Yesterday, in my news feed an odd story popped up: A cat wandered into an elementary school and made himself comfortable with the kids. He returned every school day from 1952 to 1968, delighting teachers and students. They named him Room 8, because that’s where he consistently went.
One commenter to the story flagged it as Artificial Intelligence fraud because of how it was written and Room 8 nomenclature. Not even kids would choose that name, he asserted, but AI would. I must admit that the story’s sentence structure was juvenile, which could suggest AI fakery—of which there is too much.
But another commenter talked about the book written about Room 8, which as a kid she checked out of the school library so often that the librarian let her take the tome. The woman shared a photo of the book. Was that AI fake, too?
So, I researched. That story is absolutely true. There was a movie made about the cat in 1966, and then there was the Room 8 book. In 1962, Look magazine sent a photographer to the school, Elysian Heights Elementary, in Echo Park, Calif., and shot hundreds of photos of Room 8 and the kids. LA Times published the cat’s obituary in 1968.
Room 8 wasn’t just real, he was famous! While unable to find the story that started this cat chase, I speculate about the juvenile writing. Someone may have shared the Weekly Reader story about Room 8.
For your enjoyment, here are a few links to photos and more about the elementary school’s beloved mascot:
- Room 8 Memorial Cat Foundation
- Room 8 | Animals Documentary, YouTube
- Los Angeles Public Library Room 8 photo collection
- “Beloved school mascot was a cat named ‘Room 8‘”, LA Times
- “Room 8: Elysian Heights Class Cat is focus of LAPL Exhibit” -KCRW
- “Room 8: A Cat in the Classroom—Photographing Los Angeles’ Most Famous Feline“, LA Public Library
Unfortunately, the exhibit of Room 8 photos ends in four days (the 11th).
Photo Credit: Richard Hewett
(Featured Image courtesy Richard Hewett Collection/Los Angeles Photographers Collection)