1. This miniature artist Discover more on A House of Wonders found via This isn’t Happiness. 2. East Berlin Factory Girls In 1984, the German photographer Helga Paris spent several weeks at a state-owned clothing factory in East Berlin capturing female employees and their ‘unfore … | Continue reading
What do Elvis, President John F. Kennedy (and Jackie), Alfred Hitchcock, Truman Capote, Marlene Dietrich and Marilyn Monroe all have in common? Apart from the obvious cultural and historical significance, they all shared a special relationship with Dr. Max Jacobson or as he would … | Continue reading
Whatever that intangible ‘It’ factor is, the gods bestowed it on Denham ‘Denny’ Fouts in disproportionate quantities. He was blessed with more natural-born charisma than Leonardo Di Caprio, Brad Pitt and The Talented Mr Ripley put together. Denny Fouts exuded a carnal mojo of the … | Continue reading
From the earliest colonial conflicts to the present day, the participation of Native American tribes and nations in American military campaigns spans a complex tapestry of alliances, conflicts, and shifting loyalties. But in our collective knowledge, so much of it is simply histo … | Continue reading
1. Portraits from the Back of a Grocery Store in Mid-Century Algeria Lazhar Mansouri (1932-1985) was an Algerian photographer active from the late 1950s through the 1970s in Aïn Beïda (Aurés Mountains region, Northern Algeria). During this period, he owned and operated a photogra … | Continue reading
Let’s say you’re at a party, the air is thick with smoke and some cool cat on the couch looks at you funny and asks, “hey dude, do you even know what a zine is?” Don’t panic. Lean in close, clear your throat and remember: zines are whatever you want them to be and that’s… | Continue reading
To be one of “Antonio’s Girls”, as they were known, meant you were going places. You had “it”. Grace Jones, Jerry Hall, Tina Chow, Pate Cleveland and Jessica Lange are names that are much better known today than Antonio Lopez, but they were all key members of his unofficial talen … | Continue reading
There’s a song that went viral on TikTok recently (seven years after its initial release), becoming the social media platform’s song of the summer. You’ve almost certainly heard it. “Ooohe, Makeba, Makeba ma qué bella,” sings the French pop singer, Jain, during the song’s chorus … | Continue reading
1. An Entire Wild West-Themed Town For Sale The ranch and Old Cow Town located in Saguache, CO, consists of 15 buildings around the back of a natural horseshoe canyon, including a saloon, steakhouse, meeting and dance hall, 10-room guest hotel, a 5,500-square-foot luxury guest lo … | Continue reading
I came across some gorgeous vintage sinks on the gram and got to thinking about American bath ware. All too often overshadowed by Europe’s long history of artisanal and design talent, we forget that American design is largely responsible for the transformation of the home bathroo … | Continue reading
London of the 1920s was the time of the Bright Young Things, the group of aristocrats and socialists who flourished in the years following World War I and before the economic crisis that would hit the globe at the end of the decade. And there was no other place that served more a … | Continue reading
There are plenty of dead people in Los Angeles. Some of them are even in the ground. Forest Lawn is very formal. Tidy. | Continue reading
1. The Last Lighthouse Keeper in America Sally Snowman is the last official lighthouse keeper in America. Boston Light, which was opened in 1716, was the first lighthouse in the American colonies. Snowman, 72, is set to retire in December. | Continue reading
Revivalist sects, polyamorous communes and radical experiments in communal living – America was rife with it all in the mid 19th century – but not exactly where you might expect. Forget the Bible Belt. In western New York state, so many religious revival groups seemed to be poppi … | Continue reading
Deep inside one of the last remaining primeval forests in Europe, in-between Belarus and Poland, stands an old hunting lodge straight out of a fairytale. For over 30 years, ecologist Simona Kossack lived in this secluded glade without amenities nor electricity or running water an … | Continue reading
One of the ultimate icons of modernity and mass production must be the famously infamous wobbly plastic monobloc chair. Found across the globe, from homes to hospitals, gardens to grasslands, base camp Himalayas to frosty Antarctica, this migratory masterpiece of furniture has fo … | Continue reading
Don’t I always say you can find absolutely anything on the internet? Well, I said it to someone recently. Anyhoo, I came across a collection of “Do Not Disturb” signs from hotels around the world and as far as hotel collectibles go, the doorknob signs seem to have gone largely un … | Continue reading
Paul Gardner; the man, the myth, the London legend. If you ever have the pleasure of purchasing a paper bag from Paul, count yourself lucky. Like his shop, Paul and his family of ‘market sundriesmen’ are a longstanding East End institution. For over four generations, the Gardner’ … | Continue reading
An introduction to Prague.. Start with one of the city’s most peaceful and elegant areas: the former Jewish Quarter, aka Josefov. To see the main sights here, grab a combined entry ticket from the Jewish Museum, then saunter between the 16th-century neo-Gothic Maisel Synagogue, w … | Continue reading
1. Vintage ephemera from the Talking Board Historical Society Time to get your boards out. More imagery here. 2. | Continue reading
North America has its own Chernobyl(s). There are gold rush ghost towns, and then there are uranium ghosting towns; settlements which grew out of the “uranium fever” of the first part of the 20th century and testaments to an era when fear of nuclear war led to an unprecedented ru … | Continue reading
Venturing down an unassuming gravel road grown over with grass in rural Marion County, Georgia, you’re met by a huge pair of piercing blue eyes. Look around, and you’re met by many more sets of eyes staring out from intense faces emblazoned with vivid reds, greens and yellows, ad … | Continue reading
Of the six original Universal Monsters, none is so ubiquitous and iconic as the Creature from the Black Lagoon. The film, released in 1954, still screens regularly at theatres dedicated to classic cinema. What few knew until recently however, is that the credit for the Creature’s … | Continue reading
The history of backmasking goes back to the early 20th century with occultist Aleister Crowley, who in his 1913 book Magick, suggested thinking backward by “external means,” such as listening to a phonographic record in reverse. It started as a fun urban legend. Musicians recorde … | Continue reading
1. A 1930s flying boat that launched mid air from another flying boat on transatlantic flights More about The Short Mayo composite by the Short Brothers found on Wikipedia. 2. Since 1970, he has created Dwelling places for an imaginary civilization of “Little People” Since 1970, … | Continue reading
Monsters once lived at the heart of pop culture, albeit during what was arguably the weirdest time to be alive: the Middle Ages. In intrepid, faraway lands you’d find them: neckless men with their faces in their stomachs – known as “blemmyae” – or yet another being, known as a “p … | Continue reading
For some lucky theatregoers, a trip to see the latest B-Movie at their local picture house also means a trip across space and time. It’s all thanks to the atmospheric movie palaces and theatres of the early 20th century, whose construction brought veritable mini-cities, from old … | Continue reading
The Amish, like everyone else, deserve to get away from it all and put their feet up every once in a while. Their destination of choice? Pinecraft, Florida, aka the “Amish Las Vegas”. Since the 1920s, Amish and Mennonite honeymooners, retirees, and vacationing families have trave … | Continue reading
1. Reading in Paris Dokusho no Aki: a Japanese saying that means, “Autumn is a good season to catch up on one’s reading”. A themed compilation of 1950s photographs found on Live Journal. | Continue reading
Every so often, an original is born; timeless, defying genre and completely of themself. Vali Myers, artist, dancer, environmentalist, bohemian and muse, was as original as they come, inspiring writers, artists and musicians from the streets of a post Second World War Paris to he … | Continue reading
Have you ever felt like you’ve started late in life? Have you ever experienced an epic failure in your professional career and felt like giving up? That you’re “past it” and it’s “too late” to make something of yourself? Meet Momofuku Ando, none other than the eccentric character … | Continue reading
Have you ever felt like you’ve started late in life? Have you ever experienced an epic failure in your professional career and felt like giving up? That you’re “past it” and it’s “too late” to make something of yourself? Meet Momofuku Ando, none other than the eccentric character … | Continue reading
The perfectly angelic voice of Joan Baez weaves through our guard to remind us of what has been lost or perhaps what should have been found. Laments for worlds lost or yet to come, Joan will forever remind us of our common humanity. Perhaps most poignant, her haunting rendition o … | Continue reading
1. Ford Almost Made the Perfect Camping Car In an archived July 3, 1958 issue of the Washington Post, a 1959 Ford Country Squire Station Wagon is presented as a “pushbutton camper” concept. Unfortunately, while Ford was happy to show consumers just what the big Country Squire cou … | Continue reading
Perhaps you remember the feeling of unearthing a really great gem at the record store – a forgotten band from another time with an original sound that sends those feel-good electric impulses to your brain. Imagine making it your lifelong mission to find that feeling; following it … | Continue reading
Perhaps you remember the feeling of unearthing a really great gem at the record store – a forgotten band from another time with an original sound that sends those feel-good electric impulses to your brain. Imagine making it your lifelong mission to find that feeling; following it … | Continue reading
As the story goes, in 1932, a family of wealthy French aristocrats were waiting to board a train in Paris when they realised that the porter carrying their luggage was one of their own – a fellow aristocrat, that is – who had fallen on hard times. Faced with the reality that such … | Continue reading
So it turns out, the famous “free love” movement of the 1960s, wasn’t so free – what with a total lack of information and availability of birth control. With the youth movement came a dramatic rise in unintended pregnancies. Abortions were illegal and carried a life term in priso … | Continue reading
1. Heavenly Architecture Transparente of Toledo Cathedral, Spain, found on Tumblr. 2. This Hotel in Thailand has rooms made out of old train carriages The Inter Continental Khao Yai resort in Thailand, made up of more than 65 suites and villas, includes a series of upcycled Thai … | Continue reading
Isn’t she a beauty? I had one of those hallelujah moments while browsing the collectible pages of Ebay today when I came across this seldom seen “Empire State Building” jukebox circa 1935. Invented by Ken Shyvers, the same guy who invented pinball machines, the Shyvers Multiphone … | Continue reading
Not all cheese is created equally. Any American who has been around long enough to taste a slice of “government cheese” can tell you that. While the phrase sounds surreal, and is often used as a derogatory shorthand for any form of welfare, the original concept of government chee … | Continue reading
Dr. Samuel Pozzi may be a father of modern gynaecology, whose name is still tied to a pair of surgical scissors used to operate on fallopian tubes around the world today (the pozzi forceps), but his story would be much better placed in a steamy romance novel than a medical textbo … | Continue reading
1. It’s Mushroom Hunting season! Here’s an 1827 Atlas of Mushrooms The edibles… Mushrooms that can cause mild illness (from vomiting to indigestion)… Poisonous mushrooms… Lithographs from M. E. | Continue reading
Got milk? Pour yourself a glass and gulp down some little-known history about the household staple. In the early decades of the 20th century, milk was commonly used to make many plastic ornaments, including jewellery, gemstones, buttons, decorative buckles, fountain pens, fancy c … | Continue reading
Unfathomably whacky fashions have seen the light over the ages. Take the perilous hobble skirt of the early 1910s that deliberately impeded its wearer’s ability to walk, or the gentleman’s codpiece that drew eyes to his genital area for most of 16th century Europe. We’ve dug up y … | Continue reading
Chattanooga, Tennessee: known for its southern charm, Civil War battlefields and … an infamous swingers palace? Indeed, perched in the hills overlooking the city, Tennessee once had its own Playboy mansion of sorts. The tiki-themed estate was centered around a highly unusual indo … | Continue reading
When Parisian garbage collectors went on strike in the Spring of 2023, suddenly everyone was talking and thinking about trash. Sanitation and waste management services are so commonplace for the majority of the world, it takes an almighty “big stink” for us to realise just how im … | Continue reading
When Parisian garbage collectors went on strike in the Spring of 2023, suddenly everyone was talking and thinking about trash. Sanitation and waste management services are so commonplace for the majority of the world, it takes an almighty “big stink” for us to realise just how im … | Continue reading