20 Things to Do at Home instead of Banging Your Head Against a Wall

Okay, so things have escalated quickly. Whether you’re hunkering down at home or just avoiding crowds for the moment, we’ve been putting our heads together at the MNC HQ to make life a little easier for you. Sure you can catch up on a juicy novel and watch Netflix to your heart’s content – but what…

Doomsday Fashion of the Azores Islands

Somewhere in between the Handmaids Tale and the Grim Reaper, there were the unnerving ladies of the Azores Islands. “Enveloped in their large hooded cloaks, the Azorian women seems to flit about like phantoms,” wrote Elisée Reclus in a 19th century encylopedic series on the earth’s inhabitants. With radical doomsday preppers making headlines with their…

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

1. Ukranian Railroad Ladies Like something out of a Wes Anderson movie. Ukrainian Railroad Ladies is a series of portraits of women who work as traffic controllers and safety officers at railroad crossings in Ukraine. The women spend their long shifts in the little houses built specifically for them along the tracks … They are a…

Backstage at the Paris Opera House in 1937

Just when I think I’ve seen all the vintage photos there are to see of Paris, I get lucky and find a stack of treasure hiding away in the archives to share with you. So today, we’re using our virtual backstage pass to snoop around the iconic Palais Garnier. Classical ballet as we know it today…

Keep Calm and Make Anti-Coronavirus Moonshine for your Hands

The recipe is stupidly simple. We spend a fair amount of time geeking out over post-apocalyptic scenarios here at MessyNessy; there’s an entire category dedicated to “abandoned places” when and if you need it, zombie/ disaster movies are admittedly one of my favourite genres, and I’ve often wondered how I would fare in such scenarios.…

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

1. Purse Lost in the 1950s Becomes an Unexpected Time Capsule In 2019, a custodian at the North Canton Middle School was repairing lockers when he discovered a bag wedged behind a piece of detachable metal. Although dusty and dirty, the contents of the purse were well preserved. They belonged to Patti Rumfola who lost the purse…

And Now, Abandoned Dollhouses for your Inner Demon Child

Forget those twee little dollhouses from your childhood, we’re a tiny bit obsessed with the work of a truly twisted genius. Juli Steel is not your average miniaturist. A self-taught assemblage artist from Texas who goes by the alias of @TwistedCopperForest, like us, Juli has a weak spot for the forgotten and unloved things of…

Someone Reinvented the Futuro House and put it on Airbnb

In 1968, a Finnish architect designed what would become a controversial but iconic example of mid-century architecture, inspired by the post-war futurism and space exploration. The Futuro house was all set for mass production around the world, marketed as the ideal “portable” ski chalet or beach house, promising to change the way we lived. Some…

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

1. One of the last fully functioning former Woolworth’s luncheonettes On Feb. 22, 1879, 141 years ago this weekend, F.W. Woolworth opened his first five-and-dime store, in Utica, New York. At its peak, Woolworth’s would have around 5,000 stores, and become a symbol of America, before the end came in 1997. But the chain has had…

Mother & Daughter Buy an Abandoned Chateau, Invite You to Stay as they Restore It

Back in 2013, we broke a story about a couple that bought an abandoned chateau and started a blog to share their journey. Widespread interest, longing and general FOMO (fear-of-missing-out) ensued on the internet. Several years later, we’ve found a similar fairytale: an architect from Austria, Elisabeth Herring, and her daughter Valerie, adopt a neglected 16th…