There are actually some good (though unspoken) reasons why magicians rarely attempt to pull rabbits from hats anymore.  Plus, this magician looks like our wizardly mentor Larry Hass, proving to our satisfaction that he's a time traveler.  From Unknown, 1943.

"Mice and rats were luxuriously fed by the thoughtless children."  From Manual and Diagrams to Accompany Metcalf's Grammars, 1901.

"The Cat Who Married a Mouse" … and the bottle of meat that came between them.  From Kitty-Cat Tales by Alice Van Leer Carrick, 1932.

A tale as old as time -- the cat gets the mouse drunk first.  From Nebelspalter, 1958.

From Tulane's 1973 yearbook.

If this is your rat day, too, may may the hours of pain a blessing prove.  From Longwood's 1961 yearbook.

From Le Journal Amusant, 1877.  See How to Be Your Own Cat.

From Lustige Blätter, 1908.

"'I understand now,' said the little mouse, quite gently."  From Kitty-Cat Tales by Alice Van Leer Carrick, 1932.