100-Year-Old Vintage Cat Memes
Believe it or not but it turns out the very first cat memes were created over 100 years ago, thanks to a photographer named Harry Whittier Frees. Harry Whittier Frees dressed up cats and posed them with props, just the way one would photograph a human. He basically did what people do today before it was cool.
Frees was born in 1879, Reading, Pennsylvania. In an interview with LIFE magazine, it was told he took his first "lolcat" photo completely by accident! The year was 1906 when his family gathered for dinner and brought a paper hat. They passed around the hat from head to head until it was placed on the head of Frees' cat. At that moment he took a photo of a cat with a hat. The source mentions how admired the shot was so he began to take more photos of cats in outfits and props.
These photographs were taken in the early 1900s with a camera speed of 1/5th a second. As as we all know, cats (especially kittens) move constantly. Especially when you're trying to take a picture of them! So you can imagine how difficult it must have been and reportedly, two-thirds of the negatives had to discarded due to their blurriness.
Honestly, it just makes the following images that much more impressive! Feast your eyes on the world's earliest cat memes:
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
-
5
-
6
-
7
-
8
-
9
-
10
-
11
-
12
And now some cat memes from the year 1964, by John Montgomery:
-
13
"Cuddles (below) wants to be a ballet dancer when he grows up"
-
14
"Did someone say cream cakes for tea?"
-
15
"Guess what! I'm a catalogue!"
-
16
"What's this, a flying fish?"
-
17
"You should have seen the one that got away"
-
18
"Am I the prettiest cat in the show?"
-
19
"I wish the judges would hurry up. I want to go home"
-
20
"This cat flap shows the principle of the cat door. The best cat doors are made of stronger stuff, and many are magnetic"
-
21
"I'm sure no one will mind if I help myself"
-
22
"Getting down to some serious drinking from a cask full of milk"
-
23
"They'll never miss this one."
For a weekly dose of animal-themed community challenges - Subscribe to our Newsletter!
Can't get enough of ICanHasCheezburger? Find us on Instagram!
Tags
Also From I Can Has Cheezburger?
Comments
Hot Today