1. Arsenic Wafers, nibbled on by Victorian women to get a very pale skin tone
Say the word arsenic and most people think “deadly poison.” Arsenic was the poison of choice for murderers up through the latter part of the nineteenth century, and it is still used for homicides up to the present time. It may, therefore, seem surprising that arsenic was also used extensively as a medicine for centuries, and was even consumed by many people as a health tonic or for cosmetic purposes.
“by the use of hidri [arsenic], to the natural graces of her filling and rounding form, paints with brighter hues her blushing cheeks and tempting lips, and imparts a new and winning lustre to her sparkling eye. Every one sees and admires the reality of her growing beauty: the young men sound her praises”
Dr. Simms’ Arsenic Complexion Wafers and Dr. Campbell’s Arsenic Complexion Wafers were popular, as were arsenical soaps. In general, however, these arsenical wafers and soaps contained very little arsenic, which was undoubtedly a good thing.
Read all about it on Ultimate History Project.
2. Photos dug up from Grace Jone’s 30th Birthday
More racy shots over on Dangerous Minds.
3. Exercise Advice for Flappers, circa 1920s
More gorgeous prints found on The Vault.
4. These Heavenly Skylights
(c) Mª Angeles
(c) Max Boschini
(c) Abariltur
“There are two villages named Belchite sitting side by side in the south of Spain. One is home to about 1,600 people. The other is a ghost town, ruined during Spain’s Civil War and left untouched as a reminder of the destruction wreaked across the country”.
Found on Flickr.
5. How 43 Giant, Crumbling Presidential Heads ended up in a Virginia Field
The busts are all that remains of Virginia’s Presidents Park, a now-defunct open-air museum where visitors could once walk among the presidential heads. Presidents Park first opened in nearby Williamsburg in 2004, the brainchild of local landowner Everette “Haley” Newman and Houston sculptor David Adickes, who was inspired to create the giant busts after driving past Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.
Photos by David Ogden.
Find what happened after their presidential visions soon went bust on the Smithsonian.
6. Inside the Louise Bourgeois House, just as she left it
Unlike Paris, where the homes and studios of Auguste Rodin, Eugene Delacroix and Gustave Moreau are on the standard tourist itinerary, New York has a paucity of artist’s house museums. Painters and sculptors in Manhattan have typically inhabited lofts, and when they move on, others take over the spaces.
At long last, it has its corresponding yin: the recessed, cluttered Chelsea townhouse that was occupied by Louise Bourgeois….
“Louise never threw anything out,” said Jerry Gorovoy, who was Bourgeois’s assistant and friend for 30 years.
After her husband’s death in 1973, she turned the whole building into an art studio.
Louise Bourgeois in her home studio in 1974. Louise Joséphine Bourgeois was a French-American artist. Best known for her large-scale sculpture (the spiders) and installation art, Bourgeois was also a prolific painter and printmaker.
Full tour of her home on the New York Times.
7. This Playhouse for Kids
Built by architects who also design some pretty gorgeous oceanfront houses for adults worth drooling over on their website.
8. This playhouse for Adults
Foster Huntington was an up-and-comer in the New York fashion industry. Then he ditched it all and built his own personal paradise in the sky.
“Escape to Brotopia”, read the full article found on the NYTimes.
9. These Jewellery Designs
Found on Kate’s Little Store.
10. North Korea’s Black Market Label Pins
Distributed by the Workers’ Party of Korea, “Kim pins,” featuring either one or both of the late leaders, are a mandatory patriotic accessory for adults. Forget to wear one, and there may be consequences… Selling the pin is considered a political crime and a “commercialization of supreme dignity” in the eyes of the North Korean government.
Here’s one on ebay. Read more about these objects of intrigue on Atlas Obscura.
11. American G.I.s + English Girls canoodling in Hyde Park during WWII
I’m also kind of blown away that Hyde Park used to have sheep roaming around its premises. How wonderful!
See Photos of American Soldiers Courting English Girls During World War II, found on Time.
12. This instagram account
I might be a little late in the game finding this instagram (I’d seen that photoshopped whale picture before), but this account is way too much fun not to follow.
13. This Extremely Creepy Diorama
American artist Mark Ryden is the creative force behind this spectacular diorama which he’s named ‘Memory Lane‘. Insert a penny and the entire scene magically spring into life.
See it in action below…
More of the artist’s work here, found via So Bad So Good.
