Black and Red Persians

Blacks were the first of the British solid colors to attain popularity. A black named Satan, owned by Mrs. McLaren Morrison, won every class when shown in the 1890's in England. Another of the well known early British blacks was a cat named Dirty Dick born in 1911. Blacks were even more popular in the United States. King Max, a large black male, won First Prize at the Boston Cat Show in 1897, 1898, and 1899. Owned by Mrs. E.R. Taylor he was valued at $1000 and was said to have a beautiful, dense, shiny, black coat with no sign of white hairs. Johnnie Fawe II was one of the excellent black Persians bred in England by Dr. Roper at the turn of the century and exported to the U.S. Dr. Roper noted that his best blacks came from dominant breeding (black x black or black x tortie). Although blacks were successful at early shows, in 1903 Vidal pointed out that there was room for great improvement. Many had a brown tinge and in some lights it was possible to see tabby markings. According to Richard Gebhardt the first group of noteworthy blacks appeared in England in 1936. These included Chadhurst Barry, Chadhurst Gem, Hillingdon Jackdaw, Basildon Treasure, and Della of Downside.
Most of the best American blacks were a result of blue and black crosses. Mrs. Myrtle Shipe crossed her imports with blues to produce CH Great Lakes Charcoal. Charcoal was one of the most credited studs of all time. Charcoal produced GC Great Lakes Timothy of Rosemont, owned by Frances Kosierowski. GC Pied Piper of Barbe Bleue, 1951 Cat of the Year, has been called the Grand Daddy of all our blacks. Pied Piper was owned by Bess Morse of California. Famous in the East was GC Hermcrest Natajha (sired by Lavender Blue Blaze) owned by Frances Herms. The Longhill cattery of Anthony DeSantis produced some of the finest blacks of the time. He would exhibit as many as 25 cats in a show, inevitably winning Best Kitten and Best Cat. At the request of Dick Gebhardt, Mr. DeSantis sold a top female, CH Longhill's Black Velvet, to Robert A. Green. Black Velvet was a granddaughter of Pied Piper and when bred to Lavender Liberty Beau produced GC Vel-Vene Voo Doo of Silva-Wyte. Voo-Doo became 1959 Cat of the Year and set the standard for modern blacks. Voo-Doo's black daughter GC Silva-Wyte Trafari of JB continued the legend by becoming 1967 Cat of the Year and producing a pedigree littered with Cats of the Year! And Trafari became grandmother of Joan O'Hara's GC Fanci-Pantz Petti Girl of Araho, 1971 Cat of the Year.

Red Persians

English reds and creams were given a separate color class in 1895 (although reds were referred to as orange at that time). In June 1896 at a Holland Park show, 11 orange cats were benched. Lady Marcus Beresford exhibited her orange male, Lifeguard. Lifeguard was bred by Mrs. Spachman, who along with Mrs. Yeoman were noted as the leading breeders of oranges at that time.
In Harrison Weir's Points of Excellence published in 1889 the color was described as a brilliant, sandy, (continued on page 27) or yellowish-red color. In 1903 Vidal reported orange cats were subject to many faults. He wrote, Orange and cream classes were the roost of the longest noses to be found anywhere. As today, the deepest red color was preferred; however all these early reds suffered from markings on the head and legs. Vidal reported the clearest colored reds also had the lightest colored eyes and most had cream colored chins. Only a few noteworthy reds were mentioned. Miss Beal's famous female, Jeal, was last shown in 1901 and lived to the age of thirteen. Jeal's descendant Romaldkirk Minotaur was said to show great improvement in head type but displayed an unclear coat. The top red of this era was Torrington Sunnysides, (owned by Mrs. Vidal) who was known for his exceptional clear red color. Mrs. Vidal was one of the first to recognize the sex-linked color inheritance demonstrated in red breeding. She wrote, "An orange stud cat is a very useful animal to have in a cattery, for crossing to him will improve many colors." Mrs. Vidal exported many of Torrington Sunnysides's offspring to the U.S.
The printed history of the reds is meager. One finds no influential breeders listed in the early 1900's, no catteries that dominated the color class. Mrs. Champion wrote in 1904, "Orange cats, starting with both parents of the same color, are not at all easy to obtain in perfection." Color faults (light coat color and/or tabby markings) were produced by red to red breedings. In the Cat Review in June 1904 Vidal described a principle of red breeding that applies today: "The only way to breed all orange kittens is from two orange parents, though those from a blue, a tortoiseshell, or a blue tortoiseshell (blue-cream) queen and an orange sire are almost invariably more rich and sound in color. Almost every orange of note that I can think of has had either a sire or a dam of a different color than orange. Several who stand out had a blue sire and a tortoiseshell dam. Thus it will be seen that it is advisable to combine an orange and a blue. The litters will necessarily be mixed and some may be a disappointment to the orange breeder; but it is surely better to breed a few really rich orange than a host of pale colored ones."
In 1958 Nor-Mont Duffy won Best Red for Maurine Hoag. GC Ben-Mar Sparkle, a red female descended from GC Longhill's Red Treasure, won 1959 Opp. Sex Kitten for Ben Ehrhardt. Shawnee Painting The Town Red II, owned by Nikki Horner, was a standout red female with magnificent deep red color. She was a consistent Best In Show winner during 1965-67. In 1966 the highest scoring male was a red, GC Skyway's Eric of Nor-Mont. Bred by Vi Schuh and shown by Maurine Hoag, Eric was leading for 1967 Cat of the Year when he choked on the way to a Texas show and subsequently died. He was awarded the honor of Best LH Male posthumously that year.