Snow White Is Real (and She’s a Chinese Vlogger)

“This is China? It looks like a fairyland,” was Nessy’s first reaction to Li Ziqi’s (李子柒) vlogs. Our team watched, entranced, as Ziqi scurried through the misty morning air of her village, dutifully followed by not one but three baby animals (two puppies and lamb); we observed her gather nuts and fruits in a dewy…

Greetings, from the Desert of Ghost Ships

Only 30 years ago, this was home to our planet’s 4th largest inland water mass; an ancient sea so vast, even Alexander the Great wrote of his struggles to cross it; where fishing commerce boomed and holidaymakers once flocked to its seaside spa town. Now, for the first time in 600 years, the Aral Sea…

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

1. This Art Nouveau Sleeping Beauty in Cairo, Egypt This is an old castle was owned by Abdel Salam Khalil Pasha. It was designed by the famous Italian architect Antonio Lasciac, who designed a lot of castles in Egypt in different architectural style ranging from neo-Baroque to Art Nouveau, etc. I’d like to know more…

A Shortlist of the Most Obscure Design Oddities

Life is simply too short not to explore the strangest depths of design, which, in all honesty, are usually the most innovative. Case in point: exploring the world of antique fish pulpits in Eastern Europe, reusing WWII stretchers as fences, or fashioning a coffin to look like a cow or taking a ride in France’s…

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

1. A Great White Shark preserved in formaldehyde in an abandoned wildlife park “Curiously, the shark—alongside the rest of the park’s non-living attractions—were left behind. Apparently interest from the curators at the Melbourne Museum also cooled, as the shark had began to badly age in its forgotten tank. So then, for the next seven years,…

The Women Who Walked on Wings

Gladys Roy, pictured above on the far wing, is probably the only woman in the world who could say she’s played tennis on an airplane– at least in our circle of friends. As it turns out, a lot of women did some pretty crazy stuff on airplanes in the 1920s… Take Gladys Ingle, for example…

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

1. Vintage Roller Skate Boxes Found on Anonymous Works. Lots for sale on Etsy too (with original skates). 2. A 19th Century Tintype of an Orthopedic Shoe Found on Pinterest. 3. Couture dresses made with Vintage Maps By Elizabeth Lecourt. 4. Demonic Children in Mid-century Advertising Found on Plan 59. 5. ‘Witches’ marks’ found in…

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

1. Discovery of a 3000-2000 BC ‘high priest’ in a vessel during the Uruk excavation of 1929/30 Found on Reddit’s Museum of Artefacts. 2. Ancient Mosaics just sitting unprotected by the shoreline “Yes, they are wonderful and in an ideal world they would be preserved”… Find out more on Helen Miles Mosaics 3. The New…

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

1. The ridiculously dangerous sport of “Auto Polo” Automobile polo or Auto polo was a motorsport invented in the United States with rules and equipment similar to equestrian polo but using automobiles instead of horses. The “sport” which was popularised by an automobile dealer as a publicity stunt for Ford cars. …A tally of the damages…

The Vault

How to Mess with the Nazis: The CIA’s Sabotage Manual for Ordinary Citizens

Trolling the Nazis. Sounds like fun right? During World War II, the OSS, (now the CIA) put out a “Sabotage Field Manual”, which described innovative ways in which ordinary citizens could sabotage America’s enemies by doing a range of disruptive things from starting arguments to starting fires. The OSS Director William J. Donovan recommended that the…

Pssst! You've stumbled across content that is exclusive to Nessy's Keyholders.

There’s a new way to access the really special stuff from Messy Nessy Chic …

Hidden beneath the surface layers of the internet, there’s a place where we keep our most secret addresses, untapped archives, creator’s inspiration, collector’s guides, explorer’s manuals, obscure research and much more… And it’s made for our keyholders only!

Apply now to unlock the Vault

Keyholder Login