"Leo," brown tabby, born 1884, died 1901; presented to Mrs. Persis Bodwell Martin, of Augusta, Maine, by Mrs. E. R. Pierce, when he was six months old. He lived a life of luxury and ease, having his meals served by his mistress's own hand in the upper hall, where he chose to spend his time for the later years of his life. Regarding to his type he was competitive to  any thoroughbred brown tabby - first, colour of muzzle, length of nose, size and shape of eyes, breadth of forehead, size of ears, length of hair in the ears, and on the head. In body markings "Leo" would fall off, as his hair was so extremely long that the markings became somewhat confused.

[quote from The Book of the Cat]

"King Max" - first brought out by Mrs. Taylor - won in Boston first in 1897-98 99, only to be beaten by his sire "Donald" in 1900.

[quote from The Book of the Cat]

This could be the earliest existing picture of the Maine Coon? Dating from 1903, it is believed to be a red and white. 100 years later the type has changed but this is still 100% Maine Coon.

The photo of 'Tobey' from F. Simpson's book clearly shows his white lynx tips as present but not overlong. The frills, though, have always been lovely. The snowshoe fur padding has always been present but, since foundation Maines actually walk around outside in Maine, going about their cat lives, the snowshoes get worn down. You did not ask about ruffs and this is a good paragraph to mention that ruffs in the wild are perhaps longer, due to survival needs.

[quote from the interview with Beth Kus]