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Cabinet of Chic Curiosities

The Forgotten Power of the Parlour Palm

We forget that once upon a time, social status had a lot to do with the common houseplant. We’re talking about the parlour palm, one of the most significant decorative features in a Victorian home, which referred to any number of varieties of palms, ferns, and other hardy perennials that were native to South America,…

The Toilet Duty Dukes and Duchesses of England

Those precious moments of alone time in the bathroom are priceless to many of us, and yet strangely enough, it was one of the few luxuries the King and Queen of England could not afford. Until as recently as the 20th century, the British monarchy appointed what was known as the “Groom of the Stool”, a courtier responsible for…

“Somehow Gone out the Window”: The 33 Storey Loss of Ana Mendieta

In an emergency call on September 8th, 1985, Carl Andre told the 911 responder that his wife Ana Mendieta had “somehow gone out the window” of their 34th floor apartment in Greenwich Village, New York City. Mendieta fell to her death that day, landing on the roof a deli. She was 36 years old, and…

Tiny American Mugshots of the Anti-Espionage Age

From the 1930s to the 1950s, these charming little I.D. badges were rolled out across America as a “fail-safe” homeland security measure in a crackdown on the threat of industrial espionage. Each badge gives clues to a story, whether you’re trying to piece together the identity of the person or the company they worked for.…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. DCXL)

1. Hegra, an Ancient City in Saudi Arabia Untouched for Millennia The archaeological site, now open to tourists, offers clues about the mysterious empire that built it and its more famous sister city of Petra in Jordan. Previously, foreign tourists had to obtain special permission from the government to visit, which fewer than 1,000 did…

Isn’t it About Time We Rediscovered The MiniDisc?

This one goes out to Generation Y. Part of being a collector means taking a bit of risk and making a prediction that something might appreciate in value. The key is often to find something that’s cheap and rare, and buying it before everyone else discovers they want it too. I was in the car…

The Manifesto Dedicated to all those B*tches Out There

“Whom callest thou ‘slut’, scabbed bitch,” was supposedly the first recorded reference of anyone ever getting called a bitch, it was of course not the last. It might have been uttered in Middle English, but the message was clear, it was an insult. We’re in the 1400s and the Chester plays, which portrayed biblical scenes,…

Clubhouse Goals with the Red Rose Girls

“The chief obstacle to a woman’s success is that she can never have a wife.” Anna Lea Merritt (19th Century Artist), Lipincott’s Magazine. Virginia Woolf may have nailed the formula to becoming an independent, creative woman in her 1929 essay A Room of One’s Own, but groups of artistic women had been testing this formula…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. DCXXXIX)

1. The Yuppie Handbook, 1984 View the full book in the Internet Archive (with an account – free to sign up), found on Present & Correct. 2. Art Deco Disco: Did you ever notice the 1970s Design Revival of the Jazz Age? A forgotten mash-up or two eras, compiled by Evan Collins on Are.na 3.…

The Ghost Bath Houses of Paris

I was researching old Parisian advertisements from the 19th century (as you do) when I came across this one for a palatial Turkish bath house near the opera house. Behind its vaulted arches, magnificent mosaics were lit by stars of coloured glass and according to a 19th century ‘Bather’s Guide’ to Paris, the establishment boasted Roman-Turkish hammams,…
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