You've seen the memes, but you knew there had to be a first one.  "Camera catches cats in unusual pose" -- a headline in Popular Mechanics, 1908.

The secrets of How to Be Your Own Cat go back to the Meiji period of Japan, when cat people wrote books in between naps.  For example, the author of the Japanese classic I Am a Cat was himself a feline: "Choosing a kitten for the main character has a two-fold meaning as Sōseki was, in fact, himself a stray kitten" (Aiko Ito & Graeme Wilson's introduction to Sōseki Natsume's I Am a Cat).  Our illustration from a 1906 edition of the book.

From 1881.

We're having trouble finding any "pink pussycat" references earlier than the 1960s, but here's a pink pussycat from a 1938 issue of Die Muskete.  This should also be of interest: How to Be Your Own Cat.

"Meet me by moonlight alone," from 1907.

"When the cat's away, the mice will play."  An illustration by Eugene Zimmerman for Puck magazine.

Happy new year, from A Book of Cheerful Cats by J. G. Francis, 1903.

From La Belle au Bois Dormant, illustrated by Arthur Rackham, 1920.

By Erik Werenskiold, 1890.  This should also be of interest: How to Be Your Own Cat.

A detail from Hunter College's Wistarion yearbook, 1952.

Artist unknown.  A scan by Nasjonalbiblioteket.  This will also be of interest: The Collected Lost Meanings of Christmas.

Artist unknown.  A scan by Nasjonalbiblioteket.  This will also be of interest: The Collected Lost Meanings of Christmas.

Here's a 19th century ad scanned by the Boston Public Library.

From Fun magazine, 1879.  This should also be of interest: How to Be Your Own Cat.

From a suffrage poster, 1913.

We're delighted to see our How to Be Your Own Cat rising to the top at Quimby's Bookstore.  (Photo via the Quimby's instagram.)  Looks like we're in fine company alongside the Twin Peaks recipe book (Damn Fine Cherry Pie), as well as guitarist Johnny Marr and some Ancient Aliens.

We're often asked how we relax after a long night of time traveling through old books.  Here's a hint: it involves the horse mask we acquired from Archie McPhee.  (As to the feline guardian also pictured, he somehow acquired us along the way.)

The Black Cat, May 1896.