Cat’s Got Nothing to Do Café: Our Foreign Correspondent Reports In

Today we are again grateful to old SoLT’s friend and our foreign correspondent, Joseph, who was recently traveling in Taiwan and Japan and was kind enough to share some cat-related pictures with us for our blog. The picture we’re leading with today is, I think, my favorite so far, and it does not even have a cat in it. It is a sign for a café called Cat’s Got Nothing to Do Café. No, it’s not a cat café, it’s just a people café. There’s a cat in its name because of where it is, a tea growing region called Maokong (猫空), which translates to “cat empty” (according to Google Translate).

Just in case you’re headed to Taiwan, Cat’s Got Nothing to Do Café is in the Wenshan District. You get to the café by gondola. From the Yelp reviews, we have deduced that the coffee is just okay, but the views are great. The café offers outside dining only, so if the weather is bad, it will be closed. 

Our foreign correspondent also visited Tokyo, and specifically the district of Akihabara, which is known for its many electronics shops. There is an actual cat café in Akihabara, but our correspondent preferred to look at electronics and such things rather than seek out a cat café (I know; it doesn’t make sense to me either!). There were a few cat-related things though.

First up is the Y!Mobile cat. We have been unable to determine what this cat's name is (if you happen to know, please tell us in the comments), but he is sort of a spokescat for the mobile company. To see more of the Y!Mobile cat, check out this commercial.

Next, if you look to the far left on this wall of masks, you will see a couple of cats that we think are pretty neat:

And finally, this has nothing to do with cats, but it tickles me. Apparently, you are not allowed to bring your elephant here:

To see more photos from our foreign correspondent, check out the post "Majimeow: Etiquette Mascot of the Taipei Subway System."

Cat Travel: American Museum of the House Cat

If you’re ever in the vicinity of Sylva, North Carolina (near Asheville in the southwestern part of the state), there is a brand-new museum that is worth stopping at. It’s called the American Museum of the House Cat, and in it you will find over 5,000 items that either depict cats or have something to do with cats. One of the most remarkable things about this museum is that its objects come from a collection amassed over more than three decades by one man, Harold “Catman” Sims. We had a chance to chat with Harold the other day, and we were eager to learn of the origins of his museum.

The exterior of the American Museum of the House Cat.
The museum is at the Old School Antiques Mall
in Sylva, North Carolina.
All photos courtesy of Harold "Catman" Sims.

“One cat led to another…”

It’s not surprising that the Catman has always liked cats. It’s also not surprising that this interest in cats turned into a cat-collecting bug, only instead of actual cats, Harold collected cat objects. His first cat find was over 30 years ago, when he was antiquing in Florida and came across a picture of a cat on a train. The cat turned out to be Chessie, mascot of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. Then, as many cat people will understand so well, “one cat led to another,” and soon he had a growing collection of cat objects. When eBay came along, the pace of collecting picked up even more.

Creation of a no-kill shelter

One case holds beer steins and other glassware,
all with cats on them.

When he retired, Harold wanted to support a cat shelter, so he got involved with one that was opening in North Carolina, where he had moved after a long career in education in Florida. But he was horrified to learn that this was a “kill” shelter, where healthy animals could be destroyed when there wasn’t enough room for them. That wasn’t what he wanted at all, so he built his own cages and started rescuing cats. When he came into an inheritance that could either fund a cruise around the world or go toward building a cat shelter… well, you can guess what the Catman did. With some help, he spent about two years building a 1,000-square-foot “open” shelter in which cats can move around and be cats instead of being confined to cages. Currently, the Catman2 Shelter houses 65 cats and has a low-cost/no-cost spay & neuter program.

The object of the Cat Knock Down carnival game was
to throw balls and knock down the three stuffed cats.

Some of the art Harold had collected over the years was hung on the shelter’s walls, but he still had a lot of objects that weren’t being seen. He decided to put his collection to good use by starting a museum that would support the shelter. After he found space in an antique mall, he started getting things ready in fall 2016. The American Museum of the House Cat opened April 1, 2017. Harold reports that the museum drew over 2,000 visitors in May 2017, and he said there was a group of about 20 people touring the displays while we were talking.

Cat collectibles of every description

In the museum’s 1,000 square feet, visitors can expect to see all kinds of cat objects, from pictures to art glass, a Bad Cats pinball machine and other arcade games, and an impressive group of carousel cats (some from Europe). There is a group of beer steins with cats on them, automaton cats, clocks… To us, this museum offers proof that people will put cats on anything. There is even one actual feline… a petrified cat from the chimney of a medieval English house (although no one is sure how old the cat actually is), and this cat will soon be joined by a recently purchased a cat mummy that Harold expects to arrive next week.

If you want to see any sort of cat object, the American Museum of the House Cat is the place to be! 

Inside, the museum has case after case filled with cat-related art, advertising pieces,
and more. Some of the carousel cats can be seen on the right.

Details

A trio of figurines from the
American Museum
of the House Cat.

The American Museum of the House Cat is located at the Old School Antique Mall, 4704 Highway 441 South, Sylva, NC 28779.

Hours are as follows:

• Tuesday–Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Sunday from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

A $5 donation is suggested for admittance. Profits support the Catman2 Shelter.

You can also follow the museum on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Note that the museum will close for the winter (January–March) because it’s just too darn cold!

If you can't get there in person just yet, this video from The Carpetbagger will give you an idea of what you're missing:

Now, don't you feel like planning a trip to North Carolina?

This post is part of our occasional Cat Travel series, which highlights fun cat-related travel destinations. Click here for more cat-related travel posts.

Do you know of a cat-related place that's worth a visit? Let us know!

Cat Travel: Gettysburg Museum Uses Cats in Civil War Dioramas

Friends, today we’re excited to be kicking off a new occasional series about cat travel—not traveling with cats, mind you, but traveling to see cat-related attractions. And we’re even more excited to share what we think must be the most interesting attraction in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Just in case you’re not up on your Civil War history, Gettysburg was the site of a major battle between North and South in July 1863. These days the town is full of little shops and museums, and it is a fun place to visit.

Joining us today is  Rebecca Brown, one of the owners and creators of the Civil War Tails at the Homestead Diorama Museum in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Rebecca, welcome to the blog. You and your twin sister, Ruth, have a very unique museum. Can you briefly tell us what it’s all about?

 Thank you for having me.  Civil War Tails is a museum of the dioramas that Ruth and I have been making for over 20 years.  We make all the soldiers by hand, and most of the other features as well, from forts and ships to horses and cannons and coffeepots.  The twist is that every soldier is actually a cat.  Currently, we have over 5,500 cats on display (out of over 8,000).

This diorama captures the moment in the Battle of Gettysburg
when the 20^th Maine began their forward movement
on Little Round Top.
Photo courtesy of Civil War Tails Diorama Museum.

Since the figures are all to-scale and the dioramas each show a specific point in time, they let us see what the scene might have looked like in real-life.  It’s like a glimpse back in time.  And, each diorama is inspired by the stories of the men (and women) involved, so it’s a great way to learn about the people of the Civil War and see how we can really relate to the stories of these people from over 150 years ago. 

Fascinating! Why did you decide to use cats in your dioramas?

When we were 11 years old, I read biographies on Generals Lee and Grant.  Then I made the generals out of clay—only I made them cats.  It was just natural to do it and now, looking back, I think it’s because we’ve always had cats as pets, and we’ve always pretended we were cats, even if we were playing Robin Hood (of course, the Sheriff of Nottingham and his bad guys were always dogs).  As we continued to read about the Civil War, we continued making cats of officers who were gallant or brave or just looked cute in their photos, and we would make cats for them to command.  Eventually, we began making dioramas with them, to commemorate the various stories we read about.  So, this really has just been our hobby since 1995.

So, aside from the fact that the soldiers are cats, how historically accurate are the dioramas? Do visitors get a feel for what really happened in the battles?

We try to make the dioramas as accurate as possible (besides the tails).  Each one is to-scale, so six feet on the ground is six feet for the cat.  Each cat represents one soldier, which helps to give an idea of what the overall scene would have looked like during the Civil War. 

This is the Homestead. It used to be

part of an orphanage, and now it’s home to the

Civil War Tails Diorama Museum.

Photo courtesy Civil War Tails Diorama Museum.

On the individual level, we add detail to all of our figures.  So, Confederate officers have the Austrian knots on their sleeves, identified officers and men have correct facial hair if a photo is available, the 72nd Pennsylvania cats have red piping and buttons on their jackets (each one took Ruth 30 minutes to make, instead of the usual 5–7 minutes), and so on.  On our Little Round Top diorama, each three-quarter-inch-tall Union cat will have a tiny Maltese cross on top of his kepi (cap) as a corps badge. 

On a diorama level, we try to calculate the number of soldiers that would be present in the given units, we check all our sources and maps to place identified officers and men as accurately as possible, we take note of “minor” details like the fact that the ironclad ship CSS Virginia (Merrimack) had her boats shot away on the first day of fighting (i.e., they wouldn’t be present on our diorama of the second day), and so on. 

I do think our dioramas help people see history in action.  We’ve had visitors comment on how helpful it was to see the Angle populated as it would have been during Pickett’s Charge, after having gone to the battlefield itself.  Or, if people come to the museum before going, they can then picture the action later, as they stand on the actual ground and look across the fields.  Of course, we have non-Gettysburg dioramas too, so people can see other scenes like the ironclads CSS Virginia and USS Monitor duking it out. 

I’m amazed at the level of detail you add, down to the specific uniforms and even the facial hair. What materials do you use in the dioramas, and roughly how long does it take to create one?

The older cats are made out of modeling clay, which doesn’t harden.  Now, we use Sculpey, which is a clay that we bake.  The great thing about Sculpey is that the cat can be glued down and he won’t melt, fall over, drop a rifle barrel or arm, etc.  This is also true of our horses (over 80% of all our horses are handmade) and cannons. 

The Browns include a remarkable level of detail,
right down to facial hair on identifiable individuals.
This is Captain Spear on Little Round Top.
Photo courtesy Civil War Tails Diorama Museum.

For ground cover, buildings, ships, trains, and other features, we’ve traditionally used ordinary materials you can find around your house, like toothpicks, paper clips, cardboard, and wire.  We also use materials you can find at any craft store, like reindeer moss for treetops or “turf” for grass.  On our larger dioramas, we tell how to make various aspects of the dioramas, like fences and trees, so kids can see how easy it really is.  The Angle looks complicated, but anyone can do it.  And that’s why we have some of our older scenes pulled out, so kids (and adults) can see how we started out—with blue and green paper for water and grass—and know that making a diorama isn’t all that scary or daunting.

How long it takes to make a diorama depends on the size of the diorama and the number of cats.  The Angle has probably taken about 4½ years, and we’re actually in the process of tweaking it.  When we’re finished, it will have 3,000 cats on it.  Little Round Top has been in the works for four years, but we’ve probably only put about a year and a half of work into it so far (it has been “overcome by events”).  It’ll probably take two or three more focused years of work to finish it.  On the other hand, the ironclads took about a year and a half to complete, since most of the work was making the ships, with only a couple hundred cats on them, instead of thousands.  Smaller scenes might take a few months.

I’m guessing you haven’t always run a diorama museum. How did you end up there?

We were homeschooled, and in high school we did lessons on the Civil War for other homeschooled students.  The kids really loved seeing our dioramas, particularly The Angle.  We also began working at a retirement community, so each year we would take our dioramas over for a one-day display in their auditorium.  The residents also loved our dioramas.  One lady would tell us, every year, “You should take them into schools!”  In 2012, I decided I really should take her seriously and start thinking about it.  Well, by then we had not only The Angle (5.5’x7.5’), but Fort Sumter (~4’x4’ and really heavy!) and Little Round Top (11’x4’8”), among others.  Fitting them into a classroom did not seem feasible!  And, traveling is hard on the older modeling-clay cats.  So we began considering starting a museum.

In spring of 2013, we bought the old Homestead in Gettysburg.  The house was built in 1869 as a girls’ dormitory for the National Soldiers’ Orphans’ Homestead next door.  Not only is it awesome to have our museum up and running (we opened in the fall of 2015), but it’s mind-boggling to be in a building with a history related to the battle (for the connection, look up Sgt. Amos Humiston or “The Children of the Battlefield”). 

Are there any real, live cats at the museum?

Yes!  Kitty is 17 years old and has fully embraced the title of “Museum Cat.”  She enjoys saying “hi” to visitors and has been known to come downstairs specifically to greet people.  So, if you stop by, don’t forget to say hi to her—assuming she’s on duty.  Sometimes the pillow upstairs is just too cozy and warm, so she takes a day off from museum duty.

Here is Kitty, the 17-year-old real cat you
might be lucky enough to meet when you visit
the museum.
Photo courtesy Civil War Tails Diorama Museum.

Can you give us an inside tip on Civil War Tails?

If you come to Civil War Tails, there are a few fun things about the dioramas that I like to point out.  The ironclads have a couple surprises that I won’t spoil for you, there is a tunnel on another diorama, and there is one dog somewhere…  He’s a real dog, not a soldier, but it takes a while to find him.  If you want to search for him, you might want to tell me, because I have a habit of showing him to people, and that would spoil your scavenger hunt!

Do you have any special events or additions planned for this year?

Last year we had fun with our first anniversary, and we are looking forward to celebrating again this fall.  On Labor Day weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Monday), we will be offering discounted admission and having a scavenger hunt with prizes.  If you’re interested, just keep an eye out on our Facebook page or website (www.civilwartails.com) as Labor Day approaches.

As far as additions go, we do have several older dioramas in storage that we would like to bring out.  We just brought out a couple for display—Capt. Bigelow’s 9th Massachusetts Battery at Gettysburg, and Gen. Joe Wheeler’s Confederate cavalry leaping off a 25-ft cliff into the Duck River.  The cats and horses are all cleaned up, repainted, and happy to be out of the closet!   

This has been really fascinating, Rebecca. We're so glad you could join us today and tell us about the diorama museum. It sounds like an excellent place to visit! Friends, if you want to learn more about the Civil War Tails Diorama Museum, check out the details below.

Information

The Civil War Tails Diorama Museum is located at 785 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325.

You can reach them by email at info@civilwartails.com or by phone (717-420-5273). Also check out their website (www.civilwartails.com) and keep up with them on Facebook (www.facebook.com/civilwartails).

Civil War Tails is a family-run museum, so hours can vary a little, but they are open most evenings until 8:00. Be sure to email them or check their hours page before visiting.