Don’t ask me anything about this; it was tw**ted by Dapper Historian (who noted “An extra family member was added here in 1911 but an angry enumerator has scratched it out & added “this is a cat”!), and sent to me by Matthew Cobb. For reasons lost in the mists of history, some family wanted their cat included as one of them. I guess that’s not so weird after all.
I have enlarged the relevant part for your delectation. If you can make out any of the words (I can get only that the cat’s first name was “Peter”) by all means put them below.
Aaaaahahahaha! Some things don’t change, do they?
Presumably Peter’s last name was the same as the rest of the family’s??
( although we’ve started calling Booker Booker T. McGee and Freddie was Fred von Pusserhoffer)
I’m not as creative – I just call my dog Kala Poochie.
Currie-the-Pooch is often just called Poochie, or sometimes Poocheriffic. We’re not soft on animules around here, are we?
is Peter listed as a “servant?”
Mousecatcher-in-Chief?
I think the cat added itself, when no one was looking.
Name: Peter Tabby. Relation: servant. Age: 6 mths. Occupation: mouser. Birthplace: Dorsets. Nationality: Persian.
If you could get the cat a SSN #, then you might have something. I would love to be able to claim two for taxes.
Those are easily stolen, precisely for purposes of citizenry, taxation, and/or medical coverage; all three of which are not much advantage to a felid.
I think this is great! Not sure they got the relationship right though – servant?
Funny that the family got caught in such an angry looking fashion.
Ahh, but is Peter related to Eric, and does it have a license?
The cat detector van might have caught him?? How do we know Peter’s not a ‘alf a cat?
Peter Tabby, maybe?
1911 was the first census for which householders entered the data. Prior to that it was done by the enumerators. So this was the first one where it was even possible for this ‘joke’ to even occur. I have access to a service that indexes the census, and you will be pleased (or disappointed?) to know that Peter Tabby does not appear in the index. 🙂
Disappointed!!
Me too!
There used to be a basset hound named Leo who lived near the University of Hartford when I was a student there. In 1978, some students enrolled him as a student named “Leo D. Canine” of 42 Puppy Lane, Canine Corners, MA. And he was accepted. The joke was uncovered because they neglected to provide him with a zip code; when the registrar tried to look up the zip code for Canine Corners, the jig was up. Since Leo was a “student” he had the run of the place and wandered the halls freely. Good ol’ Leo.
Wow, there were some cranky-pants, cat-hating enumerators back in 1911, huh?
The nickname thing works for dogs too as I am currently flanked by “Princess Belly-Scratch” and “Colonel Floppy Ears.”
Reminds of an SNL sketch with Christopher Walken. The relevant punchline ends near 02:30 but it’s one of my favorites sketches overall.
I have to wonder if the SNL writers knew of this old census form and got inspired.
I apologize for the link (a likely beginning ad), there may be better ones. Also, the link continues to other SNL sketches after the first one (not relevant).
https://screen.yahoo.com/census-taker-000000855.html
Mike
Doesn’t work in Canada
Thanks. Here’s a transcript but unfortunately part of the hilarity is watching Walken’s well known quirky manner of talking.
http://snltranscripts.jt.org/99/99pcensus.phtml
Mike
LOL
And this is why people like me have to be given specifications for rules for statistical collection systems …
(“Please list who lives here.” Wrong. “Please list all the humans who live here.”)
I’m going to have to check a few things now …
This is amazing. I can imagine the consternation of the census employee as he scribbled in red to blot out Peter the cat’s name.
It would be funnier if it happened during a Roman census. I suppose the person would need to bring the cat along to show the censor. 🙂 It’s a whole new edition to The Life of Brian!