'Yankee Clipper', the Maine Coon kitten who breached the Iron Curtain

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The Iron Curtain was a political boundary between the Soviet Unions' satellite states and the West in Europe. It ended at the end of the Cold War in 1991. Even in the 1970s purebred cats were occasionally being shipped internationally from America. I guess it was mainly for breeding purposes as cat breeders wanted a good foundation cat.

Black and white Maine Coon kitten. This is not Yankee Clipper!
Black and white Maine Coon kitten. This is not Yankee Clipper! Image in public domain.

On April 12, 1972 a black-and-white Maine Coon kitten called 'Yankee Clipper' started on a 6,000 mile journey from New York to Bucharest, Romania in a sturdy wooden crate. I guess back in those days animal crates for air transportation were not quite as sophisticated as today's versions. This must have been quite an optimistic and courageous project bearing in mind the relative innocence and lack of sophistication of those days.

I'm told by Marilis Hornidge in her book That Yankee Cat that the crate was covered with signs and pictures of cats, an American flag and emblems of cat organisations including the MCBFA which is an acronym for the Maine Coon Breeders and Fanciers Association. This organisation is still in existence today on October 24, 2021. There are also signs saying that the baggage was a living creature! This indicates that the shipment was a big event in the world of the cat fancy at that time.

ASSOCIATED: Airline cat travel got hostile

Back in the day there was a lot of documentation to complete to make this work including of course copious quantities of health certificates written in several languages!

Thankfully, there was a direct flight which must have simplified what must have been quite a complicated project. The journey when well and Yankee Clipper was picked up at Bucharest Airport at 5:30 the next afternoon. A tough ride for the cat.

ASSOCIATED: Difference between European and American Maine Coons

My research on the Internet came up with a blank about this cat. He would have been pretty rare in Romania. I wonder whether he was the only Maine Coon in Romania in 1972?

Nowadays, the Russians create the most extraordinary Maine Coon cats. They tend to breed them to extreme. They do a nice job but when you breed cats to extreme you are liable to create health problems. They've gone further than the American breeder's it seems to me. They probably imported top-quality American Maine Coon foundation cats to begin their breeding lines.

Location: Bucharest, Romania

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