Strange Beauty Mask, 1940
This post was originally published on this siteMarch 1940 — At the International Beauty Shop Owners’ show in New York City, Ruth Scott modeled a […]
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Spooky Hidden Mother With Scratched Out Face Photographs
This post was originally published on this siteThe hidden mother, or, more accurately, the hidden mother’s body, in family photos is a metaphor for what […]
Fritz Dietl the Stilt-Man
This post was originally published on this siteBorn on July 11, 1911 in Vienna, Austria, Fritz Dietl was educated in the Vienna schools and held […]
Funny Vintage Postcards Depict People Falling From Donkeys in Le Plessis-Robinson, France, ca. 1900
This post was originally published on this siteLe Plessis-Robinson is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 10.5 km (6.5 […]
1974 VW Beetle Towing a Custom 5th Wheel Camper That Rotates 360 Degrees!
This post was originally published on this siteBack in 1974, a video surfaced of a custom Volkswagen camper being town by a VW Beetle and […]
Ozzy Ironing a Baby, 1983
This post was originally published on this siteOzzy Osbourne ironing a baby in 1983 as photographed by Mark Weiss. Weiss was a photographer for Circus […]
22 Curious Daguerreotypes of People Turn Their Backs to Camera
This post was originally published on this siteThe daguerreotype was invented by Louis Daguerre (1787–1851), and it was the first commercial photographic process. A highly […]
Acrobats Balance on Top of the Empire State Building, New York City, 1934
This post was originally published on this siteAcrobats performed a balancing act on a ledge of the Empire State Building in Manhattan on August 21, […]
Radiana – A Robot Built With Human Bones From the 1920s
This post was originally published on this siteRadiana was a “robot” or “automaton” employed by the magician Professor John Popjie, who toured in the 1920s […]
Self Portrait as a Drowned Man: The First Hoax Photograph Ever Shot in 1840
This post was originally published on this siteThe first hoax photograph was taken in 1840 by Hippolyte Bayard. Both Bayard and Louis Daguerre fought to […]
Portrait of Jacob C. Miller, a Civil War Veteran Who Lived With an Open Bullet Wound in His Forehead for Decades
This post was originally published on this siteJacob C. Miller (August 4, 1840 – January 13, 1917) was a private in company K, 9th Indiana […]
Bettie Page and the Iconic Cheetah Pinups: Here’s the Story Behind the Famous Photos Taken by Bunny Yeager in 1954
This post was originally published on this sitePhotographed by Bunny Yeager at Africa USA, a jungle-style petting zoo in Boca Raton, Florida–the photos are amazing […]
Philip Garner – Half Suit, 1982
This post was originally published on this sitePhillip Garner destabilized this naturalness in his comic photograph of the ‘half-suit’: “The suit helps to create an […]
Riding a Pig in the Early 20th Century
This post was originally published on this siteIn the early 20th century, getting drunk and riding a pig was considered one of the most extreme […]
In the 1920s, People Thought Radioactive Water Was Good for the Health
This post was originally published on this siteBack in the 1920s, people thought that drinking radium, and thorium, infused water was healthy. One of the […]
The Radium Girls: The Living Dead Women in the 1920s
This post was originally published on this siteThe Radium Girls were female factory workers who contracted radiation poisoning from painting watch dials with self-luminous paint. […]
Cannabis Rights Activist Ben Masel Smoking a Joint While Voting in the 1976 Presidential Election
This post was originally published on this siteCannabis and political rights activist Ben Masel smoking a joint while casting a ballot in the 1976 President […]
Scalped in 1867 by Cheyenne in Nebraska, Here’s the Story Behind William Thompson’s Scalp
This post was originally published on this siteScalping is often depicted in old-timey cowboy-and-indian movies with lots of quavering music and dramatic pauses. But then […]
Vintage Photographs of Lana Wood With Her Leopard in the 1960s
This post was originally published on this siteLana Wood is a Hollywood pseudonym for the Russian actress Svetlana Nikolaevna Zakharenko, the younger sister of Natalie […]
The Story of Baba Anujka, the World’s Oldest Serial Killer
This post was originally published on this siteKnown variously as the Banat Witch or the Witch of Vladimirovac, but best known as Baba Anujka, Ana […]
A Pregnant Ancient Egyptian Mummy From the 1st Century BC Uncovered in Poland
This post was originally published on this siteThe world’s first pregnant Egyptian mummy has been discovered in Warsaw by a team of Polish scientists using […]
The Flagpole Sitting Trend of the 1920s Was Widely Popularized in the U.S by Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelly
This post was originally published on this siteAlvin “Shipwreck” Kelly (May 11, 1893 – October 11, 1952), a prolific pole sitter who first publicized flagpole […]
Queenie: The World’s Only Water Skiing Elephant
This post was originally published on this siteQueenie was a captive female Asian elephant and born wild in Thailand in 1952. Her water skiing talents […]
The Story of Katherine McHale Slaughterback, Who Killed 140 Rattlesnakes Back in 1925 and Used Them to Make a Dress
This post was originally published on this siteKatherine McHale Slaughterback (July 25, 1893 – October 6, 1969), popularly called Rattlesnake Kate, was born to Wallace […]
These Roman Phallic Carvings in Pompeii Euphemistically Pointed the Way to Brothels
This post was originally published on this sitePhallic symbols can be found not only as graffiti roughly drawn and carved onto public walls, but built […]