Beloved Stratford cats included in New Hamburg author's 14th book
Along with nearly 60 other animals from across the country that go to work with their owners every day, the much-beloved cats of Stratford's Watson's Chelsea Bazaar have been immortalized on the pages of New Hamburg author Nancy Silcox's latest book.
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Along with nearly 60 other animals from across the country that go to work with their owners every day, the much-beloved cats of Stratford’s Watson’s Chelsea Bazaar have been immortalized on the pages of New Hamburg author Nancy Silcox’s latest book.
The book, Silcox’s 14th, is called Workin’ Like a Dog; doin’ Nuthin’ Like a Cat: Canadian pets who go to the office, and is set to be released Sunday afternoon at a launch party at Heartn’ Home Creations in New Hamburg (115 Peel St.) between 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. – pets welcome.
“I didn’t (want to focus on) service animals, I wanted pets that people brought to work,” Silcox said of her second pet-focused book. “You would expect that they would only be dogs, but this is not true… I got emails from Regina, and Winnipeg, and Quebec saying, ‘I bring my cat to work.’ ‘I bring my bird to work.’ I followed most of them up, and ended up with 60 people from across Canada that brought their pets to work.”
One of those stories was that of the shop cats that have been a staple at Watson’s Chelsea Bazaar in Stratford for more than 30 years. Having spoken with Carole Rowe, daughter of David Bradshaw, who first made the china and kitchenware business pet friendly, Silcox details how Bradshaw would look after strays from his apartment above the shop, one of which, Miss Rambo, liked to spend her days in a chair at the front of the store.
In 2000, Bradshaw took in a litter of kittens, whom he affectionately named Curly, Miss Larry, Miss Moe, and Shemp. As they got older, all four cats became international celebrities as visitors from around the world would stop in to see them while they were in town for the Stratford Festival.
“The cats, they slept among the china and they never broke a dish. And one by one they passed away, and Miss Larry was the last one,” Silcox said, adding that Miss Larry died shortly after her photo shoot for the book this summer.
“People from all around the world would come to the Festival City, but they would not leave without going into Watson’s to visit the cats. (Watson’s) would get postcards and letters from around the world because, of course, when they were in there, they would take a picture. And they would send them from Hong Kong and Vancouver, Phoenix – wherever.”
Another of the book’s passages is dedicated to Ralph the St. Bernard, who not only helps out on his owners’ farm in Gadshill, but also enjoys riding with his bus-driver dad when he makes his rounds prior to picking up students each morning. Though he doesn’t ride the bus with the kids, he checks the bus once they’ve been dropped off at school to make sure no one’s sleeping in the back.
As she has with her past books, Silcox is donating all of the proceeds from Workin’ Like a Dog to charity. This time, the money will go to the Kali’s Wish Cancer Foundation, an organization that provides prevention tips, as well as resources and emotional supports for owners dealing with pet cancer.
“I’m lucky, I’m a retired teacher and counsellor, and I’m not wealthy, but I do have a pension from both of them,” Silcox said. “So I can do this. This is fun. This is what I do.”
Once the book is released Sunday, it will be available for purchase in Stratford at Watson’s Chelsea Bazaar.
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