Strange But True: Cats Delivered the Mail in Belgium

[dybmh]

"What on earth the city of Liège, Belgium, was thinking when they hired 37 cats to deliver the mail in the 1870s. Messages were fastened around the animals’ necks in waterproof bags so the citizens of Liège and surrounding villages could easily communicate with each other."

hyperlink >>> The Time Cats Delivered the Mail in Belgium

"Back in 1876, members of the Belgian Society for the Elevation of the Domestic Cat thought: ‘why not cats?’ Here is the story of how cats came to deliver the news in a city in Belgium.

The society trained 37 domestic cats to deliver mail in the Belgian city of Liège. Waterproof bags containing letters were tied around the felines’ necks and they were driven out into the countryside, miles away from their homes. One of the cats arrived home within five hours and the others all found their way back within 24 hours, according to a report in the New York Times from March 1876.

The society was very pleased with this result and proposed to set up a system of regular communications between neighboring towns, using their feline companions. Why this scheme never came to fruition remains a mystery."

hyperlink >>> Cats Used to Deliver the News in this Belgian City

 

[Revoltingest]

There were reports of catnip shipments gone missing.

 

[dybmh]

Why this scheme never came to fruition remains a mystery.

There were reports of catnip shipments gone missing.

Mystery solved.

 

[Vinayaka]

Presumably, they were male cats.

 

[dybmh]

Presumably, they were male cats.

OK... that took a minute to sink in.

 

[Brickjectivity]

The cats got wise and put stamps onto themselves, and then the mail service had to carry them.

 

[Vinayaka]

OK... that took a minute to sink in.

Some days the male is slow.

 

[Revoltingest]

The very idea of "trained cats" is ludicrous.
They train us.

 

[BSM1]

View attachment 27450

"What on earth the city of Liège, Belgium, was thinking when they hired 37 cats to deliver the mail in the 1870s. Messages were fastened around the animals’ necks in waterproof bags so the citizens of Liège and surrounding villages could easily communicate with each other."

hyperlink >>> The Time Cats Delivered the Mail in Belgium

"Back in 1876, members of the Belgian Society for the Elevation of the Domestic Cat thought: ‘why not cats?’ Here is the story of how cats came to deliver the news in a city in Belgium.

The society trained 37 domestic cats to deliver mail in the Belgian city of Liège. Waterproof bags containing letters were tied around the felines’ necks and they were driven out into the countryside, miles away from their homes. One of the cats arrived home within five hours and the others all found their way back within 24 hours, according to a report in the New York Times from March 1876.

The society was very pleased with this result and proposed to set up a system of regular communications between neighboring towns, using their feline companions. Why this scheme never came to fruition remains a mystery."

hyperlink >>> Cats Used to Deliver the News in this Belgian City

What kind of "waterproof bags" did they have back then that could be tied around a cat's neck?

 

[Revoltingest]

What kind of "waterproof bags" did they have back then that could be tied around a cat's neck?

Waxed cloth would do it.
So would oiled sheep's bladder.

 

[BSM1]

Waxed cloth would do it.
So would oiled sheep's bladder.

I understand that they use to wrap the cat and mail in a sheep's stomach which gave rise to the term 'catgis'. However, the cats were replaced for a short time by extremely...uhh...unhandsome women and the term was changed to..well, you do the math.

 

[Stevicus]