Mitch O’Connell posted 34 vintage valentine cards that appear to be the type children would exchange at school, yet many of them contain double entendres, whether intentional or not. Link -via Boing Boing

On March 21, 1920, the Sandusky Register reported on an astonishing invention in which W. W. Macfarlane, traveling in a car (driven by a chauffeur), held a conversation with his wife back at the garage -500 yards down the road! The article is reprinted at Paleofuture. Link

This adorable old picture would have made a great postcard. It is part of a collection of photographs of Dutch life published in the 1906 book De Aarde en haar volken (The Earth and Its People). See more at IllustratedPast.com. Link -via Everlasting Blort

The 1947 version Aesop’s fable, produced by Encyclopedia Brittanica Films. Link -via Nag on the Lake

Mysterious beings that disable computers are called bugs. Before computers, mysterious beings that sabotaged vehicles and other machines were called gremlins. This use of the term originated in the 1920s to describe unexplained problems with military aircraft, according to Wikipedia. Gremlins were blamed for factory mishaps during World War II, as this safety poster reminds us. See more wartime industrial safety posters at vintage ads. Link -via Boing Boing

As it gets closer to Thanksgiving, some of us look forward to the public spectacle of giant balloons floating through NYC streets that is the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

This vintage shot from the 1940 parade shows a simpler balloon version of the Man of Steel taking his place in the parade. Boy, parade balloons sure have come a long way!

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We’ve posted about some extremely unsafe toys here. the one that came to mind immediately when I saw the title of this Cracked post was the Atomic Energy Lab, and it’s included. But the others are just as shockingly dangerous! However, I remember some of them from my own childhood, the childhood with no seat belts or bicycle helmets or minimum age for babysitting. Shown here is a kit for children to learn how to melt and mold their own lead, which could not only burn a hole through flesh, but poison your brain as well. NSFW text. Link

We’ve posted art from more than one person who takes everyday paintings or iconic images and adds fantastic monsters to them. It’s neat, but it’s not new. Back in the 1970s, Yokopro in Japan published postcards that did the exact same thing. The monsters are called pachimon kaiju. See a collection of them at How To Be a Retronaut. Link -via Everlasting Blort

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

It’s hard to believe that people once thought we’d all be living in domes by the year 2000, but this delightful retro article from Popular Science confirms that the future is a lot squarer than people in the 60s and 70s thought it would be. The geodesic dome was the brainchild of R. Buckminster Fuller, who felt that the simplicity of design and ease with which it could be built would catch on like wildfire across the country, and claimed rather ambitiously that it could replace all manner of traditional housing. However, Fuller hadn’t taken the cost of repairs into consideration, nor the problems that would be encountered bringing the dome up to code, and the awkward shape of the panels made replacing them a real pain, so the geodesic dome fad fell along the wayside, becoming nothing more than a vision of the future that was never meant to be. If you want to read more about the “dome of the future”, follow the link to PopSci, where you’ll find lots more info, and pages from past Popular Science articles detailing the rise and fall of the housing dome fad.

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Public health posters from the World War I and World War II eras warned soldiers of the dire consequences of venereal diseases (now called STDs). Since military men were the target, blame was squarely put on the woman they may encounter. This gallery at Environmental Graffiti also features a French poster that even a non-French reader can decipher. Link

Chromeography is a website dedicated to retro chrome logos and lettering on vintage cars, trucks and household appliances.  They don’t make them like they used to, and this gallery of logos reminds us of a different time. I think it would be cool to see these types of old chrome logos in cursive fonts on today’s computer equipment and televisions.

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An electric razor that shaves close to the bone! This x-ray, featured at Modern Mechanix, was taken in 1941, back when x-ray scientists and technicians didn’t bother wearing lead aprons and spent their spare time coming up weird things they could x-ray. Link -via J-Walk Blog

(Image credit: L. F. Ehrke, Westinghouse Research Lamp Laboratories)

Remember the good old science kits of yesteryear that contained things like cyanide, uranium, and ammonium nitrate, as well as Bunsen burners and glass vials that are now considered too dangerous for children? Why, you can’t even blow up the kitchen anymore! How do the original science toys stack up against their modern counterparts? Collectors Weekly looks at both the old and the new science kits, which include a lot more than chemistry, and rates the old against the new. We may not have ammonium nitrate anymore, but we have some science kits that our parents and grandparents never had. Link

Cartoonist Winsor McCay {wiki} creates an early movie animation in this 1911 film, originally entitled Winsor McCay, the Famous Cartoonist of the N.Y. Herald and His Moving Comics but often just called Little Nemo, after McCay’s comic strip. Most of the video is a dramatization of how the animation came about. The actual animation happens about eight minutes in. McCay later went on to produce Gertie the Dinosaur, which many of us learned was the “first” animated movie. -via Buzzfeed

You know these two fine-looking young men, even if you’ve never seen a photograph of either one before. They are both featured at My Daguerreotype Boyfriend, a photo blog dedicated to the hotties of history, dating back to the invention of the camera. Really, who knew that Hermann Rorschach (of the ink blots) resembled Brad Pitt? The site is accepting submissions of more attractive public domain photographs. In case you are still wondering about the guys here, on the left is Almanzo Wilder, husband of author Laura Ingalls Wilder. On the right is Russian author and playwright Anton Chekhov. Link -via Metafilter

The fashion industry unveils the latest swimsuits for the summer of 1952, designed to elicit wolf whistles. I can’t decide which I like better, the Wingding (for “obvious” reasons) or the Dunk Me. -via Nag on the Lake

Only recently have pit bulls gained a reputation for being dangerous dogs, mainly due to their popularity among those who breed and train dogs to be overly aggressive -or to just look scary. For generations, the breed was known as “The Nanny Dog.” See a collection of children’s pictures taken with their beloved and loyal dogs, all pit bulls, at What I Saw Today. Link -via the Presurfer

For you young folks, an “arcade” was a place where people could go to play games on “arcade machines.” It was fun! You could socialize, hone your fine motor skills, and spend all your money! See a collection of classic arcade games from the 19th century through the space age at Dark Roasted Blend. Link

DDT {wiki} is a pesticide that was used extensively in the US from 1939 until it was banned in 1972. It was very effective in controlling insects that spread typhus in Europe and malaria in tropical regions, but it also accumulated in the ecosystem, killed wildlife, and was found to have harmful effects on humans as well. But in the 1940s and ’50s, pesticide companies promoted DDT as the cure-all for everything. This 1947 ad gave quite a few reasons DDT is “good for me.” See the rest of it at Mindfully. Link -via J-Walk Blog

This French medical poster is from a exhibit called “Health for Sale: Posters from the William H. Helfand Collection” currently at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Strange how vintage art and the French language can make even syphilis seem somehow more benign. A dozen such posters can be seen at PBS. Link -Thanks, Travis Daub!

YouTube combines vintage footage, special effects, and modern memes to salute the viral videos of 100 years ago with this top 5 countdown. Somehow this video has 7,200 likes and a few hundred dislike, but only 489 views -but it’s their website, so I guess they can do that. The YouTube page has links to the videos that inspired this compilation. -via Buzzfeed

Collection curator Emma Hawkins shows us some items made from animals long ago with functions beyond display. On one hand, using animal remains to make consumer products is green in that the items are organic, biodegradable, and an example of recycling. Compare these items to the same things made of plastic or fiberglass. On the other hand, it’s morbid and may have contributed to the decline of certain species. What do you think? Is it OK to value a fur or something made of ivory as long as the animal died a hundred years ago? Link -via Nag on the Lake

This picture and others from the same sequence are everywhere on the internet today, but rarely is there any source or context attached. These are stills from the movie Rescued from an Eagle’s Nest.

(YouTube link)

Rescued from an Eagle’s Nest {wiki} is a 1908 film by D.W.Griffith. It featured cutting-edge special effects that were frightening to audiences. -via Dangerous Minds

The “notificator” was coin-operated and left a message for only two hours. It probably did not catch on due to competition from the much-cheaper “bulletin board.” Link -via reddit

Printing a book was different in 1947. The process required quite a few skilled workers performing tasks you won’t see anymore, outside of historical videos like this. Contrast this process with a more modern method of publishing. -via Metafilter

A computer from the mid-20th century would fill an entire room -a big room, at that! IBM introduced the 305 RAMAC system in 1956, the first computer to use a hard drive. What you see here is that hard drive, which weighed a ton and held a whopping 5 megabytes of memory storage. It was named the 350 Disk Storage Unit. At the time, you could lease the entire computer setup for a mere $3,200 a month! Link -via Bits and Pieces

Although the Lunar New Year doesn’t begin until February third, 2011 will be the Year of the Rabbit. Pink Tentacle welcomed the year by posting several beautiful antique bunny illustrations from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The rabbit shown dates from 1903. Link -via Right Brain Terrain

Science Service was a nonprofit news organization that decided to “jazz up” their information releases by adding humorous pictures in the 1920s. Some of these “cartoonographs” are preserved in the Smithsonian Institution. Many of the early cartoonographs were drawn by Elizabeth Sabin Goodwin; see more examples at The Bigger Picture. Link -via Nag on the Lake

A Livejournal post has an extensive collection of beautiful vintage magazine covers, including many from 19th-century issues of the Italian magazine La Scena Illustrata and the French magazines La Vie Parisienne and Figaro Illustré. Some contain illustrated nudity. The cover shown here is from 1883. Link -via Everlasting Blort

As the 19th century turned into the 20th century, woman tried their hands at sports that they were previously prohibited from participating in. See vintage photographs of women playing soccer, baseball, cricket, bowling, tennis, and other sports. The boxing match pictured here took place on March 7th, 1912 between Mrs. Edwards and Fraulein Kussin. Link

(Image credit: The Library of Congress)

Think a minute -when did the first remote-control robot hit the market? It was way back in 1957 in Japan. This is a Radicon Robot, still in good shape 53 years later. It sold for almost $9,000 on eBay! But it is far from the most expensive collectible antique toy in this list of the 15 Most Expensive Vintage Toys Ever Sold On Ebay.com. Link -Thanks, Danny!

Ransom Riggs collects old snapshots, and particularly likes pictures on which someone has written something personal.

One thing I’ve found a lot of is photos where people have written deprecating things — usually about themselves — on the back. “I look so fat here!” is a shockingly common theme; I guess people were as concerned with their weight (and as self-conscious about pictures of themselves) fifty and sixty years ago as they are today. I want to share some of these with you, not so much to laugh at (although they are funny) but to demonstrate how little our attitudes about ourselves have changed over the years.

In case you can’t read it, the note on this picture says, “I’m not as fat as I look here, it’s the terrycloth pajamas over my bathing skirt plus wind.” See lots more pictures at mental_floss. Link

Move over, Lady Gaga, this guy had a meat suit back in 1894! In fact, he’d fit right in with the internet generation because he’s dressed as a side of bacon. Mmm… bacon. Link -via Buzzfeed

Bacon mania is nothing new -bacon skates were in use in 1931!

So, yes, this photo was taken in November 1931 in Chehalis, Washington at the town’s Egg Festival. The occasion was a try to break the world record for largest omelette. Two women tied bacon to their feet and skated around the warming skillet to grease it. Then a team of chefs cracked and beat 7,200 eggs and made a breakfast delight.

See more pictures at The Atlantic. Link -via Everlasting Blort

(Image credit: The University of Washington Libraries)

These are my favorite keychains in the NeatoShop: a set of camera keychains that are perfect for shutterbugs! If your loved ones love photography, these will make an excellent gift. Best of all, they’re only $3.95 each! Link

There’s a set of 54 beautifully designed minimalist movie posters over at NewsRadio 1290 WJNO, including Jaws, The Dark Knight, and Star Wars, though my favorites have to be The Fly and Psycho. It’s wonderful how the essence of a film can be conveyed so simply. In a world where more is better, these posters are definitely refreshing.

Want more? Check out these minimalist posters based on Stephen King books, and these awesome Star Wars planet posters.

Link via Attuworld

This article takes a look back at 8 of our most famous vintage toys, what they looked like in the beginning and how they were created.  Includes looks at baseball cards, comic books, Hot Wheels and Pez dispensers.

Matchbox cars were started in 1953 by British toy company Lesney Products. Co-owner Jack Odell created the idea for the tiny cars because his daughter was only allowed to bring toys to school if they could fit in a matchbox.

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From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by pholley.

Woody Woodpecker is just one of the over 100 vintage lunchboxes in this collection. Which one did you carry (or covet) as a kid? See them all at The Jailbreak.

Link – via io9

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Marilyn Terrell.

Flickr user Ambrosia Voyeur found a fascinating map published in 1927 that Hollywood studios used to find relatively nearby locations to film far-away places. As you can see, certain spots in California were considered good for filming places like Siberia, Sherwood Forest, the Sahara Desert, and other movie settings. The source is The American Film Industry by Tino Balio. According to the book, the variety of available geography in southern California is one of the reasons Hollywood became the center of the film industry. Link to image. Link to book. -via Buzzfeed

A Russian short film from 1946, way before computer generated effects! -via Dark Roasted Blend

Aren’t you glad we can just cover those legs with jeans these days? This strange ad from the August 1953 issue of Mechanix Illustrated is one of many old ads featured at the blog Centuries of Advice & Advertisements. Link -via TYWKIWDBI

Pink Tentacle has larger versions of 14 beautiful travel posters produced by Japanese steamship companies. These were from the early 20th century, when travel itself was supposed to be as luxurious as the destination. Link

Dark Roasted Blend looks at Coney Island in its heyday, when parks and attractions were constantly opening and attempting to outdo everything that came before. See photographs and postcards from the 19th and early 20th centuries, when the New York neighborhood was nicknamed the City of Fire. Link

When the dorkiest guy in a collection of pictures is Mick Jagger, you know you’re in for a treat. Pictured is Clark Gable. Link -via Everlasting Blort

Edison Studios made the first movie version of Frankenstein in 1910. It was released 100 years ago last week. Frankensteinia has details and the story of how the film was lost and found a half-century later. Link -via Metafilter

Tom Schifanella collects classic luggage labels and shares them through his Flickr stream. A suitcase covered with these is a sign of a life grandly lived.

Luggage labels are fascinating bits of hotel history from the golden age of travel, roughly the 1900′s to 1960′s. During this time these labels were used by hotels as advertising and eagerly applied to steamer trunks, suitcases and all sorts of luggage by hotel staff, mainly bellhops.

Today, these same labels are highly desirable and sought after by collectors all over the world. Many of the designs were produced by some of the best poster designers from the golden age of travel like Roger Broders, Jan Lavies and Mario Borgoni.

You could spend all day browsing this collection! Link -via Nag on the Lake

I don’t know what’s really going on in this picture, but “turtle wax” was my first reaction. Link -via Buzzfeed

Find hundreds of ads going up to a couple hundred years back with the Vintage Ad Browser. I spent a lot of time looking around, but kept coming back to this perfume ad from 1890. The picture has nothing to do with the product, but it doesn’t matter, since everyone loves babies and dogs, right? Link -via the Presurfer

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