Monday, October 12, 2009

Black Cats



Black Cats are one of the most familiar symbols of Halloween. Most often associated with Witches and bad luck. As a Witch it isn't necessary that you have a black cat (although I do have one) but I also have 6 others in various colors. Below is a little Wikihistory on the Black Cat and culture.


Since the 1880s, the colour black has been associated with anarchism. The black cat, in an alert, fighting stance was later adopted as an anarchist symbol.
More specifically, the black cat—often called the "sab cat" or "sabo-tabby"—is associated with anarcho-syndicalism, a branch of anarchism that focuses on workers' rights.
In testimony before the court in a 1918 trial of Industrial Workers of the World leaders, Ralph Chaplin, who is generally credited with creating the IWW's black cat symbol, stated that the black cat "was commonly used by the boys as representing the idea of sabotage. The idea being to frighten the employer by the mention of the name sabotage, or by putting a black cat somewhere around. You know if you saw a black cat go across your path you would think, if you were superstitious, you are going to have a little bad luck. The idea of sabotage is to use a little black cat on the boss.

Le Chat Noir (French for "The Black Cat") was a 19th-century cabaret in the Montmartre district of Paris. It was opened on 18 November 1881 at 84 Boulevard Rouchechouart by the artist Rodolphe Salis, and closed in 1897

1 comment:

thehauntedstudiounderthestairs said...

What's not to love about black cats, they look like mini-panthers!

Liz

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