1. Elvis’ Last privately-owned Jet up for Auction after sitting for 30 years on a Roswell Runway
A 1962 Lockheed Jetstar, this jet was personally designed and ordered by Elvis Presley. The interior was custom designed to Elvis’ specifications, down to the gold-tone, woodwork, inlay and red velvet seats and red shag carpet. This jet was very important to Elvis as he owned it with his beloved father Vernon. The aircraft has never been restored and features original external painting and detailing, as well as original interior. The jet is the only airplane once belonging to Elvis that is still owned privately, as the only other two in existence are owned by The Elvis Presley Museum. The plane has no engines, and the cockpit has not been restored.
Starting bid: $10,000. Expected to fetch between $2million and $3.5million, according to liveauctioneers.com, which is the site handling the bidding.
2. This Horror Movie House in the French Alps For Sale
If you’re a foreign film buff, you might recognise this extremely unusual (if not very creepy) house. Situated in the French Alps, the 1200 m², four-storey mansion starred in Mathieu Kassovitz’ Les Rivières Pourpres (Crimson Rivers, 2000) starring Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel. It’s actually a very entertaining thriller. The house was built in 1940 for a wealthy industrialist and is now being advertised on Le Bon Coin (the French equivalent of Craigslist) for €901,000.
3. A Short History of Mail-Order Brides of the Wild West
Women who answered the ads for wives in the west were those who weren’t finding men, or men of quality, at home, or those who wanted to get away from home for some reason. Reasons included having strict parents, being the subject of a scandal that was ruining their reputation, or simply wanting adventure and/or a new start after something bad happening at home. These women needed to find husbands elsewhere, in places far away from where they lived. Surprisingly, there was no shortage of women who answered these mail order bride ads. Many Old West marriages were made this way.
Full article found on Vintage Everyday
4. Chester E. Macduffee with his 550 lb. aluminum deep sea diving suit, 1911
Found on Historical Times
5. NYC Trash Cans turned into Giant Flower Vases
A project by floral designer Lewis Miller, called Flower Flashes. Found on My Modern Met.
6. Drawings of Vintage Matchbooks from a Bygone Hollywood Era
Aaron Kasmin’s pencil drawings offer an escape into a time when smoking was considered chic and various hotels, bars and restaurants flogged their wares via miniature artworks that their patrons could take away with them. Up in Smoke by Aaron Kasmin will be on display at Sims Reed Gallery, London from May 17 – June 9, 2017.
More drawings found on Another Mag.
7. America’s Last Top Model
Following the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 … the Army Corps would build infrastructure to corral and maneuver the river in order to control it… they wanted a way to test out their building projects to make sure that they would work…. In 1943, the Corps began construction on a model that could test all 1.25 million square miles of the Mississippi River.
It would be a three-dimensional map of nearly half of the continental United States, rendered to a 1/2000 horizontal scale, spanning more than 200 acres. It was so big that the only way to see all of it at once was from a four-story observation tower.
As computer models became more accurate—or accurate enough—the Mississippi Basin Model gradually lost its funding.
By 1993, the model was closed. Today, it is completely derelict. The pipes and pump houses are rusting away. The earth and mud and water have all dried up, leaving a mess of concrete and wire mesh.
Listen to the full story podcast found on 99% Invisible.
8. The lesser known giant monuments of the world
Mao Zedong: Changsha, China
Dai Kannon: Sendai, Japan
Mother of the Fatherland: Kiev, Ukraine
Christ Blessing: Manado, Indonesia
African Renaissance Monument: Dakar, Senegal
Christ the King: Świebodzin, Poland
Guan Yu Statue: Yuncheng, China
The Motherland Call: Volgograd, Russia
A series by Fabrice Fouillet. Found on Present & Correct.
9. The Loneliest Subway Station in China
The mysterious station built, apparently constructed in the middle of nowhere, in 2015 in southwest China’s Chongqing municipality. Only one entry point of three is in regular use, the other two being overgrown with weeds and shubbery. After leaving the metro station, passengers enter a barren wasteland. No main roads are directly linked to the exit.
“It is quite normal to see no passengers here,” a subway employee told Chongqing Morning Post on Monday.
Found via DYT from the Shanghaiist.
10. Grand Central’s ‘secret bar’ reopens
Once the lordly private office of the railroad executive and millionaire John Williams Campbell, complete with Florentine décor, a coffered ceiling and a fireplace — will be reborn simply as the Campbell Bar.
More photos found on the NYTimes
11. Cowboys drinking at a saloon in Tascosa, Texas 1907
Found on Historium
12. Dinosaur Found (accidentally) by Miners in Canada
The 110 million-year-old fossil of a nodosaur preserves the animal’s armor, skin, and what may have been its final meal.
Found on National Geographic.
13. Must Love Bugs
Charlie and Lois O’Brien have the largest private collection of insects in the world. They’ve also been married for 55 years. Together, these love bugs have shared life, love and over a million creepy-crawlies.
Relationship goals.
