1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:15,440 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of I Heart Radio. Ye 2 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 1: welcome to the show Ridiculous Historians. As always, thank you 3 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:34,840 Speaker 1: so much for tuning in. What better way to start 4 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:38,640 Speaker 1: off the show than to say, sometimes critics with the 5 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:42,240 Speaker 1: best of intentions are just wrong. There's a there's a 6 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:46,280 Speaker 1: great quotation that will come up later today with one 7 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:50,839 Speaker 1: critic who famously said, whoever would want to see a 8 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 1: picture of a cat? You'll see why this is important later, 9 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:58,200 Speaker 1: but right now, I'm willing to bet that there are 10 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:01,480 Speaker 1: many people listening to the show while also checking out 11 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:05,280 Speaker 1: some sweet, sweet memes of cats. I'm I'm Ben. I 12 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:08,200 Speaker 1: also have a cat to Oh yeah, yeah, Mr Vankman 13 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:11,039 Speaker 1: and just the one that shall not be named right, 14 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:15,160 Speaker 1: he has many names? Uh, the Colonel Mr Jack Potts. 15 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:18,520 Speaker 1: That's a Lynch reference. Uh. And then yeah he's got 16 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:21,040 Speaker 1: he's got some names. No, you cohabitate with a cat 17 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 1: as well. I do. My name is Noel and my 18 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:26,360 Speaker 1: cat only has two names. Uh. Came by both of 19 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:29,759 Speaker 1: them relatively honestly got this cat through my my dear 20 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 1: buddy in front of the show, Frank Mulharan's parents. And uh, 21 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:35,920 Speaker 1: we're not told that the cat already had a name, 22 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:38,959 Speaker 1: so we banned it together and named him Fernando. And 23 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:41,160 Speaker 1: then some time went by and Frank's parents are coming 24 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:43,520 Speaker 1: for a visit and he's sort of really quickly huddled 25 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:45,479 Speaker 1: with me and said, hey, man, in case they asked, 26 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:48,200 Speaker 1: the cat's name is Robert. And I'm like, wait, what 27 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:50,040 Speaker 1: the cat had a name all this time and you 28 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:52,880 Speaker 1: didn't say anything. And the cat it has a little bobtail, 29 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 1: hence the name Robert. So depending on his behavior, sometimes 30 00:01:56,480 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: he's a Fernando and sometimes he's a Robert. Yeah, and uh, 31 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: roberta jaman if he's really in trouble, right, and you 32 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:08,959 Speaker 1: got the whole name or cathew, So I gotta say, man. 33 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: One thing I like about our show is that we 34 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:15,560 Speaker 1: are all fans of multiple names and aliases. Uh. There 35 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:18,840 Speaker 1: is another person we always love to introduce at the 36 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:21,440 Speaker 1: top of show, a man with a couple of extra 37 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:26,640 Speaker 1: names himself. That's our super producer, Casey Pegram. No, Casey, 38 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:29,680 Speaker 1: you're not gonna go for the bait uh as la bush. 39 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 1: I don't know what you're talking about. Been he knows, no, 40 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 1: he knows. He's always known. Amerta ban Omerta, all right, well, 41 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:40,680 Speaker 1: today's episode is a doozy. This is one that came 42 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:44,359 Speaker 1: to us directly from a man with many titles. You're 43 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 1: familiar with him if you've listened to our show before. 44 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:52,040 Speaker 1: Our research associate, our research guru, are very own wizard 45 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 1: behind the curtain who we have. Finally, after weeks and 46 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:59,120 Speaker 1: months of teasing, we've finally got the chance to have 47 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: him on air today. Ridiculous historians, Please welcome to the 48 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: audio stage, Gabe Lousier. Okay, Gabe, really quickly, we got 49 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: to clear this up. We some sometimes we do, Gabe Lozier. 50 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:16,359 Speaker 1: We we tend to lean into the French and call 51 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: you ms Monsieur Lousier. Give it to us straight. Tell 52 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:23,639 Speaker 1: us your name game. Um, it is l u z 53 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:27,400 Speaker 1: I E R. And that is generally how I pronounce it, 54 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:30,720 Speaker 1: by spelling it out, because I have no idea. Really, 55 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:32,680 Speaker 1: I guess it's you know, if you lean into the French, 56 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:37,560 Speaker 1: it's Lousier. Um. I do usually just spell it because 57 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:39,360 Speaker 1: I try not to say my own name as much 58 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:42,400 Speaker 1: as I can. Uh, my role pretty much since grade 59 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 1: school has been anything but loser. And we're good, all right. 60 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:51,200 Speaker 1: I love it now, Gabe, you uh, you have been 61 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:55,120 Speaker 1: a familiar presence to many of our fellow listeners for 62 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:58,880 Speaker 1: a long time now, since since the show began. Uh, 63 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:02,960 Speaker 1: and we're gonna have to be completely transparent with you. Uh, 64 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:06,000 Speaker 1: time is weird for us pre quarantine. We're not a 65 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:11,000 Speaker 1: sure how many episodes we've actually done. But fans of 66 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:14,440 Speaker 1: other podcasts such as Part Time Genius by our friends 67 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:18,279 Speaker 1: Will and Mango, Uh, they may also recognize you. You 68 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:21,080 Speaker 1: you've worked with them in the past, is that correct? Uh, yeah, 69 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 1: that's right. I hooked up with them back in their 70 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:26,919 Speaker 1: Mental Floss days and did some freelancing for that, and 71 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:29,560 Speaker 1: when they made the jump to podcasts, they brought me 72 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:32,880 Speaker 1: on board as their research guy, and uh yeah, I've 73 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:35,520 Speaker 1: been doing that ever since with them and do a 74 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:38,440 Speaker 1: little work on Next Question with Katie Curic too. But 75 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:41,840 Speaker 1: uh yeah, part Time Genius and Ridiculous History, those are 76 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:43,599 Speaker 1: kind of my bread and butter at this point, and 77 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:47,240 Speaker 1: the rest is podcast history, my friend. Uh, that's how 78 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 1: we like to refer to to what we do here, 79 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:51,279 Speaker 1: a ridiculous history and we couldn't do without you, and 80 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:53,560 Speaker 1: you had some big shoes to fill two with Christopher 81 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,239 Speaker 1: haciotis who I always say is here in spirit because 82 00:04:56,279 --> 00:05:00,080 Speaker 1: he was kind of our first research associate slash Guru 83 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:03,320 Speaker 1: and his spirit lives on and you have truly picked 84 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:06,159 Speaker 1: up that mantle and carried it with a plum my friends, 85 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:08,960 Speaker 1: so we we appreciate you so very much, as do 86 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:13,360 Speaker 1: the ridiculous historians out there in podcast land. Well, thanks guys. Yeah, 87 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 1: I always ask myself what would Chris do when I 88 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:23,040 Speaker 1: pick a topic? And uh, Christopher sends his blessing as well. Um, 89 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 1: we have done our best to uh to make sure 90 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 1: that our nemesses. We have a couple of nemessies on 91 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:31,159 Speaker 1: the show game. We just want to be clear with 92 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:33,160 Speaker 1: you about that, to make sure that they don't make 93 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:35,920 Speaker 1: an appearance on today's episode. But honestly, we don't know 94 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: how it goes every time we're on on the mic, 95 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:41,200 Speaker 1: so so be Warren. There may be a quister, there 96 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:44,920 Speaker 1: may not. We don't know for sure, but we are. 97 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:47,919 Speaker 1: We were talking a little bit off air before we 98 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:52,800 Speaker 1: started rolling today and you have some very close personal 99 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:58,599 Speaker 1: ties with today's topic, which we're finally getting around to 100 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:02,039 Speaker 1: today's topic, uh, which is something that might surprise a 101 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:08,159 Speaker 1: lot of people to learn. The artistic obsession with cats 102 00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:12,320 Speaker 1: or even dare we say, the mimetic obsession with cats 103 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 1: uh predates the Internet and in the West we can 104 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 1: trace some of this to like one guy. Yeah, that's right. 105 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 1: I mean he's kind of the father of the cat 106 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 1: meme about a hundred years before you know, memes or 107 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:29,600 Speaker 1: the Internet even existed. And uh yeah, I mean I'm 108 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:32,640 Speaker 1: obviously a cat I myself. I work in podcasting off 109 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:36,560 Speaker 1: Mike primarily, so yeah, definitely a cat guy. This is 110 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:40,280 Speaker 1: the most prolific cap artist in history, I would say, Um, 111 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 1: I feel pretty confident in that. And of course his 112 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:46,279 Speaker 1: name is Lewis Wayne, and he's a British nineteenth century 113 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:52,200 Speaker 1: uh artist, cat artist specifically. Yeah. Now that sounds hyperbolic, 114 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:57,400 Speaker 1: but as we are soon to learn, that superlative is earned. 115 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:02,400 Speaker 1: You'll recognize even if you don't know the name Louis Wayne, 116 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 1: you have we guarantee you seeing some of his work. 117 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:12,080 Speaker 1: Maybe maybe let's learn a little bit about his early life, 118 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:15,400 Speaker 1: how he became uh the father of the cat meme. 119 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:19,320 Speaker 1: Uh know, when when does his story really start? Would 120 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 1: you say? Well, it starts on day one and and 121 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:27,720 Speaker 1: and Clerkinwell, London, on the fifth of August of eighteen sixty. 122 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:33,360 Speaker 1: He was born to Um, a textile entrepreneur who was 123 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:37,160 Speaker 1: his father, and his mother was French and her name 124 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:40,080 Speaker 1: was Felicia, which is a name that I love to 125 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:42,120 Speaker 1: say out loud because it rolls off the tongue in 126 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:45,600 Speaker 1: a very feline kind of way. Uh. And Louis Um 127 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:49,480 Speaker 1: was was not alone. He was one of six children 128 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:52,600 Speaker 1: and the only boy, which I can't personally relate to. 129 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:56,600 Speaker 1: And my father was the middle child among like five sisters. 130 00:07:56,920 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 1: And it is a tough road to ho my friend. 131 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:03,360 Speaker 1: And let me tell you, he definitely, uh did not 132 00:08:03,640 --> 00:08:10,760 Speaker 1: come away from that situation let's say, completely sane. Yeah 133 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:14,120 Speaker 1: that that's kind of putting it mildly, i'd say, but uh, yeah, 134 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:16,160 Speaker 1: I mean you mentioned that his father was in the 135 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:19,280 Speaker 1: textile business, and it actually goes much further than that. 136 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:23,240 Speaker 1: Like his father was a traveling textile salesman, but his 137 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:28,880 Speaker 1: maternal grandfather, so his mom's dad, was a tapestry designer himself. 138 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:32,520 Speaker 1: And actually his mother was a designer of like Turkish 139 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:36,880 Speaker 1: style carpet patterns. So this guy grew up surrounded by 140 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 1: lots of color and patterns. It was just kind of 141 00:08:40,800 --> 00:08:43,520 Speaker 1: ingrained him in from an early age. Uh, not just 142 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:47,360 Speaker 1: carpet and textile but also wallpaper patterns. It was everywhere, 143 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:50,520 Speaker 1: and it really shows up particularly in his later art, 144 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:53,679 Speaker 1: which we'll get to later. But uh, yeah, this was 145 00:08:53,720 --> 00:08:57,160 Speaker 1: a guy who came from an artist family. Yeah, and 146 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:01,239 Speaker 1: it's interesting because he was only sort of a sponge 147 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:06,960 Speaker 1: for these very visual aesthetics. And we know that he was, 148 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:13,280 Speaker 1: um not considered a prodigy in his early years of schooling. Right. 149 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:16,240 Speaker 1: No one's like, whoa, look at all the math this 150 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:19,040 Speaker 1: guy is doing. He's like a math doctor or something. 151 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:22,840 Speaker 1: But he was. He was already exhibiting at a young 152 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:27,920 Speaker 1: age talent and music and sports, and his aesthetic talents 153 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:31,720 Speaker 1: led him to a student career studying at the West 154 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:36,560 Speaker 1: London School of Art. There's a great there's there's a 155 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 1: great article that you pulled gave from artsy dot net 156 00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:45,160 Speaker 1: that talks a little bit about his career in context 157 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 1: of great cultural shifts. Right, so we see in his 158 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:52,080 Speaker 1: career that you know, a micro cosmic look at the 159 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:57,400 Speaker 1: shift from Victorian to Edwardian eras. And what I thought 160 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:01,920 Speaker 1: was interesting about this is it it kind of provided 161 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:05,760 Speaker 1: the audience that he would later find as well. So 162 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:09,319 Speaker 1: his So it's interesting that the audience for his art 163 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:13,520 Speaker 1: was being created almost at the same time that his 164 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:17,320 Speaker 1: artistic voice was coming into its own. Would you agree 165 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:19,960 Speaker 1: with that. Oh, yeah, that's that's totally true. I mean 166 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:22,520 Speaker 1: he was coming up in it was kind of post 167 00:10:22,559 --> 00:10:27,880 Speaker 1: industrial Revolution, pre World War One, so you know in England, 168 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:30,400 Speaker 1: the middle class and upper class especially it was becoming 169 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:32,480 Speaker 1: the leisure class. They had a lot more time on 170 00:10:32,559 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 1: their hands, they had a lot more opportunities for diversion, 171 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:39,120 Speaker 1: and uh yeah, he kind of leaned into that with 172 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:42,240 Speaker 1: his art, particularly in the early days. A lot of 173 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:45,840 Speaker 1: his cats would be drawn sort of taking part in 174 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,920 Speaker 1: those activities, whether they're boating or having tea parties or 175 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:52,800 Speaker 1: you know, playing cricket or croquet. All of this stuff 176 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:55,720 Speaker 1: was very much of the era, and it was interest 177 00:10:55,840 --> 00:10:58,560 Speaker 1: that he had himself too. I mean, despite being kind 178 00:10:58,559 --> 00:11:02,679 Speaker 1: of an eccentric I person, he was also very athletic 179 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:05,240 Speaker 1: and outgoing in that regard. He was a sporty guy 180 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:07,760 Speaker 1: as well as an arty guy, which is not always 181 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:11,400 Speaker 1: the case. Yeah, and it's it's funny because it's all 182 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:13,920 Speaker 1: of these things. But just like you know with cats, 183 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:17,040 Speaker 1: like you might see one where cats playing a trombone 184 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:19,840 Speaker 1: or a cello or something like that. Uh, and just 185 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:24,520 Speaker 1: doing human stuff before this idea of anthropomorphized uh, you know, 186 00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:27,640 Speaker 1: animals with celebrity voices became a thing. You know, like 187 00:11:27,679 --> 00:11:30,320 Speaker 1: he really was on the cutting edge as out there 188 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:32,000 Speaker 1: is this must have seemed at the time, and I'm 189 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:35,480 Speaker 1: sure delightful too many. Um it's now something that we 190 00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:37,640 Speaker 1: just totally take for granted beyond cat mean just in 191 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:41,040 Speaker 1: terms of like, you know, Disney movies, like early Disney 192 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:44,120 Speaker 1: movies and the idea of talking animals doing human things 193 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:47,080 Speaker 1: and wearing human clothes. Right, Yeah, definitely, it was still 194 00:11:47,160 --> 00:11:49,000 Speaker 1: novel at the time what he was doing, and that's 195 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:51,800 Speaker 1: why people kind of gravitated towards it. I don't think 196 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:54,880 Speaker 1: they really knew how strange the man behind the art was, 197 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:57,520 Speaker 1: but at the time it didn't really matter. You know, 198 00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:01,360 Speaker 1: he found fame anyway, just kind of through capturing the 199 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:04,600 Speaker 1: spirit of the era and for whatever reason, channeling it 200 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:08,040 Speaker 1: in Two Cats. Yeah, and we do have to say, um, 201 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:14,000 Speaker 1: you know, we should be grateful today in pandemic aside 202 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:17,720 Speaker 1: to have his art, because he was very close to 203 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:20,200 Speaker 1: just being a musician. I don't mean to say just 204 00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:22,760 Speaker 1: being a musician. I'm sure he would have found his voice, 205 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:25,760 Speaker 1: but but he was very close to not pursuing a 206 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:35,000 Speaker 1: career in painting. There's an interesting confluence of events here, 207 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:40,880 Speaker 1: one amazing and one quite tragic. They happen in his 208 00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:44,080 Speaker 1: early twenties and just the space of two years. So 209 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:48,800 Speaker 1: when he is twenty years old, his father passes away. 210 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:53,000 Speaker 1: His mother will eventually go on to try to run 211 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:58,000 Speaker 1: the weighing family textile business, but she becomes financially insolvent, 212 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:02,719 Speaker 1: she goes bankrupt. And while this, you know, this tremendous, 213 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:07,360 Speaker 1: profound family tragedy is occurring, and while he's recovering or 214 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:10,439 Speaker 1: dealing with that grief, just a year later, when he's 215 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:14,120 Speaker 1: twenty one years old, in one and he's switched to 216 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:17,920 Speaker 1: art by now, he meets and secures an agreement with 217 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:21,960 Speaker 1: his first patron, the editor of the Illustrated London News, 218 00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:26,120 Speaker 1: a guy named Sir William Ingram. Now he's not, uh, 219 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:30,280 Speaker 1: he's not drawing those those wild, fascinating pictures of cats. 220 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:34,440 Speaker 1: He's drawing a much more, i would say, grounded illustration 221 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:38,720 Speaker 1: of birds. I gotta interject really quickly. I love the 222 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:42,520 Speaker 1: name of both the piece that he had commission and 223 00:13:42,559 --> 00:13:45,880 Speaker 1: the publication that it ran, and it was titled Bullfinches 224 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:48,679 Speaker 1: on the Laurels, which is just charming, and the name 225 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:51,480 Speaker 1: of the publication was just so exciting to me. It's 226 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:56,719 Speaker 1: the Illustrated, Sporting and Dramatic News. Dramatic News. What does 227 00:13:56,760 --> 00:14:00,680 Speaker 1: that mean, Gabe? Uh? Yeah, I mean basically, when his 228 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:05,360 Speaker 1: father died, Louis became the breadwinner for his family, for himself, 229 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:08,680 Speaker 1: his mother, and his five sisters. That's a lot of pressure. 230 00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:11,240 Speaker 1: I think that's kind of what pushed him to finally 231 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:12,920 Speaker 1: make a decision whether he was going to be a 232 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:17,080 Speaker 1: musician or an artist or he actually also kicked around 233 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:19,400 Speaker 1: the idea of being a chemist at one point too. 234 00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:22,840 Speaker 1: But he was able to find work, as we mentioned 235 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:25,120 Speaker 1: in illustration, and that was for the news because this 236 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:29,760 Speaker 1: was at a time when photography wasn't really reliable enough 237 00:14:30,240 --> 00:14:33,240 Speaker 1: to be used in newspapers, and so instead you would 238 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:36,560 Speaker 1: send around illustrators to just jot down what they were 239 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:38,640 Speaker 1: seeing and sketch it out. And a lot of the 240 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:42,040 Speaker 1: time the journalists doing that, the illustrator doing that would 241 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:44,760 Speaker 1: be the one writing these pieces too, And that was 242 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:48,120 Speaker 1: the case for for Louis Wayne. He was doing the 243 00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:51,560 Speaker 1: right the editorial and the illustration for for news. I 244 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:55,040 Speaker 1: don't know what the news entailed bowl finches on the laurels, 245 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:57,560 Speaker 1: you know, like what exactly the news was with these 246 00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:00,080 Speaker 1: birds or if that was just for decoration, but I 247 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:02,600 Speaker 1: was yeah, that was kind of his big break. So 248 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:06,040 Speaker 1: really really a functional job at this point, Like you know, 249 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:09,800 Speaker 1: you're serving the purpose of like turning around assignments very quickly. 250 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:12,320 Speaker 1: You'd have to be a really efficient artist and and 251 00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:14,640 Speaker 1: work very quickly and be able to sketch what you 252 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:16,600 Speaker 1: see and turn it around quickly. And in addition, he 253 00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:19,720 Speaker 1: said he was writing the copy too, Is that right? Yeah, absolutely, 254 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:22,320 Speaker 1: it was a lot of stress and pressure to get 255 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:25,800 Speaker 1: this right, um, both in writing and you know in visuals, 256 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:28,520 Speaker 1: and yeah, you had a pretty quick turnaround with these 257 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:31,520 Speaker 1: deadlines too, but yeah, it was it was a really 258 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:33,760 Speaker 1: realistic style that he was going with at the time, 259 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:37,080 Speaker 1: because again this was for you know, news publication, so uh, 260 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:40,240 Speaker 1: nothing too creative or fanciful yet in that department, it 261 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:42,120 Speaker 1: was kind of you know a lot of still life 262 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:44,680 Speaker 1: and uh, kind of what you would see like in 263 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:47,600 Speaker 1: a courtroom, courtroom renderings and stuff like that, just drawn 264 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:51,000 Speaker 1: on the spot. And uh, of course I want to 265 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:54,120 Speaker 1: step back. I didn't want to roll over. We are 266 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:56,040 Speaker 1: doing this on a zoom call, so let me know 267 00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:58,840 Speaker 1: if I actually interrupted you bloody. But I wanted to 268 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:03,240 Speaker 1: point out, of course that uh, this little known fact, 269 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:07,520 Speaker 1: uh the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News was Sir William 270 00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:13,400 Speaker 1: Ingram's response to the uh much more popular at the time, 271 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:19,320 Speaker 1: non illustrated Sedate and Dry Reports, which was you know, 272 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:22,440 Speaker 1: they sold millions of copies. It was just a list 273 00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:28,000 Speaker 1: of various bushels of like grain and uh some you know, 274 00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:32,920 Speaker 1: uh some descriptions, but not illustrations of various styles of shoe. 275 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:35,680 Speaker 1: It was just a different time, you know, it was 276 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:39,280 Speaker 1: a different time. Yeah, you're right, You're right. It was 277 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:43,480 Speaker 1: in this in this uh milieu, in this cultural stew 278 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:47,200 Speaker 1: Being a commercial artist doesn't give one a lot of 279 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:52,080 Speaker 1: time to explore one's aesthetic voice, right. This is really 280 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:54,480 Speaker 1: keeping the lights on, keeping the food on the table. 281 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:57,440 Speaker 1: And he is forced to grow up more quickly than 282 00:16:57,520 --> 00:17:00,960 Speaker 1: others his same age at the time, and he meets 283 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:05,919 Speaker 1: and falls in love with the governess of his sisters, 284 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:11,159 Speaker 1: Emily Richardson. She's she's a little bit older than he is. 285 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:14,320 Speaker 1: See he's like he's in his early twenties, she's probably 286 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:17,199 Speaker 1: in her early thirties. But their head over heels and 287 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:19,600 Speaker 1: it's beautiful. They moved in together and they get married 288 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:24,040 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty four, and she is always his greatest 289 00:17:24,119 --> 00:17:27,919 Speaker 1: champion for these cat pictures. Quick point of order, gentleman, governess, 290 00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:32,000 Speaker 1: is that like a chaperone? Is that sort of a handmaiden? Like? 291 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:34,920 Speaker 1: What are we talking here? A no pair? Yeah, it's 292 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:38,040 Speaker 1: like Mary Poppins, right, Yeah, I think that's just right. 293 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:42,200 Speaker 1: You're you're you're both a tutor and a babysitter and 294 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:45,560 Speaker 1: at times a cook. Yeah. So he hit it off 295 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:48,639 Speaker 1: with this new governess. They quickly fell in love, got married, 296 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:52,400 Speaker 1: moved in together, and early on in their relationship one 297 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:54,680 Speaker 1: thing that kind of drew them close was they rescued 298 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:58,000 Speaker 1: this stray cat from the rain. They named him Peter 299 00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:01,760 Speaker 1: or Peter the Great, and for a time, you know, 300 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:04,320 Speaker 1: they were really just happy and young and love together. 301 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:06,800 Speaker 1: He was working for the news and uh, you know, 302 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:11,800 Speaker 1: making money for the family and all was well. But unfortunately, um, 303 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:15,760 Speaker 1: pretty soon after they got together, Emily was diagnosed with 304 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:19,879 Speaker 1: breast cancer and it turned out to be inoperable. And 305 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:24,720 Speaker 1: kind of during this time, her biggest comfort and consolation was, uh, 306 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:28,280 Speaker 1: Peter the cat and Lewis Wayne's drawings of him. He 307 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:31,960 Speaker 1: would just sketch their cat and do funny things like 308 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:34,480 Speaker 1: put spectacles on the cat and then draw it and 309 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:36,920 Speaker 1: make it look like it was reading the newspaper. And 310 00:18:37,359 --> 00:18:39,640 Speaker 1: she apparently got a huge kick out of this, and 311 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:42,320 Speaker 1: I think they both did, and that was kind of, 312 00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:45,240 Speaker 1: you know, the thing that sparked his career in cats. 313 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:49,400 Speaker 1: I want to point out really quickly, Uh, Wayne and 314 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:52,000 Speaker 1: our our our own Ben Bolan, do you kind of 315 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:55,160 Speaker 1: have something in common because technically, Ben, your cat's name 316 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:59,240 Speaker 1: is Peter Dr Bankman. That is correct. Yeah, and uh, 317 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:02,919 Speaker 1: you know, long time listeners especially people have been listening 318 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:07,119 Speaker 1: since we've been recording remotely, you probably recognize all of 319 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:11,520 Speaker 1: our cats from there there. Uh I say this, Uh, 320 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:16,840 Speaker 1: they're non completely consensual appearances on the show, but we definitely, 321 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:18,919 Speaker 1: I think it's safe to say we definitely owe a 322 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:22,680 Speaker 1: lot to our pets. And one thing here that's so 323 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:28,280 Speaker 1: so amazing about this story is that later, unfortunately, when 324 00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:32,040 Speaker 1: Emily has passed away, he's, uh, he still has these 325 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:35,360 Speaker 1: cat pictures and he does eventually sell them. I think 326 00:19:35,359 --> 00:19:37,880 Speaker 1: the first one he sells eighteen eighty six. But when 327 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:40,280 Speaker 1: he's looking back on his career, he has a very 328 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:44,280 Speaker 1: interesting quote where he says to him, properly belongs to 329 00:19:44,359 --> 00:19:47,880 Speaker 1: the foundation of my career, the developments of my initial 330 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:51,160 Speaker 1: efforts and the establishing of my work. So credit where 331 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:53,840 Speaker 1: its due. You gotta respect the guy, and you know, 332 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:56,400 Speaker 1: to be fair and not to take anything away from 333 00:19:56,440 --> 00:20:00,000 Speaker 1: Peter's contribution. But the guy we mentioned earlier, the editor, 334 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:03,560 Speaker 1: the publisher, I'm sorry, Sir Ingram. He's kind of a 335 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:07,480 Speaker 1: lifelong benefactor for Wayne. He really gave him that big break, 336 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:10,040 Speaker 1: you know, in the newspaper. And he's also the guy 337 00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:13,679 Speaker 1: that that first publishes his cat pictures um and he 338 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:16,320 Speaker 1: you know, he he helps, uh, he helps the Wayne 339 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:19,159 Speaker 1: family find a house in the countryside and really just 340 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:21,439 Speaker 1: kind of looks after this guy and and kind of 341 00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:24,159 Speaker 1: sets him up in the early days of his career. 342 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:27,120 Speaker 1: So you know, Peter did a lot, but also Sir 343 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:29,679 Speaker 1: Ingram gets a little credit, I guess well, and not 344 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:32,160 Speaker 1: to get to dour too quickly, but it is also 345 00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:35,640 Speaker 1: a career that was kind of founded in grief, because 346 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:40,320 Speaker 1: he really did get this push to start sketching cats 347 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:44,719 Speaker 1: from his ailing wife, and then continued that after she passed, 348 00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:47,200 Speaker 1: which while certainly in uh you know, a way of 349 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:50,640 Speaker 1: honoring her memory, had to have been somewhat painful. Yeah, 350 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:52,959 Speaker 1: that's a good point, I would think. So she she was, 351 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,000 Speaker 1: she was a big proponent of it. She wanted him 352 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:57,439 Speaker 1: to go, you know, full tilt into this cat art 353 00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:00,040 Speaker 1: and kept encouraging him to do it and take the 354 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:02,679 Speaker 1: sketches to your editors, you know, and let's see what 355 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:05,159 Speaker 1: they what they think. Maybe maybe this is you know, 356 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:07,800 Speaker 1: a more fun avenue for you to kind of explore 357 00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:10,920 Speaker 1: your artistic side. And uh yeah, you kind of alluded 358 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:14,879 Speaker 1: to it earlier. Been but it wasn't the warmest reception 359 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:20,440 Speaker 1: at first. No, no, Gabe, no, casey as well, tell me, 360 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:24,520 Speaker 1: tell me that people appreciated the painful place from which 361 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:27,840 Speaker 1: this uh talent emerged. Tell me that the critics were 362 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:31,880 Speaker 1: over the moon about this. Please someone, Yeah, not so much. 363 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 1: What one critic um an editor actually of the paper 364 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:38,120 Speaker 1: that he was submitting this, uh this this picture too, 365 00:21:38,119 --> 00:21:40,040 Speaker 1: and of course it was a picture of Peter the 366 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:44,879 Speaker 1: Great reportedly asked Wayne, whoever would want to see a 367 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:48,240 Speaker 1: picture of a cat? And It's funny. When Ben quoted 368 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:51,840 Speaker 1: that at the top of the show, my immediate response was, 369 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:57,239 Speaker 1: what an absurd question in this our internet times, you know, 370 00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:02,680 Speaker 1: where like cat pictures are king basically internet currency, you know. Um. 371 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:05,600 Speaker 1: And he really, you know, sometimes you just two ahead 372 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:08,600 Speaker 1: of your time and people just don't see the genius 373 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:13,879 Speaker 1: that is cat pics. Um. And he really took it further. 374 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:18,439 Speaker 1: He started to really develop from just doing portraits of cats, 375 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:20,720 Speaker 1: which is what this one would have been. Uh, he 376 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,960 Speaker 1: doubled down. He was not deterred. He really created the 377 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:30,000 Speaker 1: blueprint for those anthropomorphic you know, Disney and Pixar animals 378 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:31,920 Speaker 1: that we all know and love today and that are 379 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:35,240 Speaker 1: like big, big business. Right. Yeah, it's true. He was 380 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:38,280 Speaker 1: not deterred in the slightest. I I actually read that 381 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:39,960 Speaker 1: at the peak of his career, he was he was 382 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:43,800 Speaker 1: churning out like six hundred to a thousand unique cat 383 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:47,520 Speaker 1: pictures every year. Um. And he kept this up for 384 00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:50,200 Speaker 1: for quite a long time. The peak of his career 385 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:53,399 Speaker 1: is considered to be a nineteen hundred to nineteen fifteen, 386 00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:57,120 Speaker 1: So I mean five hundred to a thousand unique cat 387 00:22:57,200 --> 00:22:59,639 Speaker 1: pictures every year for you know, a decade and a 388 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:09,040 Speaker 1: half two decades. That's uh, that's commitment. Yeah, like you said, no, 389 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:12,440 Speaker 1: he's developing this style. And when he gets his big 390 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:16,240 Speaker 1: break in the Illustrated London News with a with a 391 00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:20,119 Speaker 1: actual cat photo, he is lauded for a piece called 392 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:26,120 Speaker 1: a Kittens Christmas Party and boom, overnight success, overnight fame. 393 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:28,840 Speaker 1: You can find a photo or you can find an 394 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:31,439 Speaker 1: image of this online. I want to just describe it 395 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:35,880 Speaker 1: really quickly. Uh, it's a lot to unpack. Um. The 396 00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:39,480 Speaker 1: top of it almost looks like a last Supper esque 397 00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:43,440 Speaker 1: kind of like situation, a tableau really with these kittens, 398 00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:47,320 Speaker 1: like sitting at a dinner table with plates and cups 399 00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:50,280 Speaker 1: and saucers in front of them. It's is just ridiculous 400 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:52,199 Speaker 1: it would have thought to do that. One of them 401 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:55,000 Speaker 1: looks to be consulting some sort of document. I don't 402 00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:57,280 Speaker 1: know what. That might have been a menu perhaps, but 403 00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:00,600 Speaker 1: they're they're not anthropomorphic quite yet. They are sitting at 404 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:04,680 Speaker 1: a table, but they are still in kitten you know poses, 405 00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:07,280 Speaker 1: and there's one kind of playing with a toy or 406 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:09,920 Speaker 1: something on the table and it almost has laid out 407 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:12,639 Speaker 1: like a comic where there's panels and stuff. Gabe, you 408 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:14,720 Speaker 1: wanted to talk a little bit more about this particular 409 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:18,040 Speaker 1: piece that really pushed him into the stratosphere. Uh yeah, 410 00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:20,320 Speaker 1: so this was for um, like you said that this 411 00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:22,800 Speaker 1: was a kitten's Christmas party. So this was for the 412 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:27,520 Speaker 1: Christmas edition of the Illustrated London News. And I believe 413 00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:32,479 Speaker 1: it accompanied a short story, a Christmas story about some cats, 414 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:35,040 Speaker 1: you know, celebrating Christmas. So it was kind of meant 415 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:37,679 Speaker 1: to go along with the story, and um, you know, 416 00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:41,000 Speaker 1: just show showed cats kind of taking part in human activities. 417 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:44,720 Speaker 1: But again, like you mentioned, they weren't anthropomorphized yet. Uh, 418 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:47,840 Speaker 1: that would come a little bit later. But still people 419 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:51,040 Speaker 1: loved just kind of the energy of it, the ridiculous nous, 420 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:54,840 Speaker 1: the humor that was you know, on display, and this illustration, 421 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:59,200 Speaker 1: and uh yeah, they wanted more. And Wayne was more 422 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:02,200 Speaker 1: than happy to a blige. Yeah, he was not to 423 00:25:02,359 --> 00:25:05,919 Speaker 1: do He was not one of those people who says like, no, 424 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:08,480 Speaker 1: I'm not gonna be boxed in. I do a lot 425 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:11,280 Speaker 1: of other different stuff. You know. You hear about actors 426 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:13,560 Speaker 1: who say like I've been cast in this role I 427 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:17,280 Speaker 1: can no longer escape, or musicians who hate having to 428 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:20,280 Speaker 1: play the same song over and over in some sort 429 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:24,600 Speaker 1: of weird limbo. Wayne was down, he was super down 430 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:28,080 Speaker 1: cats to find his career, and he was roughly one 431 00:25:28,359 --> 00:25:31,800 Speaker 1: million cat percent on board. He had. You know, there's 432 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:34,840 Speaker 1: great pr about it where he's uh there, there's a 433 00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:37,919 Speaker 1: photograph of him that was kind of making the rounds 434 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:41,159 Speaker 1: when people did uh think pieces or get to know 435 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:43,520 Speaker 1: your author kind of things about him. Uh, and it 436 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:46,520 Speaker 1: shows him, you know, he's he's getting ready to draw 437 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:50,600 Speaker 1: what is shortley a cat, and he's also you know, 438 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:54,639 Speaker 1: hesitating before he draws the cat because he needs to 439 00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:57,960 Speaker 1: pet the real cat that's sitting next to him, his 440 00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:02,359 Speaker 1: desk mate. And uh, this is where we start to 441 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:07,000 Speaker 1: see his kind of um, his evolution really kick into gear. 442 00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:12,600 Speaker 1: So I would say that Kitten's Christmas party is whimsical, right, 443 00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:16,880 Speaker 1: And a lot of his cats were kind of realistic, 444 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:20,879 Speaker 1: more realistic affairs, think more like w. H Auden the 445 00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:23,480 Speaker 1: way he drew birds, you know, like he wanted them 446 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:28,080 Speaker 1: these look like real cats. But sure enough, he he 447 00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:30,879 Speaker 1: heard the public or he heard an inner voice of 448 00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:35,960 Speaker 1: his own, and his cats started walking on their hind legs, 449 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:39,520 Speaker 1: they started grinning. Uh, you know, they were doing more 450 00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:42,000 Speaker 1: and more of the things that you described nol In 451 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:44,919 Speaker 1: in that picture. And this is where we get to 452 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:48,959 Speaker 1: a little bit of um audience interpretation, like who owns 453 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:51,359 Speaker 1: the meaning of a work of art does? Is it 454 00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:54,160 Speaker 1: the artist, the creator or is it the audience the observer? 455 00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:59,000 Speaker 1: Because some people will tell you, especially the author of 456 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:02,120 Speaker 1: an Atlas obscure or an article in particular, we'll tell 457 00:27:02,119 --> 00:27:05,959 Speaker 1: you that these cats seem really cute, almost sacharan at times, 458 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:10,240 Speaker 1: but they could also be interpreted as sinister. Where do 459 00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:12,640 Speaker 1: you guys think that comes from? I think the Christmas 460 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:16,080 Speaker 1: painting is actually quite sinister, honestly. Uh. There's a certain 461 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:19,800 Speaker 1: cultishness to it. They're like circling around and there's like 462 00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:22,640 Speaker 1: ones holding flags kind of in the background, and there's 463 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:25,639 Speaker 1: one scenario where they're like playing with these mice that 464 00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:28,359 Speaker 1: are lined up. I find the whole thing to be 465 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:30,879 Speaker 1: a little sinister. I that one in particular, I know, 466 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:33,520 Speaker 1: he moves more towards the saccharin. You know, let's put 467 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:35,600 Speaker 1: them in patents, you know all that. But this particular 468 00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:38,040 Speaker 1: one I found a little bit on the creepy side. 469 00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:40,800 Speaker 1: What do you think, Gabe, Yeah, I think, uh, you 470 00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:42,840 Speaker 1: know that kind of is a thread through all of 471 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:45,480 Speaker 1: his work I think. I mean, even once he's he's 472 00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:50,440 Speaker 1: drawing these cutesye anthropomorphized cats, there is still an element 473 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:54,280 Speaker 1: of danger or kind of mischievous nous to them. Um, 474 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:57,080 Speaker 1: A lot of the times he's drawing cats kind of 475 00:27:57,119 --> 00:28:00,200 Speaker 1: in distress, Like there's a bunch of cats pie held 476 00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:03,240 Speaker 1: into a car and it's sinking in a lake or 477 00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:07,560 Speaker 1: something like that. Or there's cats out ice skating and there, 478 00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:09,760 Speaker 1: you know, there's a sign that says dangerous and the 479 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:12,480 Speaker 1: ice is is thin and they're falling through the ice 480 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:15,240 Speaker 1: and kind of you know, shrieking. And usually there's a 481 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:17,560 Speaker 1: couple of cats off to the side kind of slightly 482 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:20,880 Speaker 1: grinning as if they're enjoying this. So there was an 483 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:23,320 Speaker 1: edgy side to this, uh you know what we might 484 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:25,720 Speaker 1: be tempted to call cute c art and that came 485 00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:29,280 Speaker 1: out more and more as his career went along. A 486 00:28:29,359 --> 00:28:34,160 Speaker 1: big break for him was actually the development of postcards. Um. 487 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:36,880 Speaker 1: This was something strange I found out. But the golden 488 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:40,560 Speaker 1: age of postcards, there is such a thing, was not 489 00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:44,080 Speaker 1: considered nineteen hundred to nineteen fifteen, and that is like 490 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:48,600 Speaker 1: his peak period. UM. And basically people fell in love 491 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:52,840 Speaker 1: with these designs. I think he sold over eleven hundred 492 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:56,920 Speaker 1: unique postcard designs over the years. So you know, each 493 00:28:56,960 --> 00:29:00,440 Speaker 1: postcard would have, you know, feature one cat or multiple 494 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:03,280 Speaker 1: cats and these kind of scenarios, and yeah, they were 495 00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:06,680 Speaker 1: pretty adorable, but there was always kind of a hint 496 00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:09,400 Speaker 1: of menace to them. Well, as we all know and 497 00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:12,800 Speaker 1: can attest to, cats are tolls. I mean, every every 498 00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:16,480 Speaker 1: incredibly intelligent creature can be a told. My mine are 499 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:19,880 Speaker 1: hopefully more eccentric. I'm saying that because they can hear me. Help. 500 00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:23,840 Speaker 1: But but here, you know, here we are. We've painted 501 00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:26,880 Speaker 1: the origin story right, and we've painted the rise to 502 00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:30,600 Speaker 1: the rise to fame or at least two public prominence. 503 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:36,120 Speaker 1: But you can already here ridiculous historians that there are 504 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:40,240 Speaker 1: some you know, there's some minor keys sinking in to 505 00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:44,680 Speaker 1: our our composition. So what we'd like to do today 506 00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:50,640 Speaker 1: is call this part one. We are going to explore 507 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:54,840 Speaker 1: the rest of the story of Louis Wayne in part 508 00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:58,160 Speaker 1: two of our episode. And just to let you know, 509 00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:05,280 Speaker 1: things are going to it weird, so please tune in immediately. Gabe, 510 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:07,400 Speaker 1: you gotta come with us on this journey, right, You're 511 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:09,840 Speaker 1: coming with us and down this rabbit hole or should 512 00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:13,680 Speaker 1: I say this kitten hole. Yeah, you can't keep me away. No, 513 00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:18,560 Speaker 1: this is oh man like like Gene Wilder playing Willie 514 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:21,920 Speaker 1: Walker said no, wait, that's rocky horror picture show. You 515 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:27,000 Speaker 1: know the person who said Antissa patient, I am looking 516 00:30:27,040 --> 00:30:30,320 Speaker 1: forward to this. Thanks as always to our super producer 517 00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:32,720 Speaker 1: Casey Pegram, Oh my gosh, and for the first time 518 00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:36,920 Speaker 1: ever in real life. Thanks to Cabe Lousier Lose your 519 00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:41,320 Speaker 1: anything but loser uh for being the best research associate 520 00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:45,040 Speaker 1: and guests that that a group of podcast nerds could 521 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:48,080 Speaker 1: ask for. Thanks for being here, man, Thanks for having me. Guys, 522 00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:50,880 Speaker 1: this was really fun. Thanks to super producer Casey Pegram 523 00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:54,760 Speaker 1: as always, Alex Williams who composed our theme. Christopher hassiotis 524 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:58,440 Speaker 1: here in spirit. Thanks of course to Eve's Jeff Coat, 525 00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:03,400 Speaker 1: our peer podcast Sir, Thanks as always do Jonathan Strickland 526 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:08,320 Speaker 1: a k a. The Quister, Thanks to Louis Wayne and 527 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:11,600 Speaker 1: no thanks to you. Thanks to YouTube Benn. We'll see 528 00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:22,480 Speaker 1: you next time. Folks. For more podcasts from My Heart Radio, 529 00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:25,200 Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever 530 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:26,880 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.