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How to Be a Retronaut has a collection of portraits of married couples a hundred years back or more. Some look strangely alike, and they all look fairly uncomfortable posing for the photographer. Link -via Everlasting Blort
That strange object above, my friend, serves a deadly serious purpose. Raynor of The Rag Bag explains this wonderful curiosity known as the Victorian Mustache Guard:
what you need to understand about the differences between the victorian moustache and the ironic ones that you see hanging around park slope these days is that the victorians were deadly serious about their moustaches, oftentimes going to great pains to dye them just right, wax them perfectly, and curl them precisely. when a hairy dandy supped from his teacup, he was putting his exquisitely quaffed lip hair in peril. the hot tea could melt the wax, wilt the ‘stache, and send streaks of toxic hair dye into his favourite earl grey.
the solution was found in the moustache cup which had a special built-in guard. eventually, this guard was made portable so that if you were invited to tea at the estate of those not fortunate enough to own moustache prophylactic drinkware, you could plunk in your own and save the day.
See also: Mustache items (the ironic ones you see hanging around park slopes these days) from the NeatoShop
Chet Phillips, who created the Literary Pets trading card set, has completed another set of art cards. This one, called the Order of Nefarious Villains, portrays twenty different evil Victorian and steampunk masterminds ready to do battle with the forces of good. Some of their characteristics are reminiscent of evil villains you already know. Link -Thanks, Chet!
Here are more scenes from the Edwardian Ball and World’s Faire 2011 last month in San Francisco, where the man with the Goldfish Bowl Helmet caught our attention. The Los Angeles version is scheduled for March 5th. -Thanks, Mark Day!
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Missed connections, looking for marriage, let’s meet, in addition to rooms for rent, cars for sale, and job openings. Sounds like Craiglist, but these kinds of ads have been around in newspapers as long as there have been news papers. The New York Times has some examples from the 19th century.
If the young lady wearing the pink dress, spotted fur cape and muff, had light hair, light complexion and blue eyes, who was in company with a lady dressed in black, that I passed about 5 o’clock on Friday evening in South Seventh Street, between First and Second, Williamsburg, L.I., will address a line to Waldo, Williamsburg Post Office, she will make the acquaintance of a fine young man.
Jan. 19, 1862
I only wish we knew how successful these ads were. Link -via Nag on the Lake
(image credit: Flickr user “T”eresa)
Children of the Victorian Era had to be tough, because this Santa Claus would have given me nightmares! This picture is a detail of a larger family portrait from Flickr user stevechasmar. For sheer weirdness, it just might beat out the previous creepy Santa post. See more Victorian Christmas ephemera in his photostream. Link -via Buzzfeed
Infographics are not new, they are just easier to make and pass around on the internet. BibliOdyssey has a collection of posters, pages, and pamphlets from the Victorian era that make information into an art form. Pictured is the Tableau De L’Histoire Universelle (History of the Universe Chart).
This is a fold-out print depicting all of human history from the time of creation (4693 BC = Adam & Eve; the great flood = 3300 BC) up to the date of publication (1858 by Eug. Pick, Paris). Vignettes of historically significant people, places and buildings etc are arranged along the borders.
The designer has employed something of a metaphorical display choice: civilisations are presented as a series of rivers — the widths likely imply the comparative population level of each group versus the world’s population — which ‘flow’ down through history.
See also graphics on geography, biology, astronomy, and more. The pictures are all linked to larger Flickr versions. Link
Is the man in this picture dead or alive? It’s not a silly question. In the early days of photography, dead bodies would be photographed for posterity. Often this would be the only picture ever taken of the person. Sometimes the bodies were posed as if they were alive.
There’s something just unspeakably creepy about this fireman. At first glance, he looks like a normal, awkwardly-posed guy from the 19th century. But upon closer inspection, you notice a few tell-tale signs: a rigid pose and fingers, a stand not quite completely hidden behind his feet, which is holding him up by some unseen armature on his back, liberal amounts of rouge applied to too-white cheeks, and those blank, blank eyes.
This picture is available on eBay. See more possibly post-mortem posed portraits at mental_floss. Link
These steampunk Ghostbusters costumes are really inventive and visually interesting. Definately click on the link and take a look at all the pics because the old-styled ghosts accompanying them are also super cool.
Well then, let me introduce you to The League of S.T.E.A.M. (Supernatural Troublesome Ectoplasmic Apparitional Management) — otherwise known as Steampunk Ghostbusters, who, according to their webpage, are “taking the 1984 back to 1884.”
