Pictures of cute cats were not invented in the internet age. They have been around for as long as images have been made. These are on cigarette cards collected by my dad’s cousin, Ernie Stevens.
These cards were in cigarettes by a company called De Reszke made by J Millhoff and Co Ltd of London.
These date from about 1931. You might think 27 is an odd number (well literally it is, of course) for a set of cards. Maybe the album these are in helps to explain.
There are nine cards to a page so 27 is precisely three pages. And you can see that the set includes cute other animals too.
The company must have thought them successful. My four photos above include examples from sets 1, 2 and 3. I gather sets 4 and 5 followed in years up to 1935
If you want to know more then take a look at this site – http://blogs.library.duke.edu/rubenstein/2016/04/06/investigation-rubenstein-lolcats/
Yes, cute cats can become a bit of an academic study.
Tags: 1930s, cigarette cards, cute cats
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