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The Oriental Shorthair breed was created by crossing a Siamese to an American Shorthair. This cross was then bred back to the Siamese to retain the fine boning and elegant form.
The breed officially began around 1950 in England, when Baroness von Ullman (Roofspringer Cattery), decided to create a breed of cats with shorthair, solid colors, and the "foreign" body type--the long, lean body characteristic of the Siamese, Russian Blue, and Abyssinian. Initially accepted by Cat Fancy in England as "chestnut foreign shorthairs", additional breeders soon created an all white, blue-eyed variant who gained popularity and recognition by Cat Fancy as "white foreign shorthairs".
Breeders then began cross-breeding with Siamese to move the body type closer to the Siamese.
In 1972 Peter Markstein and Vicky Markstein (Petmark Cattery) visited England looking for new Siamese breeds. Struck by the combination of colors and patterns with Siamese body-type, the Marksteins brought the breed to the United States. Shortly thereafter the Marksteins proposed that CFA recognize the breed as a separate one from the Siamese, designating it the Oriental Shorthair. CFA recognized the breed for championship status in 1977. A rapid proliferation of breedings led to new color and pattern combinations. CFA recognized the Oriental Longhair in 1995 (known as the Javanese or Havana Browns in Europe; also known as the Angora in Great Britain, but distinguished from the Turkish Angora).
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