Charley’s Aunt Inkwell with Cat

The inkwell is marked on the front:  “Charley’s Aunt, 150th Performance, Tue April 9, 1895, Hooley’s Theater Chicago.”  Charley’s Aunt is a farce in three acts written by Brandon Thomas. It broke all historic records for plays of any kind, with an original London run of 1,466 performances.  It then played Broadway and toured the US.  It toured internationally and has been revived continually and adapted for films and musicals.

Also pictured is another Charley’s Aunt inkwell marked on the front:  “Charley’s Aunt, 50th Performance, Mon Dec 31st, 1894, Chestnut St Theater, Phila.”

Different items from each piece have broken off, are missing, or part of design change. The crossed flags on the Chicago piece are missing from the Philadelphia piece. The Philadelphia piece has two crossed swords in front, missing from the Chicago inkwell. On both, there is a cat’s head popping out from the ink container. And both have inside the lid an engraved cat’s head. Both have baseball (cricket) gear.

The cat must have figured prominently into the plot line. Another souvenir from the play was a cat figurine for the 100^th showing at the Park Theatre in Boston Mass, Tuesday March 20, 1894. Advertising for the play featured a smiling cat.