Maine cats in shows - brown tabbies plentiful

She writes of an acquaintance, Mr. Robinson, whose Maine cat "Richelieu" won best in class in an 1884 cat show held in Bangor, Maine. This sets the date that she refers to in the following paragraph describing the plentitude of Maine cats in the time and era of the 1880's.

"At that time [of the 1884 cat show] Maine, near the coast, was rich in fine specimens of the long-haired cats. That was before they began to sell. I have in mind their brown tabbies."

"...They have had some extremely fine brown tabbies in Maine. ....It is one of nature's own secrets how they keep bringing forth--now and then, not always, these fine types."

"...tabbies also being well ...distributed along the coast, and for quite a distance back, perhaps sixty miles or more; but I have not known of their appearing to any extent in the northern portion of the State, which is less thickly settled ."

These observations provide absolute certainty that Maine cats were established in the Maine coastal areas in the early part of the 1800's and that they were a recognized type of cat even then. By the later decades of the 1800's, Maine cats had become plentiful, and they often won recognition in cat shows. The brown tabby color probably dominated the breed at that time.

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