Cat antics and exploits make for irresistible clickbait—come on, who doesn’t love keyboard cat? But felines were huge media stars in the pre-Internet era too.
Case in point: Blackie, a sleek inky furball who ended up inside a mailbox in Hell’s Kitchen just before World War II. Here she is, posing for renowned crime and police photographer Weegee.
The story of her misfortune and rescue is a bit of a tearjerker. “A garage worker called the cops when he heard meows issuing from a box in Hell’s Kitchen, but they couldn’t do anything about it, April 29, 1941,” the original photo caption states, per Getty Images.
“They had to call the Post Office. A mechanic opened the box and found Blackie. Whoever threw her in also tossed in a couple of clams and some pretzels.”
No word on what happened to Blackie after her rescue and turn as a media darling—or who tried to mail her.
[Hat tip: researcher extraordinaire History Author. Photo by Weegee (Arthur Fellig)/International Center of Photography/Getty Images]
Tags: Blackie Mailbox Cat, Cat Clickbait, Cat in Mailbox Hell's Kitchen, Cat Stars Before the Internet, Cats in New York City, Cats of Old New York, Cute Cats, Weegee
Ephemeral New York 
August 26, 2016 at 1:49 pm |
I’m going to have to do some digging on this cat tail!
August 26, 2016 at 2:34 pm |
History Dean came across it, and I found nothing else . . . luckily there’s a caption. And Weegee!