by Valerie Anne Edwards
(Crown E cattery)
FROM RICHES TO RAGS
As more breeds were
developed and imported, it became necessary to give this breed a new name.
Domestic Short-Hair was then selected to mean those strains
of European and English originated shorthaired cats that had been developed
domestically (in America), since the American version of this breed was
usually broader bodied with superior balance, necessary to provide the jumping
ability and power prized by American farmers.
The "Domestic" name
proved to be a grave mistake. The name was construed to mean everything
from native (versus foreign), to household (as in domestic servants), to
domesticated (a term which covers any breed or mixbreed). Sharp hustlers
took advantage of this confusion to market weedy, poorly bred purebreds
and assorted shorthaired cats from accidental mismatings as "domestics".
The public quickly became wary of all cats identified as "domestics",
whether spelled with a capital or small "D". Kitten prices plummeted
accordingly. By 1939, even good quality purebred "Domestic" kittens
could be purchased for $5.00 [10]. Despite the reduced market, a few dedicated
people continued selectively mating the best true breeding representatives
available.
One prominent
breeder of special note was Mrs.Frank W. Freudenthal of Darien, Connecticut,
who began working with Americans by purchasing Capitol, an AOC ("Any
Other Color", a designation for colors not accepted for championship
competitition) female, registered in the CFA Kitten Register as a blue tabby,
born August 10,1918. With two silver tabby parents, there was a high probability
that Capitol was actually an early "blue-silver" tabby, also called"dilute
silver tabby" or "pewter tabby", a color which was not granted
championship status until nearly the 21st century. Learn about the genetics
of the blue and blue-silver tabby colors by requesting articles "A
Rainbow of Colors" and "Genetics of the American Shorthair"
from the author. Capitol was the daughter of Crown Candy Kid and Ch.Crown
Silver Argie. Mrs. Freudenthal first used the Brookside prefix for one of
Capitol's daughters, "Brookside Angela", which was exported to
Mrs. Pownall in England. Mrs. Freudenthal became well-known for exhibiting
winning silver tabby female Americans, beginning with her Ch. Brookside
Pollywog (an inbred daughter of Sir Oliver and Westbank Chin San), born
in June of 1935 and bred by Mrs. Helen O'Neal-Palmer. Pollywog won "Best
Shorthaired Cat" in Danbury, Connecticut in 1938 and "Best of
Breed" at the Empire show in 1938 and Atlantic Cat Club show in 1939,
a difficult task for a female belonging to a breed with a standard written
to favor males. Mrs. Freudenthal's next female star was Gr.Ch. Aztec's Belinda,
born May 19,1945, sired by Ch.Aztec and out of Ch.Sweet Sue of Cobourg,
who won the CATS Magazine annual cumulative award for "All-Eastern"
and "All-American" in the "Best Silver Tabby Female American
Shorthair" category, from 1947 through 1952. In 1953, Belinda again
won "All-Eastern Best Silver Tabby female American". In 1954,
Mrs.Freudenthal won BOTH "Best All-Eastern Silver Tabby Female American"
and "Honorable Mention All-Eastern Silver Tabby Female American",
as Belinda accepted her final cumulative award (honorable mention) at nine
years old, while Mrs. Freudenthal's replacement star, Double Gr.Ch. Benmost
Bore's Sheila, who was born May 6, 1952, bred by Mr. & Mrs. James D.
MacRae, sired by the inbred Ch.Rosenberg's Silver Prince out of Ch.Semiramus
Benmost Bore. Semiramus was sired by Ch.Aztec's Texian, a full-brother to
the retiring Gr. Ch.Aztec's Belinda, crossed to an inbred Cobourg line queen
to produce Semiramus. Sheila's coefficient of inbreeding was 0.002, indicating
a very low level of duplication of ancestors appearing on both sides of
her pedigree. Sheila won the CATS Magazine award for "All-Eastern Silver
Tabby Female American", "All-Eastern Silver Tabby American"
and "American-Honorable-Mention Silver Tabby Female American"
for 1954 and 1955. Although Mrs. Freudenthal continued breeding through
the sixties, she was seldom seen at shows located more than one hour from
her home.
Other prominent breeders of
the 1930's included Mrs. Clement Gerson (Tipsan) of Chicago, Illinois, Mrs.
Martin Metcalfe (Djer-Kits) of Detroit, Michigan, Mrs. Daye Remington (Abingdon
& Kingsdown)of New York City, New York, Mr. Edward C. Mayer,Jr and future
wife, Jessie James Mayer (Go-Seek-Us)of Martztown,Pennsylvania, Mrs. Ralph
A. Wilkinson of Stamford, Connecticut, Mr. J. W. James of Toronto, Canada,
and Mrs. H. L. West [24] Mr. W. L. Wallace of Bronx, New York, Mrs. S.E.
Gerard of Brooklyn, New York and Harriet Flint of Long Island, New York,
concentrated on producing winning red tabbies from the mid-twenties until
World War II.
The Westbank prefix of Mrs.
Francis O. Pratt of Rye, New York, was common on both silver and brown tabby
American Shorthairs, most unfortunately sporting a very plain looking head
with weak muzzle, close set, somewhat almond shaped eyes, offset by a striking
pattern, clear color, and typey body. One exception to the poor heads from
this line can be seen on Ch. Westbank Chief Yonkers.22 Mrs. Pratt wrote
an article in the December 1936 THE CAT GAZETTE, about the history of the
Westbank cats, reporting that she obtained the cat she named "Westbank
Chief Yonkers" from a farm in upstate New York, owned by her husband's
parents, further claiming that Mr. Pratt's father purchased "Greenwich
Buzzing Stripes" (Ch.The Buzzing Silver, Imp., out of the silver tabby
queen, Silvia, Imp.), nicknamed Buzzy Jr. and bred her with his best brown
tabby Shorthair stud, an inbred descendant of the family line of purebred
hunting barn cats, selectively bred for intelligence, hunting talent, athleticism,
health, striking color and loyalty to the family, since the early 1800s.
Later, Mr. Pratt purchased "Pratt's Silver Boy" (Ch.Silver Stripes,
Imp. X Ch.Dame Fortune II, Imp.) from Miss Jane Cathcart, to serve as his
stud at a second barn, built in 1916, mating this cat with Buzzy Jr.'s daughters
and grand-daughters, creating an inbred line with type, color and pattern
similar to duplicated ancestor, Eng. Ch. James II. Rather than pay for registering
the fifteen years of pedigree that would be necessary to connect "Westbank
Chief Yonkers" with ancestors, "Pratt's Silver Boy" and "Greenwich
Buzzing Stripes", Mrs. Pratt registered Chief Yonkers using an affadavit
of purebreeding and showed him to his championship title in CFA, CFF and
ACA, which the cat fancy accepted as proof of pure breeding at the time.
Fortunately, Ch.Westbank Chief Yonkers crossed well with Mrs. Pratt's selection
of mates for him.
Dr. Frances L. MacCraken of
Detroit, Michigan (who began in 1930 and registered her Torchlight cats
mostly in the UCCA association she founded) and using the Mosque as her
cattery name in CFA. The Torchlight/Mosque cats came closest to retaining
the lovely heads and strong muscular bodies of the early American Shorthairs,
although one male had such extreme ticking/tipping that he benefitted Mrs.
C.F. Kunkler's Springbrook cattery, as she worked to gain CFA championship
status for chinchilla and shaded silver Americans, by proving that these
colors could be produced consistently, utilizing colors natural to the American
Shorthair breed, but with no hybrid outcrossing to silver Longhairs, Abyssinians
or Siamese. CFA Championship status was finally granted to chinchilla and
shaded silver Americans in 1951,eleven years after the birth of her foundation
queen, Snooti of Springbrook, a shaded silver bred by Mrs. Orville Stewart
of Arlington cattery, from the cross of Arlington Twinkle, a green-eyed
white son of a Torchlight silver tabby and a gold-eyed white, mated with
Arlington Tippy, a green-eyed blue and white bicolor daughter of a black
and white bicolor bred to an imported blue British Shorthair queen, imported
as companion and foster mother for kittens from a Persian queen Mrs. Stewart
imported at the same time. Mrs. Kunkler's breeding program was based on
intensive inbreeding back to Snooti of Springbroook, a queen whose pedigree
delivered a variety of bloodlines so unrelated that the coefficient of inbreeding
for the pedigree was 0.002, which made an ideal foundation for selecting,developing
and setting desired new features. Mrs. Kunkler did outcross to a green-eyed
black stud, named Pete, a silver tabby stud, named Ch.Benmost Bore's Conan
of Springbrook and one white stud, who was the least successful option for
her. Robbi of Springbrook, shaded silver son of Pete and Snooti, was one
of Mrs.Kunkler's favorite studs. Other Torchlight/Mosque Americans contributed
strongly to restoring the beautiful heads and massive, powerful bodies that
attracted owners and artists to their beauty back to the eighteenth century
(see two paintings mentioned in the early part of this history, since they
show off breed type prior to the invention of photography.
In 1934, a silver tabby American
Shorthair stud caused a stir by winning "Second Best Cat" in the
largest Allbreed show in New York, the Empire cat show.[26] Although Americans
often won "Best Shorthaired Cat" in show, placing Best or Second
Best Cat in an allbreed show, against the huge classes of Persian Longhairs,
was unexpected. That particular winner was named "Ch. Prince Mickey
of Cobourg", a son of Ch.Prince Charming of the Mosque (A.K.A. Ch.
"Prince Charming of Torchlight" in ACA and UCCA) and CFA Ch. Lady
Mickey, born December 14,1930, bred in partnership by Mrs. H. J. Loftus-Price
of Toronto, Canada, her nephew-in-law, Mr. Price Cross (Mao and Texian catteries),
a serious breed mentor who moved around Texas, from Dallas to San Antonio
to Houston to Fort Worth, etc., Mrs. S. Grace Hinchcliffe, of Toronto, Canada
(Cobourg cattery name), who competed with Mrs. Loftus-Price until they partnered
for Prince Mickey of Cobourg. Mr. Roy Hilyar, a Texan who enjoyed winning
at cat shows, purchased parnership in various of the Cobourg cats, and handled
their show careers in the United States,while Miss Hinchcliffe and Mrs.
Loftus-Price showed them in Canada. Price Cross and Miss Hinchcliffe primarily
concentrated on breeding and raising kittens,including rating their show
potential.
We have the pedigree of Ch.
Lady Mickey today thanks to Price Cross and Dr. MacCraken convincing Mrs.
Loftus-Price to provide a full four generation pedigree for UCCA registration
and publication in ALL-PETS MAGAZINE. Since Lady Mickey's parents were both
ACA registered, Mrs. Loftus-Price did not list them on her CFA registration
application for Lady Mickey, providing a blank for linechasers searching
CFA studbooks, unless following very old breeder-pedigrees, from another
linechaser's prized collection.
THE FOUNDATION OF MODERN
BLOODLINES
Anyone attempting
to trace the ancestry of many American Shorthair bloodlines from the late
twenties through the early forties, will need to visit a library for The
UCCA STUDBOOKS, as published in ALL-PETS Magazine.[25] This registry was
a short-lived Association of rebels which eventually merged back into ACA,
from which it originally split, under the guidance of American Shorthair
breeder, Dr. Frances MacCraken.. Dr. MacCraken also convinced farms with
pure hunting bloodlines to register their best breeding stock. At the same
time, she told show breeders about the best farm lines she discovered, so
that show bloodlines could recover the broad heads with square muzzles and
massive bodies that disrtinguished the breed for many decades before the
cat fancy incorrectly assumed that type was so solidly set that they could
focus on color and pattern, without losing type.
The first CFA grand champion
American Shorthair was the blue-eyed white ASH female, Nor-Mont's Angelique,
born April 19, 1948. She was sired by Ch. My White King out of his own dam,
Ch. My Easter Lilly.[28] Angelique was bred and owned by Mrs. Merald E.
Hoag, who lived in Rockville, Maryland.
Major silver tabby winners
in the 1940's were Dr. C.W.Faulk's Ch.Aztec, Mrs. Frank W. Freudenthal's
Ch.Brookside Pollywog, Mrs. S. Grace Hinchcliffe & Roy Hilyars' Ch.
My Laddy Boy of Cobourg and Mrs. Merald Hoag Gr.Ch. H.M.S. Mystical of Cobourg.
Mrs. La Verne Chapman of Plymouth,
Michigan was well noticed at shows, when she exhibited her black stud, Ch.Ebony
Mike, her blue-eyed white stud, Ch.Margot's Snow King, and her silver tabby
queen, Gr.Ch.Lavender Silver Belle, one of the first CFA grand champion
Americans. Mrs. Chapman also bred and exhibited two of Mike's black daughters,
Ch. Panella Punkins and Ch. Nola Bab, both out of Ch.Ebon Lady Julia,who
was bred by Miss Mildred Avery of Philadelphia, PA. Julia was sired by J.Wellington
Wimpy II, out of Mt. Vernon's Little Sheena. Mrs. Chapman's willingness
to share her studs, via stud service, benefitted the spread of their genes
through the American Shorthair gene pool. Snow King sired offspring
out of six queens, none owned by Mrs.Chapman, while Ebony Mike sired offspring
out of four queens, two of them owned by Mrs.Chapman, herself.
Mrs. R. R. Hecht of Normandy,
Missouri and her Vee-Roi cattery snagged a proportion of allbreed finals
wins with their silver tabbies, Ch. Silver Ace of Vee-Roi and his son, Ch.Silver
Czar of Vee-Roi, while competing with their foundation red tabby stud, Ch.
Vee-Roi's Red Robin, whose offspring obtained serious notice in the next
decade. Mrs. Bryan Shine's blue-eyed whites World War II slowed up cat breeding
and showing along with most activities usually considered hobbies.
Mrs. Helen Picciano (Pussy
Willow) of Maspeth, New York was one of the most persistent forties fanciers.
Her CFA & CFF Ch. Silver Boy Brutus, bred by Holly and Joe Crow was
registered in CFF and CFA without listing his parents' names, so the final
UCCA studbook again provides additional information for Brutus and his litter-sister,
ACFA Ch.Silver Boy Baale of Gray Horse Farm, identifying their sire as Torchlight's
Don Silver and their dam as Silver Boy Cora. Silver Boy Cora was sired by
Edward C. Mayer, Jr.'s Silver Cloud, out of Ch.Westbank Chinley. The author
once had a photograph of Ch. Silver Boy Brutus and there was no mistaking
his correct breed identity, necessary for any cat to win several allbreed
Best-in-Show wins, as Brutus did. |
During the
1950's, prominent catteries on the west coast included Gilmore, Sunset Hills,
Thel-Wards, Renee/Reene. On the east coast, Shawnee, Vikiri, Rockridge,
Clover Ridge, Lavender, Chirn Sai-Hai, Rockhaven, Barlyn, Samdur, Clover
Ridge and McKnight were catteries that produced winners. In the midwest,Karabee,
Missouri,Silver Quest, Bam-Bee Acres and Solon were noted for a variety
of colors. The Southwest was represented by Re-Ru, Benmost Bore, Navajo,
Ramayana, Gray Horse Farm and Biru.
Particularly influential were
Charles Wellington's CH.Gryffn and Price Cross' Mao silver tabbies. Mr.
Cross believed that breeding silver tabbies to a black smokes (with green
eyes) every few generations would deepen the black of the silver tabbies.
Frank & Myra Lockery's My-Lo cats combined the Aztec, Gryffn and Cobourg
lines in Texas. [31]
The first American to win
CFA Cat of the Year (1957) was Gr.Ch., NW, Ebony Queen of Nor-Mont, a gorgeous
gold-eyed solid black female born April 13, 1956. sired by Sir Ebony (Austen
Acres Farm and Mt.Vernon lines) and out of CH. White Lily, a gold-eyed white
daughter of Mrs. Hoag's CH.My White King, a blue-eyed white mated with the
gold-eyed tortoiseshell, CH.Pentagon Chitter Chat. Ebony Queen and her littersister,
"White Water Lilly" (owned by Mrs.Jackie Millard of F.L.E.I.G.
cattery), were bred by Mrs. Paul Cox.
GC.NW Ebony Queen of Nor-Mont
GC,NW, COTY Ebony Queen of
Nor-Mont was owned and expertly campaigned by Mrs. Merald E. (Maurine) Hoag,
who then sold her to Mrs. Norma Barts of Barlyn cattery, later buying her
grand-daughter, Gr.Ch. Barlyn's Ebony Duchess of Nor-Mont, daughter of Ch.Stoneybrook
Mr. Claws and Ch. Barlyn's Miss Mandy, enhibiting that queen to Best of
Breed in 1959-60. Soon after that Mrs. Hoag phased out her American Shorthair
breeding to focus on Persians and boarding until she died in 1987.
Ch.Barlyn Black Empress, littersister
to GC Barlyn's Ebony Duchess of Nor-Mont, was sold to Mr. & Mrs. Wilfred
James, who leased her to Anne Burton, for whom she produced Ch. Anne's Black
Opal of Rugby, prominent in modern pedigrees descending through Bili-Basha
to Cyma, Satin Song, Bushome, Jamas and then through Janessa, Tabbytin,
P urr-Bastet, Sol-Mer and too many to mention.
Mrs. Cox leased CH White Lily
to the Bjerkengs, who produced Gr.Ch. Karabee Lilly Belle and Karabee Lilly
Star from her, in 1954, returning her to Mrs. Cox, for whom she produced
both Gr.Ch.,NW Ebony Queen of Nor-Mont and White Water Lilly in 1956. All
twenty-first century American Shorthairs can trace through Karabee cattery
to CH White Lily, adding one more connection to the bloodlines mentioned
in the previous paragraph. GC Karabee Lilly Belle can be found in pedigrees
descending from Shawnee, Esquire, Playmates, Rococo,Bushome, Sol-Mer and
their descendants.
CH White Lily had a gold-eyed
white littersister, named CH Lily-Leo, who is behind modern smokes, solid
colors and mackerel tabbies, desceded through Gray Horse Farm. Bur-Mur
Farm, Aberdeen, Ran- Win and Jolly Rogers lines.
Then came Jenna...Ramayana
Jenna of Gray Horse Farm, the fourth American Shorthair (second silver tabby)
to earn her CFA Grand Championship and a very special cat. In 1958 this
spectacular silver tabby female, bred by Mrs. J. D. Elliott, owned by Mrs.
Whitney Abt, was awarded the CATS MAGAZINE award All-Southern Cat
over all other breeds competing in the Southern Region of the United States
(covering competition in CFA, ACA,CFF, ACFA and all other American registries
in existence at the time).[35] Prior to Jenna's win, CATS MAGAZINE leading
regional cat title had been held by either a Persian or a Siamese. Her dam
was a full sister to the 1960 CFA Gr. Ch. Lavender Silver Pattern. Jenna
was also a great-granddaughter of Ch. Silver Boy Brutus. In a conversation
with the author in June of 1987, Mrs. Abt reported that she rejected an
offer of $2,000., tended in 1958, for Jenna.
A group of
West Coast breeders and fanciers had become so fed up with the confusion
surrounding the name Domestic that, in 1961, they formed an unaffiliated
club, titled The American Shorthair Cat Association for the express purpose
of convincing all of the registry organizations to rename the breed American
Shorthair. Time and patience were required, but these tenacious people kept
at it. Today, all registry organizations finally do call the breed "American
Shorthair" and most books have eliminated false trivia about the breed
being recognized for championship showing within a few years of the specific
book's publication date, from the 1930's to the mid 1950's, all equally
incorrect.
When British
imports were allowed, they had to submit a GCCF certified 3 generation pedigree,
revealing no Persians mixed into the lines. Jezreel was the last purebreeding
line in England, utilizing heavy inbreeding to avoid cross-breeding, while
producing cats that more closely matched the American standard than the
British, so these wonderful individuals were considered "pet quality"
in their own country. The final four British legally imported as American
SH by June Brown of Juno cattery in the 1970s included CFA GC Jezreel Tango,
CH. Jezreel Taurus of Red Spice, CFA GC Jezreel Mortimor of Codel and CH.
Jezreel Jandorina of Juno. Before these four,(GC) Jezreel John Joseph, (GC)
Jezreel Black Mamba and Ch. Jezreel Julysia created the Si-Purr line of
blacks and solid blues, descending through Chateaux Du Roi and Bundash to
Fenton, Ars Nova and Romany, and through Spring Mountain to White Whale
and Ankara forward to modern lines.
Nikki Horner
(at that time Mrs. William Shuttleworth) began her illustrious venture into
Americans with the purchase of "Katnip Korner Romeo", a silver
tabby male that she renamed "Shawnee Startler", destined to become
the first silver tabby male American to earn the title CFA grand champion.
She then searched the country for his mates, selecting the best female silver
tabbies from the best pedigrees she could find. She later ventured into
solid blacks, using a black female who popped up in one of her silver tabby
litters, mating her with GC Karabee Dark Nite, founding the Shawnee blacks.
Nikki Horner's efforts to promote this breed had more impact than any single
breeder since Miss Jane R. Cathcart, of Black's Shorthaired Cattery, at
the turn of the century.
When Nikki Horner campaigned
the gloriously patterned silver tabby male kitten, NW Shawnee Sixth Son,
to the CATS Magazine award 1964 Kitten of the Year(31), she rocked the cat
fancy. "A Domestic tabby? You can't be serious!" was the common
reaction. Sired by Mr. G. H. F. Muggins (a grandson of Gr. Ch. Ramayana
Jenna of Gray Horse Farm), Sixth Son's dam was Shawnee Jentle Touch, (a
granddaughter of both Gr. Ch. Shawnee Startler and Gr. Ch. Lavender Silver
Pattern). This reaction surprised only American breeders around long enough
to remember Ebony Queen of Nor-Mont.
1964 also heralded the first
American Shorthair to earn her Grand Premiership in CFA. Named Muriel's
Heidi, this blue eyed white spay was bred and owned by Mrs. Muriel Slodden
(Mayflower Cattery) in Williston Park, Long Island, New York.[32]
If Sixth Son's
win surprised many, the announcement in 1965 that Tr. Gr. Ch, NW. Shawnee
Trademark had, the following year, captured the highest honor in catdom,
that coveted title Cat of the Year (awarded by both C.F.A. and CATS
Magazine) - was the shock of the century.[32] Even though Ebony Queen of
Nor-Mont earned CFA Cat of the year in 1956-57. she did NOT earn Cats Magazine
"Cat of the Year", a title which included points won in all associations,
CFA, ACFA, ACA, CFF and NCFA. This stunning silver tabby stud, also bred
and owned by Dr. & Mrs. William Shuttleworth, was a linebred grandson
and great-grandson of Gr. Ch. Ramayana Jenna of Gray Horse Farm. Trademark
won consistently (at least 10 Best in Show awards) in the largest shows
in the country against the best cats of all breeds, as did his sire, Gr.
Ch. Shawnee Marksman. (The author must confess that she preferred Marksman
for both type and pattern, but Trademark had a blacker pattern, better coat
texture and that special style possessed by the truly great show competitors.).
Trademark retained his title as leading American Shorthair in the country
until 1967. Trademark died of a bladder obstruction in 1968 soon after he
was sold to another breeder.
FASHIONABLE
AGAIN
American Shorthair
catteries sprang up like daisies when people realized that this affectionate,
sturdy, useful, and healthy breed was also capable of REAL show wins. Modern
pedigrees reflect the influence of Le Sabre, Fongin, Spring Mountain, Bam-Bee
Acres, Crown E, Fenton, The Rising Sun, Mayflower, Ormai, Scioto, Wila-Blite,
Madali, Aberdeen, Casmar, Wayona, Purple Sage, Biru, Rendara, Rococo, Serendip,
Navajo, Si-Purr, Adam's Rib, Saren-Del, Esquire, Horizon, Chanthaburi, White
Whale, Ankara, Saren-Del etc. Many of these catteries began with other breeds
before they were charmed by the American during the 60's.
"Backmassing" is
a term that describes repetition of a specific ancestor or closely related
group of ancestors, found only beyond the typical five generation pedigree
handed out with breeder-quality kittens. By backmassing the prominent winners
from the 1950s and 1960's, modern lines display a higher degree of uniformity
than would be expected from an initial examination of a five generation
pedigree, especially if using calculations for the coefficient of inbreeding,
which is normally calculated from the closest five generations.The author
prepared a pedigree database tracing back to the 1880's to allow modern
breeders of American Shorthairs to trace lines to discover valuable backmassing
and also to discover the source of serious health problems that should be
eliminated from the gene pool by anyone truly serious about preserving the
American Shorthair as the wonderful breed appreaciated long before the cat
fancy began.
By the 1970's, there were
too many American Shorthair breeders for even the most prominent ones to
be listed here. You can follow the most prominent lines by viewing the list
of CFA Grand Champions (Chapter 2) and the NASC annual breed club winners
(Chapter 3).
A combination of the inbred
East Coast Tantallon and Aberdeen lines with the Midwest-Western (Le Sabre,
Gray Horse Farm, Bam-Bee Acres) lines produced Gr. Ch. Joelwyn Columbyan,
the 1972 CATS Magazine "Cat of the Year" award winner for breeder-owner
Mrs. Joann E. Sneed (now Landers). This silver tabby male from Yorba Linda,
California had a profound effect on modern American Shorthairs of many colors.
[34]
The first American to win
'Best-of-the-Best" twice at the Empire Cat Show in New York City was
Gr. Ch., NW Apache Chief Mateo, a silver tabby male. Shown longer than most
cats, Mateo won a large spectator following. Possessed of a loving temperament
and a ladylike owner in school teacher, Miss Alayne Poeltl, Mateo played
a large role in the promotion of the breed in the seventies. He was CFA
National Awards "Best Shorthair Male Kitten" in 1972, CFA National
Awards "Third Best Cat" 1973, CFA National Awards "Sixth
Best Cat" 1974, and CFA National Awards "2nd Best Cat" 1975.
Mateo was sired by Ch. Apache Chief Lobo out of Ch. Apache Peta D.M., both
offspring of Gr. Ch. Le Sabre Good Fortune of Apache.[35]
Continuing the popularity
of the Shawnee and Lavender lines, Ch. and Gr.Pr.Fongin A-Three, a silver
classic tabby mother-son inbred neuter struck the high note of CFA National
"4th Best Cat in Premiership" for breeder-owners, Florence Miller
and CFA Allbreed judge Virginia Wolfe. The Fongin cats are heavily represented
in the pedigrees of the Apache, Litter Inn, Belvoir, Fensline, Kamarly,
Kit-Kan, Katea, Crown E, Vibrant, Kim-Teish, Karol, Saren-Del, Hi-Camp,
Hasul, Jeannel, Sandef, and Wayona catteries.
Additional history
4 |