Jackson - Christmas Tree for Cats - Keeping the Public in Public Domain

While I do regular Christmas programs, too, I love doing Victorian Christmas programs as The Hired Girl.  The end of the 19th and start of the 20th century gave us lovely Christmas traditions.  Adult parties enjoy stepping back in time to a gentler age.  Even then people were starting to buy their presents a bit, but so much was family-centered and originated at home.  

In readying myself, I searched my past articles here with the label Victorian Christmas and started clicking on links. I found myself hating the way blogs start with the latest on a topic, working through posts until eventually you reach the earliest material.  Some of those links are no longer correct.  Of all of them, the one about the Christmas network, My Merry Christmas, was my biggest disappointment.  I had spent time typing up some of my favorite Public Domain material (not even scanning it!).  That site has always been a bit quirky for finding stories and many of the links I posted earlier don't work.  Unfortunately I mentioned starting with my much-loved Helen Hunt Jackson's unusual memory of "A Christmas Tree for Cats", but it's gone!  As a result, and because this month, too, will find me on the road a lot, I plan to keep those wonderful Victorian stories right here, starting with that very tale.

By the way, the author, Helen Hunt Jackson, was best known for the novel, Ramona, which drew attention to the mistreatment of California's Native Americans.  "Christmas Tree for Cats" was published (and recommended) in many ways, but you will find an expanded version was published in 1876 in her Bits of Talk, in Verse and Prose, for Young Folks .  (That's a Google scan of the book and insists on going to page 25.  Above the page, go to the tab that says Page 25 and click the down arrow; that brings up the Table of Contents; click on "A Christmas Tree for Cats", Page 18 to read a longer version of the story from the beginning.)

A Christmas Tree for Cats

 

 

  

 

  

 

I hope that story leaves you purring for more.  I can't wait, I'll be telling some, including this story, this coming Sunday for a private party.  At least this took you to a very special party in your imagination.  Next week will bring another.

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This is part of a series of postings of stories under the category, "Keeping the Public in Public Domain."  The idea behind Public Domain was to preserve our cultural heritage after the authors and their immediate heirs were compensated.  I feel strongly current copyright law delays this intent on works of the 20th century.  My own library of folklore includes so many books within the Public Domain I decided to share stories from them.  I hope you enjoy discovering new stories.  

At the same time, my own involvement in storytelling regularly creates projects requiring research as part of my sharing stories with an audience.  Whenever that research needs to be shown here, the publishing of Public Domain stories will not occur that week.  This is a return to my regular posting of a research project here.  (Don't worry, this isn't dry research, my research is always geared towards future storytelling to an audience.)  Response has convinced me that "Keeping the Public in Public Domain" should continue along with my other postings as often as I can manage it.    

There are many online resources for Public Domain stories, none for folklore is as ambitious as fellow storyteller, Yoel Perez's database, Yashpeh, the International Folktales Collection.  I recommended it earlier and want to continue to do so.  He has just loaded Stith Thompson's Motif Index into his server as a database so one can search the whole 6 volumes for whatever word or expression he likes by pressing one key. http://folkmasa.org/motiv/motif.htm

He also loaded to his server the doctorate thesis of Prof. Dov Noy (Neunan) "Motif-index of Talmudic-Midrahic literature" Indiana University, 1954, as a PDF file.

http://folkmasa.org/motiv/NOY_%20Dov_%20Motif-Index_of_Talmudic-Midrashic_Literature.pdf

in the hope that some of you would make use of it.

You can see why that is a site I recommend to you.

Have fun discovering even more stories!

Christmas Should Also Include the Public Domain

Is it Christmas yet?

I'm already getting excited!  My Victorian Christmas with the Hired Girl program is already starting to get booked and, while reviewing what I want to do, I found a great outlet for Public Domain stories of the period.


My Merry Christmas has been around for well over a decade.  It began online in 1999, with an offline tracing of Santa by fax machine dating even earlier to 1991.  With such a long history it has become a large source of Christmas resources I'm just beginning to discover.  Lover of old stories that I am and, searching for Victorian stories in particular, I came to it when trying to find an online copy of "Christmas Every Day."  It's there and is a great old story from 1892 by W.D. Howells.  While there I discovered lots of Christmas forums (that part started in 2004), an e-newsletter, a year-round Christmas radio station and enough resources to make you think Santa left his bag of presents there just for you!  It's definitely more than just looking at the Victorian era, but if you go to their sidebar you'll find it has a library.  I've already posted three Public Domain stories.  I've long loved telling Helen Hunt Jackson's unusual memory of "A Christmas Tree for Cats", so that was the first thing I posted.  There's a sidebar that says Christmas Library, but like everything on the site, it overflows with way more than you would expect.  This link gets you directly to the list of posts in The Christmas Library at My Merry Christmas.  It won't be just stories, or even the poetry and Christmas items from the beloved old magazine, "St. Nicholas."  Like everything about MMC, you will find much more.  There's even a legend  touching Michigan, the wreck of The Christmas Tree Ship, the Rouse Simmons. On November 22, 1912 it went down with all on board and almost 5000 Christmas trees on Lake Michigan, en route from Michigan to Chicago.  As you can tell, I think this is a great spot for story lovers, so I plan to add other Christmas Public Domain stories there.  When I mentioned adding three stories, the third is actually a poem as I couldn't wait to add a spooky ballad I love to tell as a story, The Mistletoe Bough.  Remember Christmas tradition also includes "scary ghost stories" along with the necessary reminder of "Christmases long, long ago", and definitely including the first Christmas.

 By the way, My Merry Christmas obviously has its focus on Christmas, but it's also done some expanding into other holidays.  Halloween, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, Mardi Gras, and other holidays are worth checking there, too.

This isn't one of my usual Keeping the Public in Public Domain posts.  As I said in my updated explanation of that series, I'm interrupting the current flow of stories.  Next I definitely will look at giving even more Victorian Christmas resources.  If you scan down the sidebar here you can click on Victorian Christmas to find my first article from back in 2010, "Queen Victoria Still Reigns!"  That's still worth checking out for Victorian Christmas, but I'm eager to add so much more I've found on the topic.

Gerald or Professor Whiskers

I don't know why, but this current holiday season has left me feeling like I'm walking in high heels with one heel broken off! Even a group I was truly looking forward to doing a Christmas program was cancelled for bad weather. I was glad I didn't have to try and reach them on a day that would have been truly awful for driving, but hearing my next program there would be winter instead left me thinking of the many stories that only can be told at Christmas. One of them, Helen Hunt Jackson's tale from her childhood,  "A Christmas Tree for Cats", comes from my love of cats that nowadays no longer permits my living with a cat. My allergies improved immensely when I accepted this. Fortunately I am able to visit homes with cats. 

On Facebook a friend highlighted a story worth following that tale by Jackson. Jibor Camavin told this tale of his cat, Gerald, or as Jibor says his grandkids call him, "Professor Whiskers."

They told me at the shelter he was twelve years old and "not very adoptable." His face is lopsided, one ear flops weird, and he's missing half his teeth so his tongue kind of hangs out permanently. The volunteer said he'd been returned twice already because people thought he looked "off" and I stood there looking at this beat up tuxedo cat thinking about how I've felt pretty unadoptable myself since my divorce.

I'm 52 and I went in looking for a kitten, something cute and normal that my grandkids could play with when they visit, but this guy was sitting in the back corner wearing a little bow tie someone had put on him and I just couldn't leave him there. His name was Gerald. They said he'd probably only have a year or two left and he'd need special food and monthly vet checkups. I took him home that afternoon and my sister said "you adopted the Walmart clearance version of a cat" which honestly made me love him more.

Gerald has one speed and it's judgmental. He sits on the cat tree by the window and stares at me like I'm failing an exam only he knows about. When I'm on the couch he jumps up and positions himself so he's looking directly into my soul with those huge uneven eyes. My neighbor came over for coffee last week and actually got uncomfortable, she said "why is he looking at me like that, does he know something I don't?" I told her Gerald judges everyone equally, it's his gift.

I started making him different bow ties because the shelter one was getting ratty and I found this amazing seller on Tedooo app who does custom pet accessories. I sent her Gerald's measurements and now he's got seven different ties, one for each day of the week. She told me she'd never made anything for a cat described as "permanently disappointed looking" before. People on my street have started asking about them when I post pictures and I ended up opening my own little shop on Tedooo app selling pet bow ties and bandanas because apparently there's a whole market for judgmental animal fashion.

My daughter says Gerald looks like he's perpetually asking to speak to the manager and she's not wrong. But here's the thing, he sleeps on my chest every single night and purrs so loud it sounds like a motorcycle. When I had that terrible week last month where I couldn't stop crying about everything, he didn't leave my side. Just sat there staring at me with that crooked face like "yeah, life's hard, get it together."

I've had him for eight months now and the vet says he's actually healthier than they expected. My grandkids named him Professor Whiskers because they think he looks wise. He's become the neighborhood celebrity, people stop me on walks asking about "that cat with the face." Gerald doesn't care what anyone thinks. He just exists exactly as he is, taking up space, demanding respect. I'm trying to learn that from him.

 

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I haven't been able to "Message" Jibor, but I'd love to tell him we had a cat live to be 24! May this cat live a long, long time. Pets truly are family. (Fortunately I can have a dog in our family.) It is said that Christmas pets often don't work out well, but maybe those adopted after Christmas are a better match. So many pets are waiting for adoption. Here in my area I especially support K9Stray Rescue, but rescue groups are everywhere as the need for "furever" homes is great. If there is room in your heart for a new family member, please check your local shelter.