The Great Cat Massacre of 1730s Paris: History's Bizarre Labor Protest | BeforeNow
The Great Cat Massacre of the 1730s: When Paris Printing Workers Rebeled Through Feline Chaos In 1730s Paris, overworked printing apprentices endured grueling conditions while their master's dozens of pet cats were treated like royalty.(Ai generated) In the late 1730s, during the reign of King Louis XV in France , a bizarre and deeply surreal form of workplace protest took place in a printing shop on Rue Saint-Séverin in Paris. Long before modern labor unions and strikes, overworked and underpaid printing apprentices found a uniquely dark and chaotic way to express their profound hatred for their tyrannical boss and his pampered household pets. The Infestation of Pampered Pets In 18th-century Paris, printing apprentices endured grueling, back-breaking conditions. They worked from dawn until dusk in freezing or sweltering rooms, slept in filthy attics, and were fed meager scraps of spoiled, maggot-ridden food meant for dogs. Compounding their misery was the luxurious lifes...