13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 722)

1. The Portable Pocket “iPad” of Typewriters The smallest typewriters ever made, first produced in 1907. Found here. 2. Royal Gorge Route in 1951 (still running) Denver and Rio Grande Western locomotive #5481 pulls train #1 through the Royal Gorge beside the Arkansas River in Fremont County, Colorado. Shows Hanging Bridge and the sheer walls of…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 721)

1. An abandoned theatre in Portugal for sale Theatre 1854 is the sixth oldest theatre still standing in Portugal. In Portugal’s Portalegre, it’s asking €400,000 and is classified as a building of municipal interest, meaning its future restoration, conversion, or adaptation would be subject to planning consent. More found on The Spaces. 2. Watched Gladiator II…

Let’s Talk About the Bidet, the Bathroom’s Best-Kept Secret

It’s one of those things everyone’s heard of, but few truly understand. It sits quietly in the corner of the bathroom (or as an attachment to the toilet itself), radiating mystery and a slight sense of intimidation. Ask someone about it, and you’ll usually get a shrug or a vague explanation that trails off into…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 720)

1. Art Excavation by Shan Hur I love the make-believe element of Shan Hur’s installations, offering the viewer an appreciation for the art itself, but also for the adventurous ways in which objets d’art can often be discovered. 2. This Roman glass work from 300 AD, survived intact At the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier an archaeological museum in…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 719)

1. A last look at an almost-forgotten Parisian apartment before it became a Museum Café at the Musée Bourdelle in Paris Antoine Bourdelle’s daughter Rhodia proved herself a dedicated guardian to her sculptor father’s artistic heritage, as the apartment she made of his studio above the Musée Bourdelle in Paris. In 1993, Word of Interiors…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 718)

1. Bezoar stones: undigested matter found in the gastrointestinal tract of deer, goats, porcupines and other animals, once prized as magical cure-all stones, worn by royalty Arabian doctors had been using bezoars since the 8th century, and brought them into western medicine in the 12th century as an antidote to arsenic, a favorite poison used to…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 717)

1. An old French Bank for Sale in the town of Nevers (two hours from Paris) An intriguing listing (asking price 1 544 000 €). Found on Patrice Besse. 2. Gustave Eiffel’s Swiss Villa Getaway Villa Claire, named after his daughter, was Gustave Eiffel’s preferred place of rest when he wasn’t building giant iron towers…

The Sweet & Forgotten Charm of Vintage Sugar Cube Packaging

So I found this peculiar collection on Flickr by a guy in California called Frank Kelsey. He’s been collecting for 30+ years – he’s also got impressive collections of vintage ashtrays, matchbook covers and baseball cards – but it’s his sugar cube wrappers that had me really enamoured. My guess is there aren’t that many…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 716)

Cauldrons ready? 1. Vintage ephemera from the Talking Board Historical Society Time to get your boards out. More imagery here. 2. Hieroglyphic Lioconcha, a true enigma of the ocean Hieroglyphic Lioconcha is a fascinating species of saltwater clam, native to the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific. It is distinguished by its intricate patterns on the shell…

Collectors Item du Jour: The “Pigeon Pink” Treasures of Post-Revolutionary France

I was doing the rounds at my go-to brocante / Aladdin’s cave and caught a glint of some unique pink glassware on a shelf, tucked away behind some kitschy old china. It wasn’t your average bubblegum pink, this was Charles X’s gorge de pigeon, “pigeon’s throat” pink; named as such because it evokes the iridescent…