The history of this breed is intriguing. It began in 1967 when Jennie Robinson (Neotype Cattery) of New York purchased "Thomas" and "Shirley," a pair of semi-foreign longhaired chocolate cats with gold eyes and unknown background, which were being sold as part of an estate sale. Ms. Robinson judged Thomas to be a little over a year old and Shirley about six months; they might have come from the same parents, but they were not litter-mates. Nature took its course, and Shirley's first litter was born in early 1969. Six kittens, all identical, all a beautiful chocolate color, amazed Robinson and her veterinarian. Intrigued, Robinson undertook a breeding program.

In the early '70s, the ACA registered Thomas, Shirley, and many of their progeny as "Foreign-Longhairs." Early breeders hypothesized that the cats might be of Burmese descent. However, when the first litter was born in May 1969, kittens were dark self-colours with no points and pinkish paw pads, the opposite of traits that identify Burmese. All the USA cats of this breed descended from Thomas and Shirley; none arose from nor were bred to Burmese.

Some of the kittens were then bought by a Florida breeder, who was well-known for her Burmese cats. Ms. Lund coined the breed-name "Tiffany," a name synonymous with elegance and class, after a Los Angeles theatre. However, people associated the new cats with the breeder's Burmese ones, and so the myth of the Tiffany as the 'Longhair Burmese' began. She promoted the breed with the "Tiffany" name because judges felt the "Foreign-Longhair" name was too general. They suggested the name "Mahogany" would be more descriptive.

Unfortunately, none were ever registered under the Lund name; ACA had dropped the breed from recognition as it was so rare. All breed representatives became unregistered as a result. It continued to be advertised as "Burmese." At one point, the Sig Tim Hil cattery informally supplied information (in a phone interview) to "Harper's Illustrated Handbook of Cats" researcher Joan Bernstein regarding these chocolate cats. This interview led to publication of information continuing to suggest the possibility they were Burmese longhairs, the product of UK crosses between Burmese and Himalayans. No such breedings were done in England. However, there had been crosses between Foreign Longhair/Angora, Havana, and Abyssinian. Later this lineage was used in England in an attempt to re-create a cat like an Angora. The American Tiffany/Chantilly is more likely an offshoot of one of these efforts.

Name Changed to "Chantilly"

When word spread across the Atlantic about the British Tiffanie, it was decided to give the North American breed a new name, and it was changed to 'Chantilly'. However, some cat associations accepted the new name, others retained the original 'Tiffany', and still others used the title 'Chantilly/Tiffany'. That is how the situation is at the present time, despite the confusion.

Sources: Cat Fanciers and cat-breeds.suite101.com