Victorian Era Kitten Cuisine?

Abstract

Humphrey Bogart's mother (Fig. 1)¹ undoubtedly had a strange sense of humor. How else can one explain Maud Humphrey's bizarre image, on a stock trade card, of a lovely little lass dressed up in her Sunday best lighting the flame under a chafing dish containing two adorable kittens (Figs. 2-5)? Were kitten fondue or kitty feline stew, dishes du jour in Victorian times? Pictured here are three Victorian trade cards, related to dentistry, featuring Maud Humphrey's adorable little kitten chef. Dr. Eli H. Neiman of York, Pennsylvania, and Dr. Charles S. Decker of Binghamton, New York, chose this stock image to advertise their respective dental practices (Figs. 3 & 4), Ramon's Relief pain medication, including toothache relief, and RAMON'S LIVER PILLS AND TONIC PELLETS were available from W.E. JUDAY in West Manchester, Ohio (Figure 4). Note on the reverse of the Dr. Decker card, that for 50 cents "Vitalized Air for Painless Extracting" was offered. "Vitalized Air" was nitrous oxide altered with small amounts of chloroform and alcohol.^2-4 Could it be that Maud had sniffed a bit of Vitalized Air before rendering her shocking kitty-cooking image?