Bit of History - June 21, 2023

In June, 1933 the Ridgeway Journal created its own news with the announcement they had acquired an office cat.  The kitten was “a wee but of furry blue, with eyes, tongue and mouth to match” (their typo, not mine), and “was a direct descendant of the famous Stanley & Stanley line of cats”.  The Stanley & Stanley store sold clothing and groceries and apparently cats, as their kittens were highly sought after..  Unable to decide on a name, the Journal editors asked their readers for suggestions and offered a prize to the person who suggested the winning name.  

The next week, the Journal had a sad tale for its readers:  the little blue cat had disappeared.  She was  now named Snookums at the suggestion of Miss Helen Linthacum who won a Gillette office knife for the name.  The Journal office doors were left open on Wednesday evenings to lessen the heat as the printing press was running.   On those evenings, Snookums liked to pay a few social calls at  the Griffon Elevator or Shepard’s Garage before returning to the office to sleep in the second drawer of the roll top desk. But one Wednesday night she did not come home and could not be found. “Snooky” was last seen in the arms of a little girl going down Main Street. The RJ staff wished her well in her new home, wherever she was.

After being gone for over a week, Snookums reappeared on Main Street near the Hammer Cafe one  Monday evening.  She was returned to the Journal office by Cleo Stockwell who recognized her and resumed her place napping in the wire basket at the front of the display window during the day and in the roll top desk drawer all night.  No one knew where she had been the whole time, but the RJ staff was glad to get her back.  Meanwhile, a littermate that the Stanley & Stanley crew meant to keep disappeared and were hoping to get that cat back.