Long before cats became some of the internet’s favorite stars, they were already stealing the spotlight in photographs. Flip through old family albums and historical archives, and it quickly becomes clear that our fascination with these animals is anything but new.
The Facebook page ‘Felines’, which features the Italian phrase “A cat has too much spirit not to have a heart” as part of its name, celebrates cats through images spanning different eras. For this collection, however, we’re taking a journey back in time, uncovering charming snapshots that capture the many ways cats have been part of our lives over the decades.
Scroll down to explore 30 vintage photographs filled with curious faces, playful moments, and plenty of feline personality.
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#1
A young girl holds her tabby cat on the stone steps of a home in Spitalfields, London, around 1902. The photograph is associated with Horace Warner’s Spitalfields Nippers series, which documented the everyday lives of children in one of London’s poorest neighborhoods at the beginning of the 20th century.
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32points
#2
A British Civil Defence rescue worker holds a cat saved after an air raid on London during the Blitz, around 1940–1941. His helmet bears the letter “R” for Rescue, while the frightened feline in his arms offers a touching reminder that lifesaving efforts during the bombings extended to animals as well as people.
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31points
#3
American author Mark Twain poses with a cat, one of the animals he famously adored throughout his life. A devoted cat lover, Twain reportedly gave his many feline companions wonderfully unusual names and even sought out cats to keep him company while traveling away from home.
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30points
#4
A soldier gently holds a tiny kitten amid the harsh realities of war in this touching photograph from 1959. Cats and other animals often became unexpected companions to soldiers, offering moments of comfort and normalcy while also helping control rodents around military camps.
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28points
#5
American photographer Amelia Van Buren reads with a cat comfortably perched on her shoulder in this intimate portrait taken by artist Thomas Eakins around 1891. Van Buren studied under Eakins at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and later became a photographer herself.
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28points
#6
American artist and dancer Rosa Rolanda Covarrubias poses with a small tabby cat in this charming photograph from the early 20th century. Born in California in 1895, Rolanda built a remarkably varied creative career as a dancer, choreographer, photographer, and painter, later becoming part of Mexico’s vibrant artistic circles.
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28points
#7
New York traffic comes to a halt for one very determined mother cat on July 29, 1925. A police officer stopped cars on Lafayette Street in Lower Manhattan as Blackie carried her kittens safely across the road one by one, captured in this memorable photograph by New York Daily News photographer Harry Warnecke.
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27points
#8
A man sits with his tabby cat comfortably stretched across his lap in this charming portrait from the 1920s. The relaxed feline seems perfectly at home, proving that cats were mastering the art of claiming their humans’ laps long before the internet existed.
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26points
#9
An elderly woman shares a tender moment with a dog while two cats quietly keep them company nearby. Attributed to Russian documentary photographer Emil Gataullin, the image beautifully captures the simple affection and companionship between people and animals in rural life.
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26points
#10
A tabby-and-white cat poses calmly for photographer Jessie Tarbox Beals sometime between 1903 and 1928. Now preserved in Harvard University’s Schlesinger Library, the portrait is a charming reminder that cats were captivating photographers long before they became stars of our social media feeds.
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25points
#11
An elderly person rests on a stone street in Calabria, Italy, with a cat peacefully settled in their lap, around 1970. Photographed by renowned Italian photographer Ferdinando Scianna, the quiet scene captures the simplicity and intimacy of everyday life in southern Italy.
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25points
#12
An elderly woman feeds a group of street cats along a Parisian sidewalk in André Kertész’s Le repas des chats (“The Cats’ Meal”), photographed in the 1930s. The quiet everyday scene is a beautiful example of Kertész’s ability to find warmth and humanity in ordinary moments of city life.
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24points
#13
Finnish-Swedish modernist poet Edith Södergran poses with her beloved cat Totti around 1917. Cats held a special place in Södergran’s life and writing, with Totti becoming part of the poet’s deep fascination with animals, nature, and the quiet companionship they offered.
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23points
#14
An elderly woman pushes a baby carriage filled with cats through the streets of Paris around 1938. Attributed to legendary photographer Brassaï, the wonderfully unusual scene captures both the character of everyday Parisian life and one woman’s unmistakable devotion to her feline companions.
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23points
#15
A woman cradles an impressively fluffy cat in this charming vintage photograph from the mid-20th century. Though little is known about the people or story behind the image, the cat’s perfectly relaxed pose suggests that being spoiled by humans is certainly nothing new.
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23points
#16
A young participant walks her kitten on a leash at the National Cat Club Show at London’s Crystal Palace on December 2, 1931. Captured by Fox Photos, the delightful scene proves that taking cats for a walk on a leash isn’t nearly as modern an idea as it might seem.
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23points
#17
American author Margaret Mitchell, best known for writing Gone with the Wind, poses with a cat in this photograph from the 1920s. Born in Atlanta in 1900, Mitchell later won the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her celebrated novel.
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22points
#18
Rome’s cats and the women who cared for them, known as gattare, had already become part of the city’s character by the 1950s. Among the most famous cat lovers was legendary Italian actress Anna Magnani, who was known for feeding and caring for Rome’s stray cats.
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21points
#19
A British rescue worker holds a cat pulled from the rubble on Judd Street in London on February 13, 1945. Taken during the final months of World War II in Europe, the photograph captures a small moment of compassion amid the devastation left by a German V-bomb attack.
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21points
#20
Titled Chums, this charming 1897 photograph by E. Lee Ferguson captures a smiling young person cuddling a tabby cat against their shoulder. More than a century later, the affectionate pose feels remarkably familiar to anyone who has ever tried to take a picture with a beloved cat.
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21points
