The Great Depression was a very difficult time for our parents and grandparents to go through. Times were bleak, and there just wasn't very much to laugh about.
A designer at the California Clock Company thought that what the world needed was a clock that would bring a smile every time you looked at it. Thus was born the Kit-Cat clock.
The cat, in case you didn't know, is Felix, who was a popular comic strip character during that era. The original Kit-Cat clock is black and white, just like Felix himself.
Anyhow, many of us remember the Kit-Cats hanging up in the homes our grandparents. Many of these clocks no doubt dated back to the 1930's decade. The clocks indeed brought good cheer to their owners, as advertised.
The clock has a bit of an art deco look to it, appropriate to a design of the era. Eventually, Kit-cats were produced in different colors and designs. The gaudiest were covered in jewels and produced in limited editions.
The Kit-Cat was one of those things we didn't have in our house, but we knew lots of others who had the perennially eye-rolling and tail-wagging timekeepers. I always got a kick out of seeing them.
Despite the fact that Kit-Cats continue to be marketed, and in fact claim great sales, it seems that you don't see them around like you used to.
So many of the companies who manufactured the products we bought have gone out of business or been absorbed, it's a refreshing change to talk about the California Clock Company. They have been cranking out hundreds of thousands of Kit-Cat clocks since the Depression. And they still make them here in the USA. In fact, you can order yourself a Kit-Cat online at their website.
Comments (2)
Regarding Felix the Cat, I was very attracted to that cartoon at a young age of maybe 2.5 or 3, around 1962.
I bought a DVD with early Felix cartoons by Otto Messmer who created him, one of the 1st cartoons, ever. Can’t recall his name and the DVD is over at my mothers, but Messmer and Sullivan Studios started all the techniques later used by other cartoonists. Messmer also wrote many of the lines that were written out in the toons. He had a very good sense of humor as well. You might call him the grand dad of all cartoonists and it was Felix who kicked it off. This was before Mickey Mouse even.
Felix was later picked up by Van Buren Studios who did colored cartoons of Felix. It as a good studio but did not last. The creator of Casper the Friendly Ghost Joe Oriolo produced a new series of Felix cartoons for television. Oriolo’s group, which looked very much like Hanna and Barberra productions, scripts, and style, was done in 1958 and went into syndication when I saw it in early 60s. Cartoons became less artistic and more childish in their appeal.
The old cartoons of the 30s and 40s were the golden age of such art forms. Warner Bros still came up with pretty good quality for a while but eventually all cartoons had less money put into them and it showed. But Felix was the character who basically started the genre. Thanks Felix.
Posted by Scott Irv | June 9, 2009 12:28 AM
Posted on June 9, 2009 00:28
I know of these clocks but nobody in my family had one. But I did like Felix the cat!
Posted by Riversend | June 18, 2009 6:24 PM
Posted on June 18, 2009 18:24