# Suffragette cat postcards! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 25, 2024, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suffragette-cat-postcards/1007707 "2024-09-25T12:42:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2024, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suffragette-cat-postcards/1007707/1 "2024-09-25T12:42:15Z")
I’ll admit my title is a little clickbait-y. There is more fascinating stuff here besides the suffragette part, and I guess the lure of sending cat pictures has been with people for much longer than I thought! > **['A disease in the public bloodstream': How cat memes went viral 100 years ago](https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240923-100-year-old-cat-memes-that-predate-the-internet)** > > In the age of social media, we're living through a communications revolution. But this isn't the first one, nor is it the first time cats have been at the centre of social change. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2024, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suffragette-cat-postcards/1007707/2 "2024-09-25T12:53:48Z")
That’s cool. I often hear people talk like “memes” are a new thing, but nope, not really. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2024, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suffragette-cat-postcards/1007707/3 "2024-09-25T13:15:08Z")
very interesting and fun. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2024, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suffragette-cat-postcards/1007707/4 "2024-09-25T14:46:01Z")
Fascinating article but not enough pictures of suffragette kitties. 4/5. Really enjoyed the handwringing about whether postcards signaled the doom of good writing. We really are great at yelling dooooomed! about new things. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2024, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suffragette-cat-postcards/1007707/5 "2024-09-25T15:54:55Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > I often hear people talk like “memes” are a new thing, but nope, not really. Memes are as old as memekind itself. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2024, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suffragette-cat-postcards/1007707/6 "2024-09-25T15:55:35Z")
There’s nothing new under the sun. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2024, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suffragette-cat-postcards/1007707/7 "2024-09-25T16:12:22Z")
The OGs of the genre was Harry Wittier Frees in the photography studio and Louis Wain in the printshop. Louis famously descended into schizophrenia (or maybe just autism plus dementia), while Frees indulged in animal cruelty. Although Frees did let his kitties jump on the Suffragette bandwagon too: [![](https://www.lifewithcats.tv/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/frees4.jpg) ](https://www.lifewithcats.tv/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/frees4.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suffragette-cat-postcards/1007707/8 "2024-09-25T16:13:05Z")
On the other side of the sun, however, is an exact duplicate of Earth: > **[Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (1969) ⭐ 6.3 | Drama, Sci-Fi](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064519/)** > > 1h 41m | G ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2024, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suffragette-cat-postcards/1007707/9 "2024-09-25T17:16:58Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > On the other side of the sun, however, is an exact duplicate of Earth Is that technically “under the sun”? And it isn’t new, it’s been there forever. Only new to us. Exact duplicate, except they allow cats the vote. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2024, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suffragette-cat-postcards/1007707/10 "2024-09-25T23:31:02Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > > > I often hear people talk like “memes” are a new thing, but nope, not really. > > Memes are as old as memekind itself. I always get a kick out of the factoid that _H.M.S. Pinafore_ was the _Seinfeld_ or _Simpsons_ of its day. (For a good while, you couldn’t even say the word “never” without some wag answering 🎵“What, never?”🎵) ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2024, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suffragette-cat-postcards/1007707/11 "2024-09-26T00:24:45Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > For a good while, you couldn’t even say the word “never” without Well, hardly ever. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2024, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suffragette-cat-postcards/1007707/12 "2024-09-26T14:23:08Z")
I’m sorry, this thread always make me go “wat bat thank you cat/suffragette kitty!” Though it is good to see turn of the century cats were just as cute as modern cats. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2024, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suffragette-cat-postcards/1007707/13 "2024-09-26T15:23:12Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > That’s cool. I often hear people talk like “memes” are a new thing, but nope, not really. “Memetics is a theory of the evolution of culture based on Darwinian principles with the meme as the unit of culture.” Cause people think memes need video and involve hashtags. The Norman Arch is a meme as well as Doric columns.