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| Cats and cigar logos |
Cigars were (and, mostly, still are) a “guy thing,” so perhaps it is surprising that cigar companies in the 1800s so often used cats in their names and logos. In those days it was generally assumed that “real men” (the kind who smoked cigars, that is) were more fond of dogs than cats.
Nonetheless, cigar boxes and wrappers from the nineteenth century testify to the many cat names and images used by cigar companies: Two Toms, Old Tom, Mr. Thomas, Cats, Tabby, Me-Ow, Our Kitties, White Cat and, yes, even Pussy. Some showed cats smoking cigars (fat chance!), and the Me-Ow logo showed two black tomcats in the claws-out, backs-up fighting stance.
