Bored Panda reached out to Molly Hodgdon, the owner of "Cats of Yore" on Twitter and Instagram, a platform dedicated to showcasing vintage cat photos. A passionate lover of cats, Molly gave us a glimpse into her personal journey with these feline companions and her initiatives to support animal shelters.
When asked about a specific moment from her childhood that solidified her bond with cats, Molly recalled, "When I was a baby, my parents had a cat named Harry who was very attached to me. Even though I’m sure I was grabby like every other child, he was constantly by my side. My parents would actually try to shoo him away from me because they were afraid I would hurt him, but he’d come right back! I imagine some kind of imprinting probably took place - this feline face and presence were a constant source of comfort, joy, and tactile enjoyment for my developing brain. I still get a rush of positive feelings every time I see any cat."
Addressing the idea of curating an exhibition around vintage cat photos, Molly shared, "That would be wonderful but I’m not sure how I would do it! I live in Vermont so we don’t really have a super high concentration of galleries and museums here that might be interested in hosting such a thing, nor the crowds to support it. If anyone reading this has a connection, please get in touch! Our shared history with cats is woven through so many historical subjects - agriculture, epidemiology, religion, art, sea travel, colonization, photography, etc. It would be really fun to create an exhibit viewing human history through that lens."
Impressed by her fundraising success for animal shelters, Molly was proud to mention, "Last Christmas was wonderful. I was raising money for our local animal shelter with a goal of $2,000 and ended up with over $10,000! Over the past few years, I’ve been able to give about $45,000 to animal shelters, low-cost veterinary and spay/neuter clinics, and farm sanctuaries. Most of that has been through Twitter, though. I'm currently working hard to build community on other platforms since the future of that site seems uncertain."
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Regarding any cultural practices or beliefs related to cats she discovered through her research, Molly highlighted, "Japan has a very long history of truly incredible, beautiful, complex lore relating to cats. There are whole shrines dedicated to cat legends, like Nekogami Jinja and Ōmatsu Daigongen. I read a book a few months ago that collects many interesting cat legends called Kaibyō: The Supernatural Cats of Japan by Zack Davisson. I would highly recommend that to anyone interested in learning more about Japanese cat lore, plus it is richly illustrated with period pieces of art."
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