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Category / Editor’s Picks

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 718)

1. Bezoar stones: undigested matter found in the gastrointestinal tract of deer, goats, porcupines and other animals, once prized as magical cure-all stones, worn by royalty Arabian doctors had been using bezoars since the 8th century, and brought them into western medicine in the 12th century as an antidote to arsenic, a favorite poison used to…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 719)

1. A last look at an almost-forgotten Parisian apartment before it became a Museum Café at the Musée Bourdelle in Paris Antoine Bourdelle’s daughter Rhodia proved herself a dedicated guardian to her sculptor father’s artistic heritage, as the apartment she made of his studio above the Musée Bourdelle in Paris. In 1993, Word of Interiors…

The Factory Girl who Became an Art Deco Ceramics Sensation

When English ceramic artist Clarice Cliff first started designing pottery in the 1920s, her work was so out there, the styled garnered the name “Bizarre.” But the curious and colourful decorative pieces with abstract shapes and pastoral scenes soon gathered an impressive following. Ahead of her time, Cliff’s rise to fame during the mid 20th…

A Life Less Ordinary with a Real-Life Snow White

Deep inside one of the last remaining primeval forests in Europe, in-between Belarus and Poland, stands an old hunting lodge straight out of a fairytale. For over 30 years, ecologist Simona Kossack lived in this secluded glade without amenities nor electricity or running water and with an unusual band of forest friends. There was a…

The Hushed History of Sex Workers on the Battlefield

Sex and war are seemingly the uneasiest of bedfellows, nonetheless, they’ve have had a most intense relationship over centuries of conflict. As early as the Third Crusade, Philip II of France, horrified with the rampant rape and sodomy in his armies, instructed boatloads of “girls of joy” to be dispatched from France to “re-focus” his…

The Sweet & Forgotten Charm of Vintage Sugar Cube Packaging

So I found this peculiar collection on Flickr by a guy in California called Frank Kelsey. He’s been collecting for 30+ years – he’s also got impressive collections of vintage ashtrays, matchbook covers and baseball cards – but it’s his sugar cube wrappers that had me really enamoured. My guess is there aren’t that many…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 717)

1. An old French Bank for Sale in the town of Nevers (two hours from Paris) An intriguing listing (asking price 1 544 000 €). Found on Patrice Besse. 2. Gustave Eiffel’s Swiss Villa Getaway Villa Claire, named after his daughter, was Gustave Eiffel’s preferred place of rest when he wasn’t building giant iron towers…

The Parisian Poison Panic and Versailles’ Secret Witch Hunt

This is a different kind of story about Versailles; one that they only dared whisper about in the palace’s gilded halls. It’s the little-known story of a witch hunt that unfolded in secrecy within the French royal court, eclipsed in history by a more famous witch hunt that took place a decade later, thousands of…

A Lesson in True Bohemianism with the Witch of Positano

Every so often, an original is born; timeless, defying genre and completely of themself. Vali Myers, artist, dancer, environmentalist, bohemian and muse, was as original as they come, inspiring writers, artists and musicians from the streets of a post Second World War Paris to her bohemian coven in the wild canyons above Positano. Forming friendships…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 716)

Cauldrons ready? 1. Vintage ephemera from the Talking Board Historical Society Time to get your boards out. More imagery here. 2. Hieroglyphic Lioconcha, a true enigma of the ocean Hieroglyphic Lioconcha is a fascinating species of saltwater clam, native to the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific. It is distinguished by its intricate patterns on the shell…

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