The Cat and The Fiddle was a fine dining restaurant and bar when it opened in Springfield, Missouri, in1939. It quickly gained a reputation for having the strongest drinks in town, with ‘doubles’ being the regular shot.

In 1946, the restaurant moved to 1932 S. Glenstone, into what was then the brand-new Park Inn shopping Center.

Neon signs were all the rage in towns across America as a popular form of advertising during the '30s to '50s. At some point, one of the owners of the restaurant and bar commissioned a blazing neon sign that featured a black cat playing the violin and that towered above the property.

The neon sign quickly became an iconic feature of Springfield, famous as the birthplace of Route 66 and also known as City of The Ozarks.

According to accounts found online, the restaurant had a bar in the shape of a cat’s head and customers were allowed to scratch their names on the wood of the bar.

This menu illustration is from the late 1950s when The Cat, as it was known to locals, was owned by Garnett and Emily Lytle, who also owned an eponymous restaurant on East Sunshine, Springfield.

The Cat evolved into a cocktail lounge with a piano bar in the 1960s and continued in business until 2004 when it was closed permanently and its contents auctioned off. We hope someone saved that neon sign.