The strange little dolly you see in the photo above was an extremely popular toy from the mid-1800s called a bathing doll, also known as solid chinas or bathing babies, which were porcelain dolls kids played with in the tub.

Bathing dolls were first manufactured in Germany around 1850, they sold for a penny so the kids really dug them, and in England parents would bake them into puddings and cakes around Christmas.

But bathing dolls soon became associated with the creepy poem "Young Charlotte" written by humorist Seba Smith in 1840:

The poem recounted the grim true tale of a young woman who had frozen to death one New Year’s Eve while out riding with her sweetheart in an open sleigh. This poor unfortunate lass had failed to heed her mother’s advice:

“O, daughter dear,” her mother cried,
“This blanket ’round you fold;
It is a dreadful night tonight,
You’ll catch your death of cold.”

“O, nay! O, nay!” young Charlotte cried,
And she laughed like a gypsy queen;
“To ride in blankets muffled up,
I never would be seen.”

Smith’s poem inspired the folk song “Fair Charlotte”:

“He took her hand in his — O, God!
’Twas cold and hard as stone;
He tore the mantle from her face,
Cold stars upon it shone.
Then quickly to the glowing hall,
Her lifeless form he bore;
Fair Charlotte’s eyes were closed in death,
Her voice was heard no more.

The dolls became known as "Frozen Charlotte" in the U.S., and some even came complete with their own coffin and burial shroud.

Nowadays "Frozen Charlottes" are considered quite collectible, especially when they have their coffin, and since they range in size from about 2 inches to over 18 inches tall they appeal to all kinds of collectors.

-Via Dangerous Minds

(Image Link)

This 1949 Kurtis Sport Car is a beautiful vintage convertible and an extremely rare car, since only 16 of them were ever made, but it's also the car that helped launch Motor Trend magazine by posing for the first issue.

In fact, the V8 dreamboat seen in these photos is the same Kurtis Sport Car that appeared on the cover of that inaugural issue, and it's just as gorgeous today as the day it rolled out of the Kurtis plant.  

Here's more on this amazing(ly rare) automobile:

The Kurtis Sport Car was a product of the astonishing explosion of automotive creativity that occurred in California after World War II. After enduring a grinding depression and a grueling war, Americans were ready to celebrate as the booming economy provided jobs and prosperity. They’d had enough of cars for hard times — the somber and sensible Depression-era sedans and coupes they’d nursed through the war years on old tires and rationed gas. California was where the party started. And Frank Kurtis, the son of a Croatian blacksmith, was at its epicenter.

The Kurtis’s combination of easy, American V-8 muscle and European-style chassis tuning must have seemed sensational back in 1949. Frank Kurtis had demonstrated a compelling formula for an all-American sports car: The Kurtis Sport Car was well-engineered, well-detailed, and well-built.

-Via design you trust

Gamers play roleplaying games to become part of the genre stories they love and escape the scary, stressful and painfully mundane nature of life on Earth, if only for a little while.

But how would beings like Skeletor, Mer-Man and Beastman, who live in a world full of magic and wonder, feel about roleplaying games? And what sort of characters would they want to play?

According to this comic by Artist QuadForceFive Skeletor's obsession with He-Man would inevitably make him want to play He-Man- and he would NOT have the power!

-Via Geeks Are Sexy

Every fan has their own reason for loving Nintendo, whether it's because of their favorite characters, favorite console games or because their games can be enjoyed by kids and adults alike.

But fifth-grader Hibiki Sakai has an unique reason for enjoying the Nintendo series Rhythm Heaven- he can play the games in the series even though he's blind. 

Hibiki lost his eyesight as a toddler due to a childhood cancer called retinoblastoma, and after the cancer left him blind Hibiki developed a love of rhythm- and he even started playing the drums.

12/24(土)AM1314ラジオ大阪主催:2016ラジオチャリティーミュージックソン
ドラム演奏出演#RADWIMPS /#前前前世 前半#全盲ドラマー#totallyblinddrummer #10歳 #君の名は。 #KimiNoNawa #ラジオ大阪 pic.twitter.com/ZhfSaW6xCv

— けんたろー (@kentarock1020) December 25, 2016

His love of rhythm led Hibiki to play the Rhythm Heaven games, which he could actually play with other kids, and in this way Nintendo changed his life- so he wrote them a letter to thank them.

Here's the translation:

Nintendo showed they genuinely appreciated Hibiki's letter by sending him a letter in return, which was printed in braille and promised they'd "keep doing our best to create games that everyone can have fun with."

Hibiki's dad Kentaro was thrilled by their response:

"As parents, we were truly surprised to get a prompt and sincere response to a letter written by a child. Regardless of whether a new version is released or not, we were very happy that the letter brought hope to Hibiki."

"Hibiki taught us that people are not unfortunate because of their disabilities, rather, the heart that is weakened by the disabilities is unfortunate. By changing his blindness from a fate to a mission, he fights on everyday toward a big goal of becoming a drummer who can bring courage and hope to the world."

-Via BuzzFeed

The police department represents safety, security and defense to many people, and therefore police stations are seen as extremely safe spaces because there are so many cops coming and going from the station all day every day.

But sometimes things go all Assault On Precinct 13 because bad guys like to target cops when they have nothing left to lose, and apparently so do rogue rodents.

(YouTube Link)

This horrifying security camera footage was shot inside the Saint Petersburg police station in Florida, but the same kind of savage animal attack can happen at a station near you.

-Via Boing Boing

It's considered cheesy for a character to name drop the title of the film by today's standards, but back in the day the “title drop” was something viewers anticipated, cheered at and talked about after watching a movie.

Some movies like Good Morning Vietnam, White Men Can't Jump, Dude, Where's My Car?, Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot and What About Bob? Use the title drop during a memorable scene.

Others like The Godfather, The Big Lebowski, Hobo With A Shotgun, The Wolf Of Wall Street and Fantastic Mr. Fox are named after the main character so the name drop feels natural but doesn't make for a quotable moment.

All of these movies also have one other thing in common- they're all included in this compilation video by Roman Holiday entitled “Title Drops” along with around a hundred and forty more.

Title Drops from Roman Holiday on Vimeo.

-Via Laughing Squid

Opium den 1920’s New York.

The idea of an opium den operating somewhat openly in towns and cities around the world is seen as scary by many people nowadays, as the war on drugs put the fear of violent junkies in our minds.

But by the mid-19th century opium dens had become a quite common, and somewhat normalized, part of city life- that nobody ever wanted to talk about.

So opium dens operated freely, albeit discreetly, and they let anyone with the coin of the realm lie back and ride the dragon in the safety of their pillow-laden pad:

From the 1850s on, the opium den spread across the world as a seedy place of refuge for commoner and lord. In Europe opium was viewed as a potentially liberating and creative touchstone. In America, it was seen as an evil and degenerate drug that led to vice, squalor, poverty, madness and death.

However, it should be noted that when the use of opium and the opium den was most prevalent or most virulent—depending on your view—that both America and Europe were at the peak of an industrial, social and cultural revolution. Opium did not appear to make people slackers. Even a fictional hero like Sherlock Holmes indulged in the occasional pipe—all in the line of duty, of course.

Photographer Brassaï kicking back in a Parisian opium den circa 1931

Opium should have been considered the ultimate gateway drug to the Reefer Madness crowd rather than pot, because ordinary folks who came for the opium high often gave up the rest of their lives to the needle when morphine and heroin took over:

By the 1900s, the opium den was no longer quite so ubiquitous. There were dens still to be found in most cosmopolitan cities like New York, San Francisco, London, and Paris, but opium was now mainly a fashionable prop for the bohemian, artistic, and literary class to indulge. Those who wanted a real kick sought opium in other forms—first as morphine then as heroin.

In a rather horrific twist of fate, morphine was originally considered to be the cure for opium addiction. In the late nineteenth century, morphine pills were introduced to China to help cure opium addicts. These pills were called “Jesus opium” as they were given out by missionaries. This “cure” was also sold in America right up until the 1906 U.S. Pure Food and Drug Addict which meant drug content had to be specified and banned the sale of products with false claims.

See more from Smoker's Delight: Vintage Photographs Of Opium Dens at Dangerous Minds (NSFW-ish)

We say some really strange stuff to our pets and act like it's NBD even though we feel weird saying those same strange things to our pets when people are around, so how NBD can it really be?

We want to believe our pets really like it when we call them "pretty boy" or "sweet girl" or "the handsomest boy in the whole wide world", and maybe they do. Who am I to pretend like I know?

I don't speak dog or cat or goat or goldfish so I don't know what they have to say, but according to this SketchShark comic telling your dog he's "a handsome boy" may give him a big head.

When video game designers are trying to sell more copies or appeal to that prime target young males between the ages of 18-34 audience they include fan service elements in their game, which are often taken way too far.

Want to know what taking fan service too far looks like?

It pretty much looks like the entire Dead Or Alive series, but especially that cheeky DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball game released by Koei Tecmo- which was basically all about boobs.

In fact, when it comes to fan service most game designers go straight for boobs in skimpy bikinis, which is not only a cheap way to lure in teen boys with raging hormones- it's a good way to make your game fail among serious gamers.

There are exceptions to the rules like Metal Gear Solid V, which is still seen as one of the best games in the franchise despite the fact that Quiet the mute sniper wears a bikini to battle.

They could at least try to make the sexiness work in the storyline like they do in The Witcher games, but maybe Quiet is so quiet because she's almost naked?

Read All The Times Video Games Made Having One TV In The House Very Awkward here

If you're lucky you'll never know what it's like to have your home invaded by cartoons- friends, relatives or otherwise. But if you ever discover a toon or two lurking in your home you should act fast and call in the Erasers to avoid a full-blown invasion.

Because, as storyboard artist and animator Marty "Hombre_McSteez" Cooper discovered, when toons invade your homes things become uncomfortably ridiculous real fast.

(YouTube Link)

-Via Laughing Squid

When the two superstars of slasherdom finally got to battle it out in Freddy Vs. Jason the writers came up with a pretty convoluted reason for their conflict- Jason refused to let Freddy boss him around.

But if we've learned anything about these characters it's that they both have a penchant for killing people that defines their very existence, so rather than enemies Freddy and Jason would have been soulmates.

And, as this comic by JHALL and Tristan Cooper shows, the two would have preferred to snuggle on the couch and watch the live-action Scooby Doo movies rather than fighting. That is, unless Freddy said something mean about Jason's mom...

-Via Dorkly

Disney parks hire some really talented people to play the characters guests can interact with in the park, and the non-mascot characters try to imitate the character's original voice as best they can, accent and all.

But when the characters encounter impressionist Brian Hull his impressions make the Disney parks actors' performances look like Pooh.

They can't believe the spot-on impressions coming out of Brian's mouth, and Winnie almost loses his willy nilly silly old mind he's so impressed!

(YouTube Link)

Brian has two more Doing Impressions At Disneyland videos which you can watch here (pt2, pt3), but his newest video finds him all the way across the U.S.A. at Walt Disney World.

Same concept, different cast of characters, more funny reactions from Disney parks characters!

(YouTube Link)

-Via Right This Minute

When you're out at the beach soaking up the rotting seaweed smell ambiance and frolicking in the swash you might see some bold people wearing some equally bold swimsuits that leave little to the imagination.

If you see someone wearing one of these swimsuits you should salute them because they represent freedom, and their suits reveal how far we've come from the days when you could get a ticket for taking off your shirt a block from the beach.

Back in 1946 it was considered "indecent" when people walked around in their swimsuits anywhere but on the beach itself, and at Rockaway Beach in New York you were expected to wear a robe to and from the beach.

LIFE photographer Sam Shere hit Rockaway Beach to reveal the scandalous swimsuits burning up the sands and capture moments when people who are overdressed by today's standards receive tickets for "indecent exposure".

See Photographs Of People Being Ticketed For "Indecent Exposure" At Rockaway Beach In 1946 here

Many people prefer Nutella to peanut butter, jam or plain butter on bread, and I've known a couple or three people who really go gaga for the stuff, eating it up by the jar as a staple in their pantry.  

But given the sweet, chocolaty and deliciously hazelnutty taste of Nutella I've always thought it must be terrible for you and contain very few hazelnuts - and I was right on both counts.

Redditor MrFlow shared this eye opening image originally created by the Consumer Center in Hamburg, Germany that clearly reveals what actually goes into each jar of Nutella.

And although this graphic shows a jar of Nutella is about half sugar the information on the label indicates it might contain even more sugar than that:

While Nutella contains just five ingredients (palm oil, cocoa, hazelnuts, skimmed milk powder, and sugar), a whopping half of the stuff is sugar.

According to its nutritional label, a jar of Nutella has 21 grams of sugar per 37 grams of spread (two tablespoons), meaning that in reality more than half is sugar. Much of the rest is palm oil — solid fat some claim causes cancer.

Peanut butter wins again!

-Via Daily Mail

The Wonder Woman series from the mid-70s truly did the iconic character justice, but before they got it right by casting Lynda Carter and giving the show a decent budget Wonder Woman's TV show dream died hard.

That's because back in 1967 TV execs were hoping to capitalize on the success of the Batman TV series by giving Wonder Woman her own show, and they even got Batman producer William Dozier to help create the show.

But, as you can see in this screen test for Who's Afraid Of Diana Prince?, a campy Wonder Woman series was never going to work- especially when she's a 27-million-year-old living with her mom.

(YouTube Link)

So whaddya think- is it too terrible to watch or so bad it's good?

-Via GeekTyrant