The Hidden Mothers of the Victorian Era

It’s a tall order to take a nice picture of a screaming baby even with Photoshop, so how are there so many vintage photos of well-behaved children at a time when it took up to 30 seconds for a camera to take a single picture? The clue is in the furnishings. That’s no ordinary pattered armchair–…

Where to find Provence in Paris

Meet me on the Place Dauphine for a slice of Provence in the heart of Paris, one of the most, if not the most beautiful hidden gems this city has to offer on a warm summer’s eve. Tucked away on an island in the middle of the river Seine, this peaceful enclave with its picture perfect…

Vintage Snapshots of Swedish Midsummer looking suspiciously like a Spooky Cult

While the annual holiday of Midsummer typically brings to mind flower crowns and smorgasbords of perfectly-arranged picnic food, we’ve dug up some archive photographs from the Midsummers of yore, where the grainy black & white filters and old fashioned 19th century dress suddenly bring a distinctly more ‘culty’ vibe to the whole affair…. The ancient holiday is deeply rooted…

Meet the Winners of Drag Race 100 Years Ago

Hoist up your garters and fasten your wigs, because we’re voguing our way back in time to the origins of drag ball extravaganzas: those champagne and lipstick fuelled soirées where drag queens, cross-dressers, and everybody in-between gathered to unfurl their fabulousness in style – and just like on the main stage of the hit TV…

The Forgotten Treehouse Bars of Bygone Summers in Paris

There was once a place that drew crowds of Parisians away from their grand boulevards and sidewalk cafés to rediscover their inner child, wine & dine in chestnut tree houses and celebrate summer like Robinson Crusoe. Perhaps you’ve heard of a “guingette”, a sort of French equivalent to a summer hoedown, traditionally located next to the river and particularly…

The Curious Career of Living as a Real-Life Garden Gnome

If you were out of a job in 19th century England and seeking new employment, there was a chance you might find a peculiar advertisement in the newspaper that read something like: “WANTED! Ornamental garden hermit“. The profession would essentially require you to become a human ornamental folly on the grounds of a wealthy family…

The Last Eccentrics of the English Estate

Step inside Three of England’s most Unconventional Grand Homes… Time Capsule of a Taxidermy Hoarder They call Calke Abbey the “un-stately” home– rooms filled with animal heads kept in dusty glass cases, fading furnishings, cobwebs and walls of peeling paintwork. In lieu of restoring the house to its former glory, the English National Trust chose to leave…

The Vault

A Secret Archive in New York City that Saved Tiffany Lamps from Extinction

Whose job is it to safeguard one of the most hated designs in decorative history? In the case of the Tiffany lamp, it fell to a New York City orthodontist and immigrant from Austria who happened to be furniture shopping in Greenwich Village in 1935 when his wife spotted a “strange, old-fashioned lamp”. Dr. Egon Neustadt and…

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The Last Great California Hippie Commune is still going Strong

They came from the mountains, and kept to themselves. If you were lucky, you might have seen them frolicking in the hills under the glow of the buttery, golden hour sunshine that California does so well. Collectively, they were known as “The Brotherhood of the Sun,” and in the 1970s, they emerged as one of…

Why the Newspaper Kiosks in Paris are so Important

Paris’ 150 year-old newspaper kiosk could be considered one of the most “charming” little features of its urban landscape. A nostalgic reminder of simpler and more romantic times, largely unchanged over the years since they first appeared in 1857 during Baron Haussmann’s renovation of Paris. Just like London’s iconic red telephone booth, the Parisian kiosk…