The Houston Cat Club Celebrates 50 Years

By Jeanie McPhee

It was 1949 and there were no registered cats in the entire city of Houston.  But, a group of strangers that knew nothing about the cat fancy set out to change that fact.  In a hot, empty grocery store the Houston Cat club began.  Undaunted by lack of experience and funds, the Houston cat Club’s first action was to become affiliated with the Cat Fanciers’ Association.  Then came the monumental task of putting on that first show.

The first Houston Cat Show took place in February 1951 at the Shamrock Hotel.  It was a one-ring show, judged by Annie B. Revington, and had more than 200 cats competing.  Little did the club know it was the beginning of a history in the making.

An innovative idea the club had for its first show was mailing a booklet to exhibitors listing the premiums that could be won.  We’re not talking coffee mugs here, these were elaborate prizes such as silver tea services, silver trays, trophies and money.  The Shamrock Hotel lent a large, impressive glass case where the prizes were displayed.  Exhibitors had never seen such a lavish array and gathered in awe around the locked case.  Most of the prizes were won by Maureen Hoag from the East Coast, who convinced the club to ship the two barrels of silver to her home.  Of course, the club complied, making a lifelong club friend and faithful exhibitor.

The first show also had a little bit of controversy.  The club decided it wanted to make the competition as fair as possible, and established a system for exhibitors to take their cats to the judging ring.  Those wanting to handle their own cats were made to wear green sailcloth smocks emblazoned with the Houston Cat Club logo.  For a time, it did stop many of the theatrics of trying to catch the judge’s attention as to who put what cat in the ring.  But, needless to say, it was not very popular with long-time exhibitors.

That first show was deemed a success, but the Houston Cat Club’s work was far from finished.  Members collected bottle caps for five cents apiece, served spaghetti dinners and fish fries, held bake sales, ice cream socials and backyard watermelon parties, made cat toys, and solicited donations to the ribbon and trophy fund.  No effort was considered too small.  Early club projects found member constructing a building for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to house cats separately from dogs.  The club also donated funds enabling the SPCA to provide cats with immunizations (originally only dogs received them).  Club members even built cat runs for a recently widowed member.

In the early 1950’s Houston also had a lasting impact on its first Annual Meeting.  The club noticed there was little for the delegates to do after the session.  Since Texas was a “dry” state and most of the delegates were not, Houston hosted the first hospitality party.  The hotel provided the reception room and club members brought liquor.  The Houston hospitality extended into the morning when a club member convinced a national pet food chain to pay for coffee, soft drinks, and breakfast rolls for the delegates.  It was a dog food company but the refreshments were delightfully devoured.

The 1960’s were another decade filled with lasting accomplishments.  The Houston Cat lub, along with help from clubs in Dallas and Oklahoma City, was instrumental in starting the Gulf Shore Region.  At the time only one judge resided in the new region.  But, that fact was short-lived.  Houston membership alone has contributed ten judges to the CFA panel:  Jimmy Thompson, Tinker Wilson, Mary Alice Wheeler, Helen Weiss, Don and Barbara Yoder, Vernon Maddox, Melba Preston, Jeanie McPhee and Ann Pevey.
The largest feather in Houston’s cap may be what occurred in the mid to late 60’s.  The Breed Council concept was presented at five consecutive annuals.  For four years it was passed overwhelmingly by the delegates but never accepted by the CFA board.  Then, in 1969 Houston presented the concept as an amendment to the CFA constitution and the Breed Council was born.  For the first time, experienced cat breeders had an opportunity to influence changes in breed standards.  Some ten years later, Houston struck the breed chord again.  This time with the idea that cats should be recognized for their titled offspring.  This led to the birth of the Distinguished Merit.
Some of the most memorable Houston happenings occurred in the 1970’s.  In the early part of the decade, Houston held the larges cat show in the country with over 800 entries, including more that 450 championship cats and some 350 household pets.  The club used this opportunity to teach responsible pet ownership from the ring;  neutering, spaying, cleanliness, presentation, health and condition.  It was Houston’s diligent belief in altering cats that eventually led to the passing of the show rule requiring household pets to be neutered and spayed.  Unfortunately, the addition of this rule also led to a decrease in the number of household pets entered in Houston’s future shows.  To this day the majority of money Houston donates is used specifically for neutering and spaying.

The secrets of Houston’s show success were made known in the early 70’s.  In 1971, the CFA Show Manual was developed from Houston’s step-by-step show guidelines.  It began as a grimy dog-eared checklist passed from one show manager to the next.  Houston Cat Club members wrote a “how-to” for each show job.  These were compiled and presented to CFA as a complete show production guide.  This sharing of ideas did much to raise the consistency of “first” shows providing expert guidance to new clubs.
Houston Cat Club members also proved to be entrepreneurs when it came to working with the business community.  In 1977, Houston was the first club to develop a joint venture of show production with a national pet food chain.  This early relationship helped pave the way for sponsored cat shows and opened new vistas for CFA.
What many exhibitors and spectators remember about the Houston Cat Show are some of the wild publicity stunts.  The musical “Showboat” was a theme at one of the early shows.  Spectators actually had to walk down a gangplank to enter the show hall.  The year psychic Jeanne Dixon was invited and brought her pet “Mike the Magical” for exhibition, the fire marshal had to limit the number of spectators entering the show hall.  Renowned actress and animal lover Betty White also made a personal appearance at one of the shows.  Another memorable show had the hall decorated with space modules, thanks to NASA, and several astronauts even brought their pet cats for exhibition.  Plus, who can forget the Houston Cat Show where the club raffled off a new car.  That proved to be the most attended show in Houston Cat Cub history with more than 14,000 spectators!

Thanks to many willing hands and hearts, the Houston Cat Club has given more than $875,000 to animal charities.  Yet membership alone is not totally responsible for the club’s success.  Every exhibitor, judge, spectator, pet food distributor, vendor, newspaper, television station, radio station, and CFA is due a sincere thank you.  Without your help there would never have been a “big” Houston.