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The Cat's Meat Man: Feeding Felines in Victorian London
- ggm 1y agoI thoroughly recommend the Dover books reprint of Henry Mayhew. "London Labour and the London poor" it is absolutely fascinating. People who had a brass farthing to rub together could enjoy eating 2 day old leftovers from the posh banquets, sold on the streets. (2 days because much of it was premade and so a day or so old by the time it hit the banquet table) Trifle and Lobster for anyone. Clothes rental was a thing. Dirt collecting had specialities with "pure" dog dung fetching extra prices for leather tanning. I think Mayhew may have fed into Sydney and Beatrice Webb which in turn much later leads to Labour party policy, and ultimately the Beveridge report and birth of the welfare state. Also, if you enjoyed Doctor Doolittle by Hugh Lofting you will be familiar with Matthew the cats meat man.
- colechristensen 1y ago>Trifle and Lobster for anyone. In 1851 lobster was still cheap food for the poor, you'd not find it at a fancy banquet.
- heinternets 1y agoIn London it was a different story to the USA.
- JamesAdir 1y agoThank you for sharing this wonderful gem. It was a splendid read!
- ashoeafoot 1y agoTerry pratchett would be loving this
- SideburnsOfDoom 1y agoIIRC, Neutering pets wasn't common until the mid 1900s. So unwanted and stray animals could be a problem in this era. Unlimited feeding would mean a population explosion.
- kjkjadksj 1y agoIn this era you’d rather have too many cats than too many rats.
- enraged_camel 1y agoFor the cat lovers among you, I strongly recommend the documentary Kedi, which is about the stray cats of Istanbul and the bonds they form with their human neighbors. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmV-mXkfjK8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmV-mXkfjK8
- dctoedt 1y agoI love the ambiguity of "The Cat's Meat Man" — my initial thought before reading the rest of the title was, "and to whom does he sell cat meat?"
- pimlottc 1y agoThere’s a similar confusion in Australia, where ground beef is called mince. You can go into any supermarket and pick up some beef mince, pork mince, even kangaroo mince. And then to the pet food aisle where you’ll find… “puppy mince”?!?! https://happypawspetfood.com.au/products/puppy-mince-1kg-portion-pack?variant=29346163490900 https://happypawspetfood.com.au/products/puppy-mince-1kg-por...
- vintagedave 1y agoThe Cat's-Meat-Man played a central role in convincing Dr Dolittle to become an animal doctor: https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/221/the-story-of-doctor-dolittle/5616/chapter-2-animal-language/ https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/221/the-story-of-doctor-dolittle/... It's strange how an entire occupation can cease to exist. A lot seem to have vanished in the decades around WW2: I learned a few days ago of the Dutch eelmongers in London, who for three centuries had a guaranteed moor in the Thames. https://bsky.app/profile/greenleejw.bsky.social/post/3lsvugci7mc2u https://bsky.app/profile/greenleejw.bsky.social/post/3lsvugc...