Via BoingBoing:
Amateur astronomer Ellen Harding Baker of Cedar County, Iowa made this stunning solar system quilt in 1876. The quilt is now in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution. From the Smithsoian’s History Explorer:
Ellen used the quilt as a visual aid for lectures she gave on astronomy in the towns of West Branch, Moscow, and Lone Tree, Iowa. Astronomy was an acceptable interest for women in the nineteenth century and was sometimes even fostered in their education.“Ellen Harding Baker’s “Solar System” Quilt”
“Loie Fuller (1862–1928) was a pioneer of both modern dance and theatrical lighting techniques. Fuller combined her choreography with silk costumes illuminated by multi-coloured lighting of her own design.”
(Image via How to Be a Retronaut)
Yes! Because there really were black burlesque dancers back in the day.
bhof:
Vintage Black Burlesque: Rare images of bold and beautiful burlesque dancers from the past on Ebony.com
Absolutely awesome! Love these photos…
I think I’d go back to writing poetry again if I had one of these.
AntiqueTypewriters.com has a great section on the Crandall New Model, “one of the most beautiful typewriters ever made.”
It has a wonderful curved and ornate Victorian design and is lavishly decorated with hand painted roses, accented with inlaid mother-of-pearl!
Lucien S. Crandall was born in Broome County New York in 1844. He would become one of the great early typewriter pioneers during the 1860s and 1870s. He patented perhaps ten typewriters with six or so being manufactured. All of his designs are very intriguing and brilliantly imagined machines. The Crandall - New Model was his third typewriter to be manufactured but the first to have some success in sales.
The Crandall was the first typewriter to print from a single element or “type-sleeve”, well before IBM’s ‘Golf ball’ of 1961. The Crandall’s type-sleeve is a cylinder, about the size of your finger (see photo below), which rotates and rises up one or two positions before striking the roller, achieving 84 characters with only 28 keys. The type-sleeve is easy to remove, allowing for change of font style and character size.
Crandall, New Model (Thanks, Antique typewriter Collector!)
(Image via BoingBoing)
Scandalous!
From Jezebel:
One of the oldest pieces of British porn has been discovered in mud near the Putney Bridge in London. The artifact from the first century A.D. looks like it might feature two blobs wrestling, but it’s actually a kind of token used in brothels across the Roman Empire, which one could turn in for a particular sex act. It’s been handed over to the Museum of London, where it will provide cheap thrills to kids on field trips.
(Image via Jezebel)
I’m a little late in posting this, but check it out! It’s a vintage Mission Christmas! I love that the Mish had a “miracle mile”…
(Image via Mission Mission)
