Dear Cats: The Post Office Letters

by Russell Ash (editor)

112 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Russell Ash is best known for his annual 'The Top Ten of Everything' and other popular reference works, but he is also the author of numerous humour titles. His extensive research work encompasses biographical studies and genealogy.

Reviews

[Louise Culmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting little collection of letters from the post office archives written between 1868 and 1958 on the subject of the cats that were kept in post offices to keep the mice and rats down. i was not aware until i read this book that post offices had such trouble with rodents. They were eating letters and stamps and things, so the cats were performing a vital service. the letters deal with the depredations caused by the mice, how much money should be allocated for feeding the cats etc. it's quite amusing to read of the ongoing battle to save the mail from the mice. Charmingly illustrated by kevin W. Maddison

[Xanthi · Rating 2 out of 5]

A strange little book. It is all about the employment of cats in British post offices in order to tackle rodent problems. The book mostly consists of letters within departments about this topic, but the author does make a few observations and gives some background or additional information. The latter is the more interesting. The former makes for some dry reading at times. Nice to know that there still seems to be some post office cats in Britain, though I dare say their are much smaller in numbers now than in Victorian times.