Black Cat Magazine Covers

The Black Cat magazine was a monthly issued, short story magazine that ran from 1895 to 1923. Founded in 1895 by Herman Umbstaetter, the magazine featured a handful of fictional short story submissions and was printed by The Shortstory Publishing Co. in Boston, Massachusetts. The stories were eligible for monetary prizes and highlighted profitable authors outside of the magazine, such as Jack London and Henry Miller. By May of 1908, the magazine doubled its price and sold for 10 cents a piece.

Peabody Essex Museum’s Phillips Library in Rowley, Massachusetts is in possession of approximately 127 The Black Cat magazine copies, ranging from 1896 to 1919. The content that is digitized for this collection are the magazine’s front covers, which were illustrated by the wife of Umbstaetter, Nelly Littlehale Murphy. Murphy is accredited for many of the covers and was active with The Black Cat magazine until around 1912. Her illustrations ended a year later at the time of her husband’s death.

Distinct by each month and year, The Black Cat magazine covers are notable for featuring a black feline, or two, in various poses and fashion. On occasion, the covers were designed with a template as seen in the May 1908 – February 1909 issues: a left aligned curtain with different colorings that varied by month. The covers showcase a variety of color and styles, with early editions featuring full body cameos of black cats in outfits with brightly colored backgrounds. Later in print, the magazine was more consistent in utilizing red, black and dark green ink. Signifying where Murphy may have stepped away from designing its covers, the 1916 – 1919 copies would ultimately replace the black cat illustrations with a woman.