cat. Painting by Gwen John, ca. 1904 - 1908. From the online collection of the Tate Collective

White Cat by Sal Meijer (1877-1965).

Lost Chance. Painting by Charles Burton Barber, 1881.

So, attacking "cat ladies" as a way of disenfranchising women is not exactly a new tactic in the United States. Women were frequently portrayed mockingly as cats and man-hating cat ladies in anti-suffrage propaganda over a century ago. Some of these portrayals might seem flattering to us today, but at the time representing women as cats was intended to infantilize and demean them as being silly creatures incapable of serious political discourse. Here are just a few of innumerable examples. (I know people are going to ask if the first one is by Louis Wain - it's not. It was by William Henry Ellam.) Edited to add: The "I'm a Suffer Yet" is a joke referring to suffragettes being beaten and detained by police. This is according to various sociologist's and historian's essays I have read on the subject.

Illustration from Orlando (The Marmalade Cat): A Seaside Holiday. Written and illustrated by Kathleen Hale, 1952. The family was so hot and bored they didn’t even want their shrimps! 🦐

From The Picture Poetry Book by Gertrude Parthenon McBrown, illustrated by Loïs Mailou Jones. 1935. The whole book is scanned and available online via the New York Public Library's Digital Collections!

Time to get FANCY. From the Peace Institute's 1904 yearbook, via the Abecedarian website, oneletterwords.com.

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