“Frequently mistaken for a meatloaf”
June 3rd
While I cannot remember the exact date, it seems to me that I was introduced to the works of this artist sometime in 1979 or early 1980 by my then boyfriend (and now hubby). I was immediately enamored with this rotund pen and ink drawn animal with the big eyes titled, simply, “Cat.”
“Cat” was created by B. Kliban who, at the time, worked as a cartoonist for Playboy Magazine.
The Infallible Wikipedia tells us:
“In 1962, Kliban became a Playboy cartoonist, contributing cartoons until his death (in 1990). Michelle Urry, Playboy’s cartoon editor, visiting his studio, reviewed his drawings, mostly cats. She thought they should be compiled into a book, introduced him to an agent, who found a publisher, resulting in the 1975 book Cat. This led to several other books of cartoons ending with Advanced Cartooning in 1993. Since Cat, his cartoons have adorned many products including stickers, calendars, mugs, and t-shirts.”
Ah yes, the calendars, mugs, and t-shirts.
I have all of these things and, I admit, I am to this day a collector of all things Kliban Cat. This cat is, simply, irresistible.
One of my first Kliban pieces was a blue t-shirt. It’s pretty beat up these days – after all it is 40 plus years old – but I still have it. It was given to me by above mentioned boyfriend/now hubby with this inspiring sentiment:
For those unfamiliar with Kliban’s works, this is about as sappy as it ever gets.
“Cat” occupies our house in all sorts of places. When I went looking for the t-shirt I found two additional ones plus a sweatshirt. Then I stopped in the kitchen to share with the hubby about today’s topic. He immediately opened the mug cupboard and pulled out our newest one (less than 10 years old!) but then I one-upped him and dug out three more mugs.
As I turned towards him to gloat, there was yet another ‘Cat’ staring at me from the fridge where a notepad of ‘Cat’ themed list paper lives.
Then it was back upstairs to my office. This set of stairs has two 90-degree landings. When I turn right from the first landing, above me on the next landing is, perhaps, my most-favorite ‘Cat’ of all, the one titled “Momcat.”
In the early 1980’s my brother lived with us for a while and, when he moved out, he left in my care a four and half foot tall by three foot wide “Momcat.” I was happy to have it and it has moved with us to each different house. It greets me every day when I report to my office.
I have saved my ‘Cat’ calendars (1981, 1982, 2000, 2002, 2003, so far). I have notecards, postcards, and Christmas cards. I have two – very precious to me – ‘Cat’ Ornaments.
But there is one thing I do not have which, to this day, I still regret.
The year is 1981 and we have recently purchased our first house. We are ‘house poor’ and adhere to a very strict budget, tracking down to the penny how much we can spend on groceries as well as all the other necessities in life.
At the time I work for a company called Radar Electric, located at the base of Queen Anne hill at 168 Western Avenue in Seattle. I bring my lunch to work pretty much every day and, because it’s an hour break, if the weather is nice I will walk the six or so blocks up to the kitschy retail area on Queen Anne Avenue and wander the shops.
One day, as I am browsing, I see a set of Kliban Cat salt and pepper shakers. They are two cats hatching from eggs. Weird, right? One is stretched out as if about to grab something and the other sits upright in a half an eggshell. I’m instantly in love with these and pick them up to look at the price. $15.95. I set them back down. There’s no way we can afford to spend $16.00 on something so frivolous (in today’s dollars, that’s about $62.00).
Later I tell my hubby about the salt and pepper shakers and he thinks I should go ahead and get them. But I argue back that they are something which is a desire, not a need. Even so, with his urging, I return a few days later, but they are gone. I let it go.
Sometimes I think about those and wish I had them for my collection of both Kliban cats and salt and pepper shakers. So I decided to search on ebay just for laughs and now I regret doing that too.
Two sets are currently available, one for only $345 and the other for $575 (that one at least has free shipping!). Yea, they are still cute but not hundreds of dollars cute. Now, if it were a ‘Momcat’ salt and pepper shakers, I might consider it. It is, after all, my favorite.
A few links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._Kliban
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/s9oAAOSw655oNG~6/s-l1600.webp (one of the ornaments)
barbaradevore.com 