1. Mr & Mrs Karsy’s Giant Myriphon
From the Byron collection but little more information is given on the photo other than “Musical act” penciled on the back. The unusual contraption depicted was probably the centrepiece of a musical act at Coney Island or at Union Square circa early 1900s.
Found on the Museum of the City of New York Online Collections.
2. “Chateau Astremoine”
Located somewhere in France, dating back to the 19th century. Chateau “Astremoine” is an alias name given by urban explorers.
Explore the rest of the house in this Flickr album.
3. Magic Buttons
For sale on Etsy
4. A wine bar carved into a Mountain
Enoteca dai Tosi is a wine bar carved into a the cliffs of the Italian town of Matera, where the abandoned medieval caves, dating back to the Palaeolithic age, are being revived.
Found on Trendland.
5. The Ugly Club
In 1887, Mr. Howell, a second hand book dealer, came across the minutes of a club which had met some century and half before: The Most Honourable and Facetious Society of Ugly Faces.
Some rules of the club included:
- No person whatsoever shall be admitted… that is not a man of honour and a facetious disposition.
- That a large mouth, thin jaws, blubber lips, little goggling or squinting eyes shall be esteemed considerable qualifications in a candidate.
- That a particular regard shall be had for the prominence of a candidates nose, and the length of his chin.
- That a large carbuncle, potato nose [shall] be esteemed the most honourable of any.
New members were to be voted on by the majority of other members, with the president having the casting vote.
Qualifications of individual members included Franics Gildart with his “large pancake face,” James Ashton with his “nose like a shuffled nose shark,” Mathew Strong with his “thoroughly begrimed” teeth, and Robert Fillingham who was “in every respect extremely well qualified.”
Found on The Oddment Emporium.
6. “Worn Five Minutes on the Morning Trains”
Found on Pinterest
7. Deep sea diver entering the water, 1915
This photo made the cover of Scientific American Supplement on October 23, 1915 with the caption: “A diver in full costume making a sensational descent.”
Found on NOAA.
8. The World’s Most Remote Pop-Up Shop
Cliffside shop handing out gear on the iconic Bastille in Eldorado Canyon…
See what the shopping experience was like for the climbers. Found on Ad Week.
9. A Giant Marble Boat
A lakeside pavilion on the grounds of the Summer Palacein Beijing, China. It was first erected in 1755 during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor.
In 1860, during the Second Opium War, the pavilion was destroyed by Anglo-French forces. It was restored in 1893.
10. Over 50 Caribbean flamingos take shelter in the men’s room at the Miami Metrozoo during Hurricane Georges, 1998
Zookeepers rounded up the birds to protect them from the effects of Hurricane Georges. This was not the first time the zoo had to corral flamingos in a restroom. They were also in there during Hurricane Andrew, six years earlier.
More on How Zoos And Aquariums Handle Hurricanes
11. Found Object Robots (Fobots)
Fobots are the work of Raleigh, North Carolina artist Amy Flynn. She scours flea markets, basements, internet auctions, and scrapyards for cool old junk. Amy then solders and bolts the pieces together to create sturdy, one-of-a-kind sculptures, never to be duplicated.
Have a browse through the Fobot gallery.
12. These Galactic Eclairs
Musse Confectionery in the Ukraine has its own space-inspired specialty: extraterrestrial éclairs.
Found on My Modern Met.
13. A Friend of mine shared her Little Sister’s Animated Short. It blew me away.
A touching and whimsical story set in Paris, “Loulou“, by Rawan Rahim.
