H i s t o r y
Maine Coon is an old American breed originally from the North
American state of Maine regarded as the first American breed. It
is considered that the breed comes from a mix between Angora
cats brought by sailors to harbours in the state of Maine and
English cats brought by settlers in the 17th century,
Scandinavian and Russian cats and short hair American farmers
cats.
Already in 1861 the first Maine Coon appeared in cat literature.
It was a black and white cat named Captain Jenks of the Horse
Marines, the first Maine Coon cat participating in cat shows in
Boston and New York in 1861. In 1895 the breed caused sensation
in Madison square Garden in New York.
In the beginning of the 20th century the Maine Coon
almost disappeared as a breed due to the introduction of new
breeds as the Persian and the Siamese, but they remained as barn
cats at farms. The interest for the breed was renewed around
1950 and has since 1980 been growing rapidly. In 1953
inhabitants of Maine founded “The Maine Coon Cat Club” with the
purpose to save the breed, shows were held only for Maine Coons.
In 1968 “The Maine Coon Breeders and Fanciers Association” were
founded, in 1976 the breed was awarded certification rights by
the CFA “Cat Fanciers Association”. The Maine Coon was accepted
as a breed in FIFe in 1984 and the first Maine Coon registered
in Sverak was in 1986. The first litter born in Sweden was in
1989.
There are many legends of the origins of the Maine Coon. The one
most common regards the name, Inhabitants in Maine, impressed by
the big cats with their bushy tails, wondered where they came
from. One theory that appeared was that the breed originated
from a mix between cat and raCoon. RaCoon is tvättbjörn in
Swedish, hence the name Maine Coon.
