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Category / Editor’s Picks

Here’s What a Futurist World’s Fair Looked like Behind the Iron Curtain

The World’s Fairs used to capture the public’s imagination. From the millions who attended such iconic Fairs as the ones held in New York in 1939 and 1964, to the nostalgia they’re viewed with today, the World’s Fairs were places where people could catch glimpses of a futuristic better world; seeing such technological marvels as…

Want to Explore NYC’s Most Secret Spaces? Join the Club

I‘m wondering how many New Yorkers know about the greatest club in their city. Like many of your reading, I’m the kind of city kid that likes to look under the surface of my urban landscape, open doors I’m not supposed to and see inside spaces you need a special key for. The New York Adventure Club has…

An Insider Peep into Tokyo’s Secretive Red Light District: Then & Now

Watanabe Katsumi was the king of treading lightly. As a drifting photographer, his lens was a stealthy observer of Tokyo’s red light district, snapping hundreds of photos of its drag queens, gangsters, prostitutes, and other fringe society members in the 1960s and 70s. Few dared enter the underbelly of the city like him and the…

America’s “Best Dressed Woman”, the Original Flapper who got the World Dancing Again

You might not know her name, but a century ago, Irene Castle was the household name at the dawn of the Roaring Twenties. Historians consider her to be the first original flapper but in her lifetime, Irene wore many hats: dancer, model, actress, animal activist, and fashion trendsetter. She left an enormous influence on American…

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

1. Wanted: Caretaker to look after uninhabited Scottish island A remote and uninhabited Scottish island near Ullapool with no full-time residents is looking for a resident caretaker to keep the island in shape for visitors this summer. Isle Martin has two beaches, just three properties to stay and in the summer, a micro museum (in…

These Fabulous Vintage Japanese Slot Machines are a Collector’s Dream

I‘ve just recently discovered the world of vintage Pachinko machines and my new interest is dangerously close to turning into something “I absolutely have to start collecting right now”. For those that, like me just a few days ago, had never heard of “pachinko” before, prepare to be dazzled by a far more fabulous, Japanese version of the…

Before Broadway, Paris had Boulevard du Crime, a Riotous Theatre District Lost in Time

The Boulevard du Crime, a nickname for the Boulevard du Temple in Paris, could not be more of a misnomer. It was never the refuge of thieves or scoundrels but rather in the 19th century, this street was a joyful nocturnal Right Bank hotspot; a 24/7 carnival with a host of cabarets, cafés and most notably…

Cover Girls of the Anti-Apartheid

Once described as the “Hollywood of Black South Africa”, in 1951, Sophiatown, Johannesburg was one of the last surviving multiracial neighbourhoods of Apartheid and a symbol of resistance against a racist regime. It was here where the writers of DRUM magazine found their beat and South Africa’s Black celebrities and entertainment found their spotlight. It’s…

Donna Summer is the Overlooked Style Icon that We Need to Get our Sparkle Back

The late, great Donna Summer was so much more than a disco queen. Did you know she was a painter too? But we’ll get to that in a moment. Donna began her musical career in high school in the late 1960s when she became the lead singer of a psychedelic rock band named Crow. At the…

Not Just a Scandalous Heiress, She’s a Forgotten Early Ally of Black Lives Matter

When we think of an heiress, we tend to picture an overdressed spendthrift sipping a top shelf cocktail from an expensive crystal glass; her eyes mischievously peering over the rim telling stories of glamour, sex and scandal. Heir to the Cunard shipping dynasty, Nancy Cunard was known for all of that too; her paramours included Ernest…

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