“Stanley has been sick and I had to bring our two new little kittens up to the house for him to see. Stanley's kitten is yellow, black and white and he named it Fuzzy. Mine is all white. I can't think of a good name for it (and don't suggest McArthur).”
-- Postcard from my aunt, Barbara Brown, age 14, on the farm at Bloomington, Kans., to my father, 17, a freshman at Southwestern College, Winfield, Kans. Their little brother Stanley was 8.
General Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964), was Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area in World War II. He and his forces had just fled the Philippines for Australia in March, and given his famous “I shall return” speech.
Cats had important work to do on the farm, catching mice. But, as this letter makes clear, they were also loved as pets. As they do on many farms today, cats lived outside in the barn and got much of their food on their own. My grandparents did, however, give them some of the milk from the cows. I remember stories of (and perhaps saw) cats waiting around while my grandfather milked the cows, knowing he would occasionally squirt some milk in their direction so they could catch the stream in midair.
Source: “Douglas MacArthur” on Wikipedia.org.
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