Cats,  Feline Fine Art,  Secrets of Cats

Cat and Mouse Act of 1913 & 10 Winners!

If you love cats, sharing makes us purrrr :-)

As many of you know I love and collect vintage cat art. I’ve often posted my antique or vintage finds or favorites and I’d like to make it a regular feature. So, we’re going to try it out on Fridays and switch GIVEAWAYS to Tuesdays and make Wednesdays a day off. Let us know how you like it and as always, we’re here for you.

We’re purring with delight to announce our 10 winners for our Hills Giveaway. Congratulations to:

Holly Carr, Rascal and Rocco, Ellen Beck, Michelle Cavanaugh, Cindy, Deb N Cats, Katnip Lounge, Vicky C, Tina W. and Andrea. We’ll be emailing you this weekend requesting your shipping address.

I fell in love with two antique sterling solid silver cigarette cases not because I smoke (I don’t) but for the enameled Suffragette cats with a caption:”I Want My Vote”. One of the reasons I love antiques and old things is how they connect the past with our present. It’s good to be reminded how far we’ve evolved or not. It wasn’t all that long ago that women did not have the right to vote but did you know how cats are connected to suffrage movement?

vintage cat cigarette case

In April of 1913, the Cat-and-Mouse Act became law in the UK as government response to the use of hunger strikes by imprisoned suffragettes. Postcards and other objects with cats were created to lend support for the cause.

The playfully named Cat and Mouse act (officially known as the Prisoner’s Temporary Discharge of Ill Health Act) was anything but playful. Marion Dunlop was the first suffragette to stage hunger strike to protest the inordinately long prison sentences given to suffragettes and the fact they were not treated as political prisoners. The British government released her from jail after 91 hours of fasting in order not to risk her health. In order to thwart other suffragettes from using this tactic to avoid serving their full sentences, the authorities introduced brutal forced feeding. The act stated that women who engaged in hunger strikes should be released from prison once they fell ill, but would be re-arrested once they recovered their strength. On November 29, 1917, the US government announced it planned to use Britain’s cat and mouse approach.

The timeline of UK and US suffrage differs but converges with big rallies of support before World War I. If this topic interests you, there is a cool website of suffrage memorabilia WomenSuffrageMemorabilia.com

 

 

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