How Does a 10 Day Week Sound? The French Tried It For 13 Years
It’s the Year 232, according to the French Republican Calendar. If a wine’s vintage is…
Category Obscure history
The Dandy Suit that America Banned and Caused a Riot
You know the zoot suit. It’s the suit that bad guys are usually wearing in comical mid-century gangster movies,…
The Art of Kissing Fanny
There’s a curious expression used in Provence by pétanque players. “Embrasser Fanny” or to “kiss…
What’s Up with all the Lady Parts in Medieval Prayer Books?
Let’s say you’re flipping through a medieval Christian prayer book (as you do), and suddenly…
Trolling Nazis (and the world) with Forged Art
The accepted number of authenticated Vermeer paintings today is 34, but that number became mysteriously…
The Women Warriors who served Wine on the Battlefield
Forgotten feminist icons of the French military, the Vivandières, alternatively known as cantinières, was the French…
Curiosity du Jour: The Intimate Little World of Nun Boxes
Let’s say you’re rummaging around the dusty recesses of a centuries-old French convent, as one…
The Secret History of the Manicule, the Little Hand that’s Everywhere
Familiar to anyone who pays attention to vintage aesthetics, I’m embarrassed to say it’s taken…
Misadventures of the Psychedelic Rock Queen Who Tried to Spike Nixon’s Drink
Grace Slick is the the psychedelic queen who didn’t give a f**k– literally, she was the…
The Forgotten Firsts: 10 Vintage Versions of Modern Technology
In this age of mobile, wireless, digital and whatchamacallit technology, nothing seems to surprise us nowadays. Unless…
Churches and their Hidden Basement Bowling Alleys
Churches have bowling alleys? Yes, they do, but they’re a dying breed. There are thought…
When Dangerous Dancing Dandies were the Bad Boys of Paris
The Paris of the Belle Époque saw the emergence of a certain type of street…