1892 Toy Works Arnold Printworks Sew-It-Yourself Ithaca Kitty Rag Toy

This little kitty is much older than it looks—almost 135 years old—that’s not in cat years either!
The Ithaca kitty cat was inspired by a gray tabby cat, named Cesar Grimalkin, from Ithaca, New York. His owner, Celia Smith, wanted to design a toy cat for her daughter, Madge, born 1888. Celia designed a three piece pattern and then enlisted the help of her sister-in-law, Charity Smith, for the use of her artistic talents, painting a likeness of Mr. Caesar. The grey tabby was not fond of posing for Charity, so they had him photographed, which was more to his liking—until they turned him upside down for his “bottoms-up” photo
(Wished that I could have been there for that fiasco!)!
Charity then painted the cat’s likeness onto Celia’s 3 piece pattern. The design was sold by the Smiths for $.01 a yard, to Arnold Print Works, which in turn, sold the printing pattern as “The Tabby Cat” on half a yard of muslin, for $.10 each, in 1892.
The gray tabby cat made a big hit at the Chicago Worlds Fair,
in 1893!
In the 1970’s, there was a resurgence in popularity for ”The Tabby Cat” pattern—hence, the “repops”!