Hey folks!

Inspired by u/Weallgetboredalot 's writing prompt of what things I like or dislike about Florida, here is something I like: Villa Zorayda Museum and the Sacred Cat Rug

How does one describe the Villa Zorayda Museum in St. Augustine, Florida? It's.....so weird!

The building itself is an architectural oddity inspired by Spain's Alhambra Palace. The museum's contents are a mishmash of items large and small, collected over the years by rich people. Which include the so-called "Sacred Cat Rug":

Built in 1883 by a millionaire merchant, the eccentric residence was sold in 1913 to Abraham S. Mussallem, an avid collector who expanded the museum’s assemblage of rare and historic artifacts that came with the unusual house. As an expert in both oriental rugs and Egyptian relics, Mussallem came into possession of an unusual find, a mummified human foot wrapped inside a rug, which was taken from a pyramid or other archaeological site.

Even more fascinating than the mummified foot was the rug itself, which depicts a large stylized feline, much like the African wild cat. Mussallem determined the textile to be over 2,400 years old, making it, arguably, the oldest rug in the world. (There are Persian rugs that also claim that distinction).

Oldest or not, an examination of the rug confirmed that it is woven entirely from cat hair. But what would a stolen Egyptian rug containing human remains be without a curse? Sure enough, it’s said that anyone who sets foot carelessly on the rug will die shortly thereafter. While no human being has stepped on it in recent memory, during the last restoration of the rug, a dead cat is rumored to have been found stretched out on the front steps of the museum.

Fortunately the rug now hangs on the wall of a special room on the second floor, where no hapless tourist can walk on it. It is displayed proudly behind its original contents, the mummified foot.

Visitors aren't allowed to take photos of the rug, and sadly, there is no postcard of the rug. What I do have are 3 vintage Kodachrome original postcards from when the museum first transitioned from a private home to a museum open to the public, as well as 3 brand new postcards from the Villa.

Please indicate which card you would prefer and comment below: How awesome are cats on a scale of "Pretty Rad" to "Gods"?