by Valerie Anne
Edwards
An important event of the
1970's was the rise in eminence of the mackerel tabby pattern. Among the
first to highlight this pattern was Major and Mrs. T. Tucker's controversial
cat, Gr.Ch.,BW Male Man of De Tracy, a brown mackerel tabby stud with "unknown"
sire. Male Man was presented as an example of the potential quality outcross
that could be "found" if one looked hard enough. With many fans
supporting the registration of this large, stocky brown mackerel tabby (with
throwback appearance, nearly a clone of the The
Scottish Wildcat) the
registry was re-opened - to the chagrin of many established breeders, who
were especially upset that the judges supported this cat in the show ring
to the level of CFA National awards Best of Breed 1971! Male Man
overcame his lack of recorded pedigree by proving his genetic health and
purity when he produced healthy, breed-typical offspring from test-matings
with his daughters,whose dams were selected from well-known pedigreed bloodlines,
reputed to produce heslthy offspring with breed-typical progeny.
The next major
invasion by mackerel tabby American Shorthair was launched from the midwest
by the two Mary McIntyres (mother and daughter). Without sacrificing honesty
or the best interests of the breed, the McIntyres joined Alayne Poeltl in
demonstrating a lady-like dignity and willingness to educate the novice
that drew many new people to the breed. The McIntyres first CFA National
winner was the silver mackerel tabby female GC, GP, NW Jellia Jamb of Saren-Del
placing 7th Best Cat (and 2nd Best American) in 1973. Jellia Jamb was one
of two kittens bought by the McIntyres (the other was GC Tom Terrific of
Saren-Del) from Mrs. William Weusthoff, out of Ch. Saren-Del Silver Ribbons
bred to Ch. Vindicator of Jo-Jin. Carrying fancy bloodlines from Shawnee,
Gray Horse Farm, Who's Sure and Fongin in addition to the health of her
"barn-cat" sire, Jellia began winning Best In Show in Allbreed
competition at her first show. The McIntyres made another big splash with
GC, NW Saren-Del's Seventy-Six, a silver mackerel tabby son of GC Tom Terrific
of Saren-Del and GC Barrer's Mandy of Saren-Del, winning 1979 CFA National
8th Best Cat (and Best American. 1979 was a "double" for Saren-Del
with GP, NW Saren-Del's Tigger Too, a silver mackerel tabby neuter, scoring
CFA National 3rd Best Cat in Premiership too. Tigger was sired by Ch. Le
Sabre Brigadier of Shadrac out of Gr.Ch.Saren-Del Star Spangled Girl, DM,
a full-sister to Seventy-Six. Most modern cats of this color can trace their
pedigrees to these important cats.
Beginning
with the best Saren-Del stock, Mr. Fred Erwin Smith outcrossed his GC Oaklore
Ms. Linde (GC,GP Saren-DelToma X Gr.Ch.Saren-Del Bingle Jells) to GC Jezreel
Mortimor of Codel, Imp., one of the last British Shorthairs who was legally
registered by CFA as an American Shorthair, rapidly earned his CFA grand
championship title as an "American Shorthair"/ This exceptional
mating produced an incredibly large, heavy boned silver mackerel tabby female
with an excellent coat, named GC, NW Oaklore Ms. Jenny who won CFA National
Awards "2nd Best Shorthair Kitten" in 1977.
Continuing
the Apache legacy, GC, GP,BW Min-Dees Taglito Jason of Silver Myne, another
silver classic tabby male (GC Apache Taglito Jeffords x Ch.Bushome Argentina
of Min-Dees) won Best of Breed in 1976. Jason's pedigree also featured Belvoir,
Le Sabre, Fongin, and Bushome lines. He is found in cats descended from
Silver Myne, Tsu-Kee-Ah-Kee, Chrisdora, and RhonKat catteries. His brother,
GC Min-Dees Taglito Jasper, sired GC NW Shanx Ebonair, the silver classic
tabby male winner of CFA National 10th Best Cat and 2nd Best of Breed for
1978.
Another silver
tabby male with tremendous impact on the future of the breed was GC Adam's
Rib Pippin of Saren-Del, D.M., sired by Ch.Le Sabre Brigadier of Shadrac
out of Ch. Sussex Sugar of Adam's Rib. Although Pippin's show success led
him to CFA 2nd Best American Shorthair for 1976, his eminence as a sire
far outdistances his showring impact. Among his numerous winning offspring
was the first cameo tabby American Shorthair CFA grand champion, GC Adam's
Rib Phoenix Fire and his younger full-brother, GC, NW Adam's Rib Chicago
Fire D.M. Chicago Fire won CFA National 8th Best Cat and Best American Shorthair
in 1977 and followed that win with CFA National 3rd Best Cat and Best American
Shorthair in 1978. His breeder-owner, Adam Frecowski, Jr., a well-liked
judge, unfortunately did not live to see his highest award or his prominent
offspring such as Gr.Ch.,Gr.Pr. NW 1988 Premiership Best Cat, Briarson's
Babette of Midinite. Another of Pippin's famous offspring was GC,COTY Sinklairity
Nerf Herder, a cameo tabby male who won CROWN registry"Cat of the Year",
CCA & TICA "Best American SH" for 1983 & 1984, all counting
toward the CATS MAGAZINE award of "7th Best Northwest Allbreed Cat"
for 1983 & 1984. In 1984, Nerf Herder also became a CFA grand champion.
Bringing the West Coast
Rococo lines to the front for the first time was Gr.Ch. NW Kayvana's Mauris
of Bushome, a red tabby male born August 23, 1970, sired by Ch.Rococo King
Coal of Kayvana out of Gr.Ch. Kayvana's Glowing Ember. Bred by Katherine
Van Allen and owned by Mr. & Mrs. Philip Bush of Pennsylvania, Mauris
won 16th Best Allbreed Cat in C.F.A. and Best American Shorthair for 1972.
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Mauris' extremely inbred first cousin,
Gr.Ch., Gr.Pr. Rococo Ruby Petunia of Adam's Rib, a solidly built tortoiseshell
female owned by Adam Frecowski, Jr. won the first of her National awards
with a 13th Best Cat win in 1973, a year so competitive that this award
was not enough to garner even 2nd place in the breed. Ruby Petunia came
back with 3rd Best Cat and Best American in 1974.
Continuing the Rococo influence
was 1977 CFA National 14th Best Cat (and 2nd Best American), Gr.Ch., NW
Amews Red Alert, a mahogany red classic tabby bred and owned by Mrs. Connie
Franco from Texas. Red Alert's sire, Ch. Ti-Song Booga Red of Amews, a red
mackerel tabby, combined the Red Spice, Ricolva, and Richmar lines with
the outcross of Ch. Jezreel Taurus of Red Spice, Imp., one of a trio of
British Shorthairs legally imported by Mrs. June Brown of Juno cattery,
as American Shorthairs. Red Alert's dam, Ch.Kayvana's Christina of Bundash,
was very closely related to GC,NW, BW Kayvana Mauris of Bushome..
The silver tabby
dynasty tracing from Gr.Ch.Joelwyn Columbyan, continued strongly through
Sherree Dachman's Gr.Ch., NW Millcreek Silver Prize, a male sired by Gr.Ch.
Millcreek Silver Dollar out of Ch.Joelwyn StarLyn of Millcreek. Silver Prize
was 12th Best Cat and 2nd Best American (to Apache Chief Mateo) in 1975.
His very tightly inbred pedigree made him an extremely prepotent sire influencing
many catteries including Syntifiny, Soledad, Portrait, Applepye, Sunnistar,
Sol-Mer, Codel, Geewillickers, Carocats, Moggy Manor, Merica Glory, and
Kumasi. Silver Prize's grandson, Gr.Ch./Gr.Pr. Portrait's Romeow closed
the decade with 2nd Best American in 1979. Romeo was sired by Ch.Millcreek
Silver Spurs out of Ch. Saint Sincere of Portrait. Saint Sincere combined
Le Sabre and Shawnee classic silver tabbies with shaded silvers from which
Romeo inherited a deep green eye color.
The first bicolor
to achieve the CFA grand champion title aftr the color received championship
status was Gr.Ch./Gr.Pr. NW Step-An-Fetch-It, a black and white male with
unregistered ancestors owned by Linda Leigh Buel. Step-An-Fetch-It went
on to national glory as CFA's 1976 "Best Cat in Premiership".
With correct breed type and coat, it is actually sad that this cat was NOT
bred with pedigreed lines to enhance the breed gene pool.
A good looking silver
tabby male kitten with a strong head, massive body, and beautiful pattern
was born March 1, 1982 in Peachtree, Georgia. His one noticeable flaw was
a pair of ears so large that his co-breeder, Ande DeGeer, declared "He
looked like he could fly." When deciding on a show name, her first
thought was Dumbo, rejected as unkind. While watching the television show
Greatest American Hero, one night, both Ande and her husband, Gar
decided that the title of the show was the ideal name for their special
kitten. "Mr. H.", as he was called, rapidly matured, growing into
his ears. His kitten career earned him the award of 1983 CFA Southern Region
"13th Best Kitten". Mr. H. completed the requirements for his
grand championship at the tender age of eight months with his first Best
in Show win from judge Jeannie McPhee in Oklahoma City. The remainder of
his early career earned him the 1983 CFA Southern Region award of "9th
Best Cat"..[36]
The next year, Gr.
Ch., NW Hedgewood's Greatest American Hero became the first cat to win eight
"Best Cat" awards in a single show weekend (Seattle, Washington.)
while his co-owner and exhibitor, Gar DeGeer celebrated his birthday. By
the end of the season, he was 1984 CFA National Awards "Cat of the
Year" (the second American to win this title in CFA history).[36]
In 1988, Gr. Ch.
& Nat. Gr. Pr. Briarson's Babette of Midinite, broke another color barrier,
becoming the first brown patched tabby American to take a National Number
1 award; 1988 CFA National Awards "Best Cat in Premiership" Bred
by Brian Pearson and Sherri Dachman, Babette is owned by Brian Pearson and
Luccia Pozzi.
Beginning with 1990,
two or more Americans have achieved National win status in the Kitten, Championship
and Premiership caregories, representing a higher proportion of the breed
than any other breed has achieved.
The next American
to claim CFA Cat of the Year status was GC, NW Sol-Mer Sharif, in 1995-96,
a brown tabby male bred and owned by Mary-Jo and Michael Mersol-Barg, making
a large impact on the breed during their career , producing more national
winners, grand champions and Distinguished Merit producers than any other
breeder of American Shorthairs before them. Sharif was the first American
Shorthair National winner produced by crossing two national winners, GC,
NW Sol-Mer Sharaqa, D.M,. (1993-94 4th Best Cat)and GC, NW Sol-Mer Wildflower
of Briar-Mar, D.M. (1992-93 7th Best Cat).
See Footnotes
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