How She Kept her Husband with Lysol, the Disinfectant of Choice for Feminine Hygiene

“Inject disinfectant into the human body” sounds like the words of someone who flew over the cuckoo’s nest, doesn’t it? Well, once upon a time, women were encouraged to do exactly that, all to accentuate their “dainty femininity” and keep a rein on their man. And, if you were astute enough to read between the…

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

1. A 1962 Italian Magazine showing how the world would look in 2022 Found on Mildly Interesting. 2. An Open-Air Museum of Abandoned Soviet Trains In a railway deadlock surrounded by a dense forest, there are decommissioned locomotives and tractors… a strategic reserve in case of war… some locomotives are in relatively good condition, with…

Our Zoom Date with Britain’s First Woman to Explore the World (Alone) by Motorbike

In the summer of 1982, a 23-year-old Elspeth Beard set off on her motorbike, and didn’t return home until she’d travelled the entire globe – a remarkable feat for any person, but particularly as a solo female biker nearly 40 years ago, making her one of the first women to ride around the world alone…

An Ode to the Unexpected Whimsy (and Strength) of Your Mail Delivery

It was the Little Mail Truck Who Could. An odd American vehicle – looking more like a patriotic Good & Plenty than a post truck – but by the 1960s, the “Mailster” made up one-third of the post’s vehicular fleet, according to The Smithsonian, somehow schlepping 500 lbs of brown paper packages tied up with…

France, Is That Really You?

Ah, la douce France! Cobblestone streets and cafés lost in time, quaint little ancient villages surrounded by vineyards, heart-achingly beautiful architecture and skylines, just like you’ve seen it in the movies. Right? Well sure, but that’s only half of the story. Sometimes, France can look like the Eastern Bloc. Sometimes, it can look like the…

In the Midst of War, He Gave the World Electrifying Fairytales

When the going gets tough, the art gets going. That’s the beautiful thing about human creativity – it can sprout in any soil. Especially for the late British-French illustrator Edmund Dulac, whose flair for Art Nouveau fantasy not only gave us brilliant literary illustrations, but flights of fancy and escape during the First and Second World…

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

1. BBC TV Set Designs Do recognise them? Find the shows they belong to in the BBC Archives via Present & Correct. 2. Perhaps Bandstand Architecture is due for a Comeback? 1930s’ architecture comes to the parks of Whitehaven (above) and Swindon (below). Open air concert halls for a post-Coronavirus world? Found on Leftover London.…

Our Zoom Date with one of the World’s Last Artisanal Globemakers

Got your passport handy? Today, we chat with the founder of London’s Bellerby & Co., one of the world’s last remaining globemakers. Fancy a globe the size of a comet? They can make it. How about one crawling with medieval monsters or detailing the route of the Silk Road? You bet. Co-founder Peter Bellerby kindly…

Damn, there’s some Interesting Stuff to See in Yemen

One of these days, I hope to see this 500 year-old ghost town, perched precariously on top of a giant rock, sitting in a canyon somewhere in Yemen. I’d also like to see the world’s oldest skyscraper city, known as Yemen’s “Manhattan of the Desert”. And then there’s that island off the coast that UNESCO…

That 1960s Revolution of the Underground Press is Still Alive & Well

Let’s go back for a moment to the swinging sixties in London’s Notting Hill. Portobello Road is the main artery of the hippie movement, heaving with bohemians musicians and freethinking “freaks”, as they’re known to the establishment. Jimmy Hendrix hasn’t yet taken a fatal overdose in his flat and British counter-culture is on the rise.…