The original Grumpy Cat! Meet the pre-Internet pets who deserve a second shot at online fame with their adorable antics (including one with fixed angry expression)

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

PUBLISHED: 01:40, 13 March 2013 | UPDATED: 09:12, 13 March 2013

Decades before the invention of the Internet, at a time when no one knew the words 'meme' or 'viral,' pets were melting their owners’ hearts with their cuteness without ever getting a shot at worldwide fame.

Dog and cat owners have been documenting the antics of their furry companions as far back the invention of the first cameras.

However, without YouTube, Instagram or Facebook, only a few relatives and friends got to enjoy the photographs depicting Mitzy sitting down to a game of chess, or Rover behind the wheel of a toy car.

Black-and-white photos from the 1920s, 30s and 50s that surely would have gone viral today - with hilarious memes on Reddit, YouTube videos and segments on Good Morning America - have faded into obscurity, languishing on a roll of film or collecting dust in a long-forgotten album.

But some heart-melting and side-splitting images of pets from decades past are now getting a second chance at Internet fame after being digitally archived.

More than 30 years before Tardar Sauce the Grumpy Cat took the Internet by storm, becoming a household name thanks to her comically stern facial expression, a pet owner immortalized an equally angry kitty perched next to a cake to mark her 27th birthday.

Other gems from a collection of pet photos from decades past include a hilarious image of a kitten wearing headphones to listen to a radio program back in 1926.

Another image taken in 1933, which would have been Internet gold had it been uploaded onto Instagram nowadays, shows a cat standing next to a clothes line hung with white mice inside socks.

Another shot from the 1930s that would have charmed web users the world over depicts a furry cat playing checkers with a lamb as a bantam watches over the game from the sidelines.

Grumpy birthday: A 27-year-old cat doesn't look too happy celebrating her birthday on August 22, 1977

Gone viral: More than three decades after the grumpy birthday photo, Tardar Sauce the cat took the Internet by storm thanks to her permanently angry facial expression 

Steady there: Tim the cat is having difficulty in holding that pose requested of Laddie the dog because there is a mouse lurking nearby in this 1920s gem

Three's company: This little kitten looks quite comfortable flanked by a pair of puppies

Chatty cat: A feline lying in bed with an old-timey rotary phone

Troublemakers: A mischievous kitten is playing with a Christmas ornament, left, while an eight-month-old feline is snacking on some milk from the top of a bottle cap on the right 

Cat-erwauling: Money the music-loving feline lends vocal accompaniment to his 15-year-old owner in Worcester Park, England, in 1959

Modern kitty: Tabby cat joined the feminist movement by launching a career as a typist in late 1920s

Fearless swimmer: A two-and-a-half-month-old kitten plunged into a pool in Santa Monica, California, and dog-paddled the 40 feet across the tank with her 10-year-old owner in 1956

Playmate: A Little girl playing house with her pooch serving as subject of her attention

Daredevils: A pair of kitties are playing on a railing, left, while Mitten the black cat takes a ride on the handlebars of his owner Karl Mitchell's motorcycle, right 

Say, Cheese! Cat playing with a camera in a garden

Strange bedfellows: Fluffens, a four-year-old Persian and Angora mix, relaxes while a mother white mouse and her brood of seven use her for a playground in 1955

Hello, kitty! Ginger the cat using an old-fashioned phone in the UK

Fluffy listener: Tibby the cat tunes into a radio program wearing headphones on its ears in 1926

Time for a nap: A cat yawns while it sits on a wall in this 1930 photo

Playful puss: A Persian kitten on the floor, having fun with some yarn in 1950 image

Fancy feline: Mrs. Oglethorpe, a breeder of blue Persian cats, shows off one of her prize-winners named Pierrot of the Court in Wimbledon, UK, in 1935

Purebred: Twinlight Skipper Whipper, one of the score of felines entered in the 36th Annual Championship Cat Show of the Atlantic Cat Club in 1938

Curious cats: A tabby cat on the left banged up his head in a 1950 car crash; Tige the curious kitty on the right peers inside a camera as he tries to focus up for a shot 

Puppy love: Hans, a dachshund puppy, kisses a kitty while sitting in a teapot in this adorable 1926 image