The Insane History Of Sphynx Cat Breeding: Victorian Era -- Present 

UPDATE!! From an email I received from someone at the Museum of Natural History: “I did some digging into the museum records and found that we are still caring for Nellie's remains after all these years. Unfortunately, as is sadly too common with old museums, most of her history had been lost over the past hundred+ years and was no longer a part of her records. However, because of your video I was able to pull together documentation from your sources and sent them along to the person in charge of the mammal collections and we have added her history back into the records. It is possible that without your video Nellie's history may have been lost forever, and that her body may have remained labeled with a simple number and not by her name. Now she has both.” This is her public record: collections.nmnh.si.edu/search/mammals/?ark=ark:/65665/30bc945ca8ce94a97a4d453ea2b051b96

So the "prodigy" thing is actually an old definition: it used to mean "an omen" or "an unusual being". Over time, English speakers started referring to only the smart prodigies as "prodigies". Basically, they were saying thems bingopodes be cursed.

Oh how I wish to be described as “about the queerest living creature one could hope to set eyes upon”

This story is just a bunch of breeders finding out that inbreeding doesn't work over and over and over again

A sphynx cat ate my brother in law

My takeaway from this is that it doesn't matter what year you're in or where you stand in society, people will send you cat photos and you will like it.

I'm pretty sure 'ancient Aztec breed gifted to us' is code for 'our cat had some weird looking kittens and we thought we'd make up an interesting backstory for them.'

Honestly, the victorian raggedy cat shows isn't too far off from people online showing their scruffiest cats with unique life stories that people always adore

Dermis and Epidermis is honestly brilliant names for hairless cats lol

oh also fun fact: shiprecked cats are a thing because ships would often keep a cat on their ship to control rats and cockroaches, so there was less risk of disease

honestly the descriptions in the book of the cat brought me so much joy. i never thought what i was missing in my life was victorian-era writing describing the various shenanigans that one encounters when owning a sphynx cat. thank you, master strange, for this blessing edit: OH MY GOD I WOULD DIE FOR NONESUCH WHAT

Absolutely obsessed with this bingus lore. most of the dog breed origin stories are like "medieval royalty bred them to hunt hares and frighten peasants" or "lord mcdingus created them to run through hedges" so the idea that a cat breed was created in the 70s purely because people thought their baldness was cute is delightful. Kind of wild that something that was created so recently is so poorly documented though

extremely unfounded guess here but maybe your kitties display the opposite hair growth to the seasons bc they're inside most of the time. so the cold from the aircon in the summer and warmth from the heaters in the winter is like a mini version of their own inverse seasons. i'm probably not right! but maybe

I can’t believe you didn’t mention the headline “Puss is a nudist!” 💀

I met a sphynx cat for the first time earlier this week! It was a DELIGHTFUL experience.

See there-Devon Rex, The tin mine king! He's got a curly coat, And he doesn't know a thing! He has a hundred children, With pillows on their feets, And sometimes in the winter, They run naked through the streets!

“The last survivors of an ancient Aztec breed, gifted to me by the local Pueblo people” is like saying “the last survivors of an ancient Italian breed, gifted to me by the local Irishmen” Edit: Odin almighty, y’all are dense. Yes, long-distance trade networks were a thing, but how likely is it that the Pueblo people would be able to keep an ancient Aztec breed? Also, the phrase “ancient Aztec” is laughable. The Aztec empire didn’t start until the 1300s. I’d hardly call that ancient. And, say that the Pueblo people got these Aztec cats in 1600 (generous estimate, considering the Aztec empire fell 80 years prior). If this breed of cats is important enough to keep alive for centuries, why in hell would they give the last survivors to a random white guy? The whole story is ridiculous, and it’s compounded by geographic distance (even with trade networks), as well as the differing climate. If these cats were bred for the humid climate of central Mexico, how in heck would these binguses survive in the harshly sunny, dry desert climate of the American southwest?

My favorite “maternal impression + early breeders being idiots” story is that during the emergence of the Ragdoll breed (selectively bred for docility, trademarked?!!?, it’s a whole thing) people were genuinely convinced that the docility was because the founding mother of the breed was a pregnant cat who was hit by a car

As a very allergic person - no cat or dog is truly hypoallergenic unfortunately. I actually found these little guys to be worse since they're dropping hair more often. Still cuties though!!!

Dermis and Epidermis are perfect names for hairless cats. I'm still on the fence about health consequences for alopecia'd versions of god's cutest predators, but I was happy to see how well loved yours are.

I know strange thinks this is out of her wheelhouse for videos but like nuggets or of obscure knowledge is totally her bag in my opinion!

I swear to you it's true! I once left a sphynx cat alone with my infant and when I came back the baby had learned hyroglifics!

Maternal impression was a complicated thing, but it wasn't purely bad. It was often used as an excuse by midwives to protect newborn babies who are clearly not biologically related to the husband. I know of one story from renaissance italy where a couple who owned a cafe had a baby who was not white, and the midwife got really angry at the husband for letting his wife work all the way through the pregnancy, and if she didn't have to look at coffee for days at the time the baby would look more like the husband. Its really interesting if you look into it more, it's not always as misogynistic as the concept first appears.

as someone invested in rabbit husbandry this kind of video is right up my alley!! it's awesome that you're sharing this information ^w^

Honestly i can't blame the victorians for being interested in ship wrecked cats. Cat shows full of cats with funky life stories that are now living the best most pampered life? Sign me up, i wanna hear about One Eyed Stinker, Bastard Child of Distruction and Mayham (Hammy/Mayham/Bastard for short), and their 3 legged sister, Queen of the Mast

The Nonesuch dog theory (I dont remember its actual name ) was the reason that John Merrick was billed "the Elephant Man". The story went that his mother had been frightened by an elephant while he was in utero, resulting his condition. 🤔

My literal favorite thing is watching people talk about their special interest and this video was like Christmas.

BRB building a Time Machine so I can go back in time and give Nonesuch a little kiss on the head

18:18 “is about the queerest little creature one could hope to set eyes upon” is probably something people say about me

As someone who’s very interested in genetics (literally going to college for it), this vid was so interesting to watch! Animal genetics are so fascinating

Philology nerd moment: In the Boston post article, "prodigies" is the intended term. Here its use means extremely unusual, in the same sense in which we call an extremely and precociously talented person a prodigy. So the Boston Post writer was calling the hairless cats prodigies in the sense of "highly out of the ordinary". The parable of the prodigal son in the bible is also pointing to this meaning; it's not normal for a son to 1. Ask his father for his inheritance before he's dead, and 2. For the same son to be accepted back into the paternal household. You can also see the use of the word in terms like "prodigiously wealthy."

"I know this video is kind of weird and out of my usual wheelhouse" Strange this is exactly your usual wheelhouse

Always found animal breeding icky but never learned much about cat breeding thanks for sharing.

This video was made specifically to entertain my neurons based on the title alone and I am HERE for it

as an opposite bingus cat owner (my kitty is siberian and very, VERY hairy) i absolutely ADORE binguses and turns out their story is weird asf just like them lmaooo

I adopted a kitten with one eye and if I had known the name "One-Eyed Stink" that would surely be her name now.

Petition to bring back the term "MOON CAT"

showing all the kitties everyone's sphynx cat descended from at the end kind of just awed me. I agree, cat breeding is indeed wild

Imagine owning a Sphynx (moon cat) and a Lykoi (wolf cat) for the ultimate werewolf themed pet combo

I'd love to see you do a video on the messed up history of the lykoi cat breed. There was some really unethical breeding stuff going on there and I'd like if more people knew about it before they bought the breed. Also lots of drama. It's a little outside of your wheelhouse since you don't own a lykoi, but if you feel like delving into more weird little guy history I think it'd be a good topic.

Honestly big respect to One Eyed Stink. He deserves the greatest honor of his princeliness. 👑 what a king!

Nonesuch is actually a quite funny name for a cat, imo.

I love that the Roosevelt story proves that the human instinct of "I wanna see that cat" goes all the way to the top

I love that this video shows not only the evolution of the sphynx cat, but also how we name cats! From regular human names to Nonesuch, Bambi, Prune and DERMIS AND EPIDERMIS

I actually encountered a litter of kittens (c. 2001) that had a random hairless kitten in it! Funny to think that a quarter century earlier, obsessive cat fanciers would have been coming out of the woodwork to offer hundreds of dollars for the naked boi

Thank you Mother Strange for introducing us to the mystical world of Sphynx cats

Let's have a moment of silence for Dick whose curiosity literally killed the cat. 😢

I didn't own a Sphynx breed, but I did recently put down my sweet Bunni, (Born on easter for the name, she was put down because she couldn't walk anymore) this week. This video helped me a lot. I miss her so much. Please, hug your babies for me. Whether they be Cats, Dogs, Snakes, Lizards, Spiders, or even Human, you'll never know when the last moments will be. Love while you can, they deserve it.

I think they grow more hair in the summer because you have air conditioning and you live in canada, so in the house they would be spending time by the warm heaters during the winter and then be actually colder when your using the air conditioning in the summer

I love how they gave the Australian one a cute little cardigan to keep her "decent"

If there's any one reason an animal might get hairy in the summer, it might be to protect them from the sun, especially if the coat is short and light

know i can always count on strange for information on important topics such as bingus origins

You'd be surprised how many French discoveries are ignored in favor of their anglo counterparts, the salt runs deep.

my friends and i look at a picture of a hairless cat and call it bnumpy ungus, so i can't wait to infodump this back to them

it's so wild to me that this breed originated in Minnesota and Toronto, possibly the two worst places in North America to be hairless 😬

I'm dying at the Minnesota chickens named Epidermis and Dermis. That lady's friggin awesome and we love her.

I'm picturing lil old cat ladies finding this channel through this video and then checking out the other uploads, falling down the rabbit hole of hobbit sex.

DUDE. my cat isn't a bingus, just a shelter long hair, but she also does the grow more hair in summer thing?!?! i don't understand it! i want to cuddle a fluffy cat in the winter, not the summer, damn it! whatever. she's cute.

I swear to god, I wasn’t expecting a lesson on the bingus, but I am here for it.

I love Nonesuch, she's perfect 🥺

I absolutely love the name nonesuch. It’s such an amazing name, I hope to one day have a cat called nonesuch.

The way they reacted to Nelly dying reminds me of how the internet reacted to Tator Tot dying. 😢

So basically, everyone has loved cats throughout all of history and it’s never going to change, I think I got it

For a second I thought you said "the bambino, the elf, the Guelph..." and I was like there is a *surprising* amount of cancon up in these weird-haired cats.

"These are the firsr hairless cats ever photographed, ...and their names are Nellie and Dick." My partner and I got a kick out of this. 😂 Gotta love 1893-95 and people who name their cat Dick, even back when it was still just short for Richard.

when i finally get a sphynx cat, i’m naming them nonesuch. it’s just a great name for the goofy lil guys edit: i looked up the meaning of nonesuch and it’s absolutely perfect for a sphynx cat. the oxford dictionary definition: “a person or thing that is regarded as perfect or excellent.” the lil goobers are definitely exemplary, so the name is fitting

hairless cats are like eldritch deities to me. scientists trying to bring forth this secret gene that shows up from time to time like the effects of some greater being leaking between worlds as they foolishly attempt to pry open the cracks. love them 💕

Prune is a perfect name for a sphinx cat.

The first time I saw a hairless cat I was 6-7 and my first thought was "I need to touch it!" It ran away

This video has been spesifically made for me, thank you for feeding me this goo of the gods uncle strange.

Thank you for your wisdom but I already knew this- freddles the 9000 year old sphinx that lives in my floorboards whispered this arcane knowledge into my ears last night while I slept he appreciates you, I think? Its hard to tell past the chanting (Don't ask me why I typed this, idk. excellent video, thanks for the knowledge)

hearing a historical interview about some aristocrat admiring his bingi made my night tbh.

Cat breeds are mostly someone finding a funky little guy in a barn somewhere and deciding they need to make more of them

Getting this notification and seeing the title for this video made me audibly say “oh FUCK yes” out loud

A comment for the algorithm gods! Regarding prodigy vs. progeny at 8:30: 'progeny' is most likely not a typo - in the context of the text, it can refer to an individual who is somehow unique or singular, i.e. a hairless cat. 'Progeny' could also work in that statement, but that would make the sentence grammatically awkward.

You reading the breed standards sounded like a my immortal character intro.

I love hairless cats, what they lack in hair they make up for in ✨️charisma✨️ Yeah, i recently learned theres a breed of hairless dogs too. They look just as weird as the cats, so i assume theyre just as charismaric

honestly the best part of this was hearing "they come from cats bred in toronto with cats from minnesota" and just thinking... yeah... that tracks. those seem like where the bingus would be invented.

you say this is out of your wheelhouse but MA'AM I DISAGREE HEARTILY. Also as a person who aspires to one day own a lil bingapode of my own, this was super cool to learn about :D knowing some sphynx cat history makes me love these weird goobers even more.

i want a new movement where we call all the weird wacky goblin cats 'mooncats'

I love sphynxes! I didn't realize they were such a recent breed. Alas, as I almost always adopt rescues or shelter cats, I'm unlikely to have my very own bingus any time soon. But I guess you never know! Considering they are kind of a weird breed, maybe someone in my area will decide sphyxes are not for them and I'll get lucky, lol

Epidermis and dermis are such good names for sphinxes oh my god

my friend has like two sphynx (i think) cats and one of them has gotten pregnant twice in like over a year with adorable baby binguses that I got the honor of holding when I visited them.

Two videos in one week? In this economy?

I love that every time you bring Up Your Own cats its like "my cat doesn't do that, but I think they're just weird" It's just, so funny to me 😂

I know you're doing this video cause you have a sphynx, but i would love to hear you do this for other breeds of cat

I completely LOST it at 1-Eye Stink and his shipwreck backstory. It's such perfect Victorian garbage.

as a minnesotan, i am so proud of our contribution to this most noble of breeds

my favorite videos of yours are the ones where you just go ham researching a random obscure topic completely out of nowhere so this was a delightful 30 minutes.

nonesuch has neurodivergent energy ngl like the weird one in a normal litter? develops at a different rate to the "normal" cats? is shunned for not being enough like a cat? literally younger me, nonesuch is now my favourite cat 10/10 good creature

the intro was just perfection. i can’t get ~*He skrinkles. He toesies. A creature. You understand?*~ out of my head

"prodigy" historically could mean a wondrous or freakish occurence of creature so I think that's what was probably meant

More hair in the summer = sunscreen maybe? My pup's skin gets darker in summer some years, and we assume it's for the same reason.

I absolutely LOVE all the names people came up with for their hairless cats!

I kinda love how you'll read an old account of someone's cat and they're gushing about every aspect of their cats the same way we do in the modern day.

"IT WAS THE FRENCH!" This was the video I didn't know I needed. I need more breed history breakdowns now. there's gotta be some niche accounts out there lol

who couldve known some murderous raw chickens could be so fascinating

"a catdog from north carolina" yeah I've also been described like that i'm watching this alongside my regular-haired baby black panther (an absolute apex predator... he's just eepy right now)

AU where strange is a small Victorian/Edwardian child who happens upon a small army of wild Bingus’

My bingus, Goblin, and I thank you for this informative deep dive into bingus history.