At this site there are more "Mainzer Dressed Cats" postcard images. [Mainzer is the publisher] Also ...[there] are "Dressed Mice," "Dressed Dogs" and "Dressed Hedgehogs" images....
''These cards, known as the Humorous Dressed Cats postcards or Mainzer Dressed Cats postcards, were originally published from the 1940's through the 1960's by Alfred Mainzer Inc. in New York City, known worldwide for their postcards and greeting cards. The Mainzer company was founded by brothers Renate and Alfred Mainzer, who started the business in their New York City home in 1938. The early postcards had a rough finish, brilliant colors, and scalloped ("deckled") edges. The cards were printed in Switzerland, Belgium, Turkey, Thailand, and Spain. An additional series of Mainzer dressed cats were published as the "Kunzli edition" - these appear to be set in older European environments, and are typically not as brightly colored as the American editions. Mainzer also did a smaller series of "dressed dogs," "dressed mice," and "dressed hedgehogs."
'The artist was Eugen Hartung (or Hurtong), who lived from 1897-1973. His signature logo was a little heart with a loop or “tongue”
in the center. That symbol should appear in one of the bottom corners on the front of the postcards, though there are a few occasions when it was cut off during the printing process. The Kunzli postcards will show "Copyright Max Kunzli, Zurich 6/35" or "Edition Max Künzli, Zurich 6" imprinted on the back either with or without an “Alfred Mainzer, Inc.” address. Some of the Mainzer and Kunzli postcards will show where they were printed. Most of them will be numbered.'The charm of these anthropomorphic cats postcards is not just in the fact that the cats are in everyday "people" situations, but in the amount of detail in each picture - note the pickpocket on the train, for example, or the fact that most of the "better dressed" female cats have poodles as pets.
'The Alfred Mainzer Company still exists, doing much more reproduction work than postcards. Around 2005, the company had 100 of the postcards reprinted as a "collector edition." In 2009, the majority of the postcards were burned in a fire, and all of the remaining stock was sold out by the end of that year.'
There is more information on the artist also here:
'From the 1940s through the 1960s, the Alfred Mainzer Company of Long Island City, NY published a series of linen and photochrome humorous cat postcards illustrated by Eugen Hartung.... sometimes referred to as "Mainzer Cats". These postcards normally illustrate settings that are filled with action, often with a minor disaster just about to occur. While the dressed cats were by far the most popular and most plentiful cards, Hartung also painted other dressed animals - primarily mice, dogs, and hedgehogs. The cards of this series were first printed in a continuous tone by Max Kunzli of Switzerland. Typically, the Kunzli cats are featured in European settings and the cards are not as brightly colored as the American editions. Later cards were printed in halftone lithography in a variety of countries, including Belgium, Turkey, Thailand, and Spain. Alfred Mainzer, Inc., still exists, and recently published a new collectors' set of 126 dressed-animal postcards which includes 118 dressed cats, 7 dressed dogs, and 1 dressed mice postcards.
'My own feelings about the dressed cat paintings of Eugen Hartung? Sorry to say, definitely mixed. On the one hand, they are beautifully composed and skillfully executed. He obviously possessed a massive amount of artistic talent. Great time and care were taken with every painting - the detail is a sheer delight, and is the thing most quoted as a favorite characteristic of Hartung's dressed cat paintings. And perhaps their best feature is their action, humour, and suspense - every painting without exception tells a story, which is key in creating a successful work of art. They are without a doubt a joy to behold. On the other hand, however, I can't look at his work without seeing paintings of PEOPLE. Being an artist myself, I sense he often worked from photos of people individually and/or in groups in action poses, and simply substituted cat heads for human heads. I think their human-style bodies are far too literal and an unsettling - even unnerving - contrast to their animal heads. Unlike Hartung, most other "dressed animal" artists will keep the NATURAL SHAPE OF THE ANIMAL. A mole by Beatrix Potter may be wearing a vest and spats, but he will still be shaped like a mole. The effect is more believable (if a dressed animal can be believable!), more charming in its naturalness, and considerably less disconcerting than a body with human proportions and an animal's head. Quite honestly, Hartung's dressed cats kinda creep me out!'
My own take is that we need Hartung cats.
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