At Shorpy Historical Photos, which is a wonderful thing on the internet: 1914. “Kittens in costume as bride and groom, being married by third kitten in ecclesiastical garb.” Holy catrimony! Photo by Harry W. Frees. More about Harry Whittier Frees: Wikipedia, Shorpy’s archives of his work, and Amazon has books of his work. READ THE REST
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Wow. Cute becomes creepy and profoundly disturbing when you stop to think about how kittens could be made to stay in poses like that.
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According to the photographer, Harry Whittier Frees, the cats and dogs he photographed were treated with care and patience, and his pictures were the result of stiff clothing and quickly captured shots at just the right moment before the kittens or dogs scampered off:
Frees utilized specially designed outfits, sewn by his mother, to hold
the animals in standing poses waiting patiently for the shot he
wanted. In Mr. Frees’ own words, “These unusual photographs of real
animals were made possible only by patient, unfailing kindness on the
part of the photographer at all times.”“Speed is essential in securing these pictures, but very often it is
impossible to be quick enough. Young animals cannot hold a pose any
better than human babies, and the situation is complicated when they
are called on to be precocious in situations naturally foreign to
them," said the photographer.
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“Fluffy and Tom lived happily ever after, and had 50 kittens of their own.”
I pray that he was telling the truth and not posing dead cats as the dull glazed look in their eyes would make it appear.
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Wait… when did they legalize same-cat marriage? And where? Holy crap, Rick Santorum was right all along!
Oh for fuck’s sake just do two minutes of Googling and you’ll find any number of sources from major magazines and newspapers. Harry Whittier Frees was hardly an obscure photographer, if he’d been lying someone would have called him out on it after all those years.
Put in a little effort.
It’s not same cat marriage it’s two different cat marriage and it happens more often than the public cares to know. Didn’t you ever wonder wonder what your cat does at night while you are sleeping?
She sleeps right next to me on her back with her belly all showing. 
I put in the effort, dear condescending fellow. I cannot find any independent confirmation that these kittens are not drugged or dead- only quotes of Mr. Frees’ own claims.
The desire for profit is a powerful motivator to lie when money is to be made and the fact that a person was never caught lying is not absolute proof of their honesty. If he was posing dead or drugged kittens then the public knowing that would hurt sales of his photos, so of course he would be very careful to keep such information under wraps.
I have no convincing proof either way, and as I said I hope he is telling the truth. You are apparently more optimistic than I am and that is valid for you, but I am inclined to have my doubts. My admittedly subjective impression on seeing these photos is that the eyes of the animals look dead. If it makes you happier to give Mr. Frees the benefit of the doubt and believe that these animals were alive and well by all means feel free do so. I remain skeptical in this matter.
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