I am fascinated to know how many cats it would take to pull a dog sled. I've actually asked people this over the years, hoping for a genuine response. The best I ever got was, "Can't be done. Cats don't work together."
Fair enough.
You can imagine my delight when I saw the image below. It looks like that cat is part of the team! He's walking next to the sled, of course. But for a brief and wonderful moment, I thought my cat sled idea was possible.
Courtesy of The Rooms Provincial Archives
International Grenfell Association Photograph Collection
IGA 8-22
This is a cat named Peter.
Peter lived at the St. Mary's River Nursing Station when this was taken in 1948.
Courtesy of The Rooms Provincial Archives
International Grenfell Association Photograph Collection
IGA 23-325
KITTEN ALERT! Along with a sweet kitty and two very good puppers, is Catherine Vaughn, Sales Director of Grenfell Labrador Industries. This image was taken in the early
1940s.
Courtesy of The Rooms Provincial Archives
International Grenfell Association Photograph Collection
IGA 24-316
To pass the time I often visit Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative (DAI) to read old issues of my local newspaper, The Evening Telegram. Now titled, The Telegram, the paper was first published in 1879 by William James Herder.
The Police Court section is far and wide my favorite part of the paper. Mainly accounts of public drunkenness and disorderly conduct, the prose in these snippets is so melodramatic it would make Edward Bulwer-Lytton blush.
Here's an example:
The Evening Telegram, 1879
Notice how the headline above reads, "Assaulting the Police", yet it was a sheep that was actually assaulted? Specifically the inspector's poor lamb? That's pretty standard for Police Court. The author's tone is grandiose and mocking, dripping with smugness.
Here's another one:
The Telegram, 1879-04-17
This style of writing is called “purple prose”, a term coined by Roman poet Horace, who compared it to the practice of sewing patches of purple material onto clothes. Since purple dye was rare and expensive at the time, the patches were a sign of wealth and by extension, pretentiousness.
Criticized for being mundane and uninteresting, purple prose is most successful when used for comedic effect. One of the best known examples is Geoffrey Chaucer's A Knight's Tale. In contemporary popular culture, consider the elaborate prose of Frasier Crane from Cheers and Frasier.
Another example of purple prose from pop culture are the drawn-out, seemingly never-ending monologues given by Agent Fox Mulder in The X-Files. While spoken in earnest when The X-Files first aired, these cringe-worthy monologues were criticized for being over-the-top. Interestingly, when the show returned in 2016, the trope was played for laughs when Mulder goes on a long-winded, one-sided rant in "Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-monster."
As for the Police Court descriptions, I like to think they were written in this style to achieve a similar effect. The use of exaggerated language juxtaposed with such inconsequential, petty crimes is comedic purple prose at its best.
Come see our brand new environmentally controlled cold storage vault!
To celebrate Archives Week 2015, The Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA) will be offering free tours to the public.
Maybe not...but still....
Donated by over 11,000 contributors, MUNFLA has over 40,000
audio recordings, 20,000 photographs, 16,000 manuscripts, 4,000 commercial recordings,
2,000 printed documents and over 800 video recordings. These materials cover
topics such as custom and belief, childlore, song, dance and foodways. We also
house collections documenting folk cultures all over the world, through the
research activities of Folklore students.
Join us and take a tour of our collections, check out our
brand new environmentally controlled vault, and learn more about MUNFLA and how
archives work!
Time: Tuesday, Nov 17, 10am-4pm
Place: MUNFLA, ED4038, Education Building, Prince Philip
Drive, St. John’s
Ernestine (Forward) Pike with her sons Ernest, Ralph and Arthur Jr.
and dog Buster in Roger Williams Park,
Providence, Rhode Island
Rorke Family Fonds
[ca.1924]
I just love this archival photobomb but the best part is definitely that kid's facepalm, just perfect.
A note on the back of the photograph reads, "Those flowers are lilies, perfume wonderful. In Roger Williams Park, Sunday, 6pm. Buster is in a hurry to get around to the boys. The roses in the park this year are considered the best in New England."
When I began this blog it wasn't my intention to focus so much on archival animals, but they are so darn fun and cute, I just can't resist!
A 6-151; Esquimaux dog [husky], Nain, Labrador. [1914]
Courtesy of: The Rooms Provincial Archives
As you may guess from that adorable fellow pictured above, today's entry will feature some of man's bestest buddy. Although I'm a notorious crazy cat lady, I do have a soft spot for these fuzzy-wuzzy squee-worthy companions.
VA 94-37.2; "He'll accept a substitute": Physician bottle-feeding puppy [before 1940]
Courtesy of: The Rooms Provincial Archives
A 52-5; Two unidentified sailors (possible sentries) pose on Royal Canadian Navel dock [1939-1940]
Courtesy of: The Rooms Provincial Archives
A 6-127; Newfoundland Dog: "Bull" [before 1946]
Courtesy of: The Rooms Provincial Archives
A 2-80; Two Newfoundland dogs with pup [C.19??]
Courtesy of: The Rooms Provincial Archives
