FEATURES: PURRSONALITY – DR. GORDON STABLES
LONGHAIR – KING MAX
TRAVELLING WITH YOUR CATS
SHORTHAIR – NELLIE & DICK
ROYAL CANADIAN CAT CLUB
HAIRLESS CATS - AND MORE…
INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE FOR CAT LOVERS - LINECHASERS - & FANCIERS OF FELINE HISTORY
“Today’s achievements are part of tomorrow’s history”
HARRISON WEIR COLLECTION © A-Cat-Emy Concepts
PUBLISHED BY A-CAT-EMY CONCEPTS for THE HARRISON WEIR COLLECTION
MARCH 2021
EDITOR
John G. Smithson editor@felishistorica.com HISTORY PARTNERS The CFA Foundation COLUMNISTS & CONTRIBUTORS
Karen Lawrence (St. Catharines, Canada)
Lorraine Shelton (California, USA)
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Dr. Leslie Lyons (Missouri, USA)
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Chloe Chung
VOLUME 1 NUMBER 9
EDITORIAL The Editor outlines issues covered in Issue 9 of Felis Historica!
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CONTRIBUTING TEAM MEMBERS Gallery of our Team of Columnists, Contributors & Correspondents
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KING MAX - Angora? or Persian? - by John G. Smithson Classification & Temperament of an early Longhair Show winner!
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NORTH OF THE BORDER – by Karen Lawrence The First 30 years of Cat Shows at the Canadian National Exhibition
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EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GENETICS YOU CAN LEARN FROM YOUR CAT! PART 9 - by Dr. Leslie Lyons The Naked Truth – Hairless Cats – Some do have hair! A Gallery of Sphynx
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THE WANDERERS Dr. Gordon Stables RN – Author. Cat Judge, 19th Century Caravaner Kitty Kampers – 21st Century Cat Fanciers and RV Travellers
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(Auckland, NZ)
THE FLICKS ‘DOWN UNDER’ – Ken Flick and Helmi Flick Part One of the story of the famous duo’s 2019 trip to New Zealand NZCF DGC GATODOURO OJAY (Imp.UK)
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Valerie Sheldrake
THE SANDY CAT SHOWS – Latest addition The Harrison Weir Collection
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BEHIND EVERY FAMOUS PERSON IS A CAT – Cartoon by Graham Harrop
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DICK & NELLIE SCHINICK – by John Smithson The story of the two of earliest known Mexican Hairless cats
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THE HAPPY FAMILY - A Sphynx Family Limited Edition
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(Hong Kong)
Laura Vocelle (Muscat, Oman)
Dr. Keith Hammett (QSM)
Feline Historian (Suffolk, UK)
Jamie Christian (Ohio, USA)
PHOTOGRAPHY & GRAPHICS
Helmi & Ken Flick (Florida, USA)
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Jack Terry (Florida, USA)
CONTENT All Rights Reserved © A-Cat-Emy Concepts SUBSCRIPTIONS Published Monthly Single Issue $4.00 USD ANNUAL $48.00 USD
CELEBRATING MODERN CATS – IN OUR FEATURED HISTORICAL BREEDS Long-hair Breed Type – Black Persian FIFe COTY - NW, GIC, SC BEAUBELL’S STETSON DSM Short-hair Breed Type – Black B-Colour Sphynx CFA KOTY GC, BWR, NW PINUPCATS SUPA DUPA FLY OF KUORII DM XX THE BIRTH OF THE NATIONAL CAT CLUB - by John Smithson Owner of the ‘Lee’ Cattery, and eclectic lover of many breeds.
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Editorial ’FELIS HISTORICA’ JOHN G. SMITHSON EDITOR
OUR COVER KITTENS Sealpoint Bi-Colour Sphynx ‘Fuzzoff Sealed With A Kiss’ and solid Blue, ‘Fuzzoff Blue Suede Muse’. Bred by Sharyn van Aalst, Auckland, NZ. Sire: ‘Outtahair MacGyver’ Dam: ‘Fuzzoff Macy Gray’ Photo: Helmi Flick
COPYRIGHT ISSN: 2744-4430 National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa © A-CAT-EMY CONCEPTS / FELIS HISTORICA THE HARRISON WEIR COLLECTION No part of this magazine may be reproduced without written consent. No responsibility is accepted for accuracy of advertisements or information. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED www.felis-historica.com www.harrisonweir.com
For our Sphynx cat enthusiasts, this month’s edition will be a true highlight - as we turned our combined attentions onto Hairless cats, beginning with their genetics. Dr. Leslie Lyons provides an explanation on how a naturally occurring sequence of gene splicing of exons results in the phenotypical trait known as hairlessness. This also includes a photograph of an early Canadian Sphynx, exhibited at the Canadian National Exhibition Cat Show in 1969; followed by a fun gallery of modern-day Sphynx, at home and at shows. Our grateful thanks to those Sphynx catteries who so generously provided photos for this purpose, and their time answering some of our questions relating to them. Staying with the Sphynx theme, we have the first report from Ken Flick on the Helmi and Ken duo’s first trip ‘Down Under!’ Their hosts for this section of their trip, were Sphynx breeders Sharyn and John van Aalst of Auckland. Ken gives us the lowdown of the highlights of their stay, including a glimpse into the photo shoot and some of the resulting photographs. One of our main features this month is an article by Karen Lawrence on the first 30 years of the Canadian National Exhibition and specifically, its Cat Shows! She provides us with a glimpse into that early history, and shows us images of winning cats, and of artifacts from the CNE, held in both the CFA Foundation and Harrison Weir Collection archives. Our historical cats in this issue are an early Black Longhair named King Max, who was famous not only for his beauty, but especially for his loving and patient nature… a reminder that a good show cat is one that can tolerate and enjoy good human company and attention. The second history file provides the story of Nellie and Dick Schinick, the first famous hairless cats, known in their day as the ‘Mexican Hairless’.
Nellie & Dick Schinick Page 76
March 2021
IN CELEBRATION OF
HAIRLESS CATS
Their story, which predates the 20th century, was published in Frances Simpson’s ‘The Book of The Cat’ in 1903 – but as you will read in the article, they were not the first, as evidenced by illustrations of hairless cats having attended the Boston Cat Club Show of 1880! (Were these earlier Mexican Hairless? Or perhaps they were the result of another natural mutation for hairlessness inside the United States in the late 1870’s or earlier.) Included in the modern-day counterparts celebrated this month, are the outstanding American-bred black Persian male, bred by Lyn and Colin Bayliss, NW, GIC, SC Beaubell’s Stetson DSM, who conquered every championship cat in FIFe, to gain the distinction of claiming Cat of the Year. Representing shorthairs, we celebrate the successes and beauty of the superb Black Bi-colour Sphynx female, GC, BWR, NW Pinupcats Supa Dupa Fly of Kuorii DM – whose celebrated wins include Best Kitten at the CFA World Show in the Purple Ring, 2015, then going on to win CFA Kitten of the Year, before likewise heading to Europe, where she was a one show Grand and Breed Winner. She now can also proudly celebrate success as a DM with five Sphynx CFA Grand Champion progeny.
PHOTOGRAPHY FEATURE
‘THE FLICK’S DOWNUNDER!’
Enjoy!
John EDITOR
Ken Kenand andHelmi HelmiFlick Flickon on assignment assignmentininNew NewZealand Zealand AASphynx SphynxCattery CatteryShoot Shoot