As the United States became a consumer society, the array of pet supplies and equipment offered in stores expanded. Pet owners often chose cages, containers, or accessories for their animals that reflected not only necessity but their own taste or sense of fun. Beginning in the late 1800s, competing manufacturers turned simple, traditional items like collars and dishes into fashionable products. By the 1950s, scores of small pet product companies created and marketed novelties that reflected the increasing prosperity of ordinary Americans.

Designer Dining - By in the 1920s, cats and dogs could eat out of food and water dishes designed just for them. Some were intended to match kitchen décor. Others were designed to aid digestion or promote cleanliness.

Cat and dog bowls
Ceramic, 1930s-1950s

Bowl, Sweet Bowl - Almost from its invention in the 1840s, furnishing the aquarium has been a source of humor as well as pleasure. These containers for fish became tiny fantasy landscapes populated by mermaids, sea monsters, ruins, and underwater cities. By 1910, aquariums could be as overstuffed with “furnishings” as the parlors they occupied.

Aquarium decorations
1910s-1960s