academy archives
MASCOT
YSTERIOUS
Curious cats may be wondering about the origins of the Academy’s beloved mascot. How did the cat come to be? We’re here to investigate.
The Academy’s athletic teams seem to have first been called the Cats in 1950. The earliest available published reference of the nearly 70-year-old mascot’s name was printed in the New York Times in November of that year. The sports story reported on a homecoming
game against Brown University. It notes, “[Coach] Harry Stolz led the Cats in their twelfth straight undefeated game.”
From this clue, it’s possible the use of Cats originated with coaches who used the term
during interviews with sports reporters. Nonetheless, within a few years, Academy teams
were consistently referred to as the Cats. In 1954, Academy yearbook editors began to call teams the “Cats,” using quotation marks to denote the unusual use of the word. By 1959, the name had become so well known, the quotation marks were dropped. Photos from
the Junior School soccer team in the 1979 yearbook use a diminutive of Cats, calling the younger players “Kittens.”
No references have been located which detail why the Cats’ name was chosen as the
mascot other than the obvious connection to the Cheshire Cat from “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” which was published in 1865 and would have been well-known at the time.
However, sports banners and pennants from the early 1960s display a cat which has a close resemblance to Tom Cat from the Tom and Jerry cartoons. While the show first aired in
the 1940s, it didn’t gain popularity until the early sixties, right around the time Cheshire Academy’s mascot is depicted in similar form. The mascot received a brief makeover in
the 1970s or 1980s; the pink panther-esque design survives on a dated letterman jacket available for viewing in the School Store.
Today, Cheshire Academy athletic teams are still referred to as the “Cats” and use an image of a paw. A proud student each year wears the Cat mascot costume at home games, spirit rallies, and other special events.
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the magazine of cheshire academy
