Victorian Mansion For Sale, Perfect for Wes Anderson’s remake of the Addams Family

Meet the Victorian gem that rolled right out of our dreams, and into the little city of Abilene, Kansas. The yellow brick mansion – boasting two dozen rooms and five storeys – is the ultimate Addams-Family-meets-Wes-Anderson fantasy. The “Lebold Mansion,” est. 1880, is already renovated – such a rare case for these beauties, which often…

Banner Ladies: The Human Billboards of Yesteryear

Whether you’ve traded your old sofa on Craigslist or advertised your business and its products to the world, we’ve all had to dabble in the art of promotion at one point or another. In my experience, creativity is key, and it doesn’t get much more creative than the advertising style of 19th century banner ladies,…

The Undertaker Village of Paris: Then & Now

It was a time when divorcées were only allowed to be buried at night, when the Arch of Triomphe wore a black mourning veil, and the business of death was booming in Paris. In fact, over one thousand undertakers worked together in their own veritable mini-city at the town’s edge, from coffin makers and casket…

Podcast du Jour: The Reclusive Royals that Lived in a Crumbling Jungle Palace

Some stories never leave us. They take up permanent residency in our brain, resurfacing for years to come in shades of daydreams and just-before-bed thoughts. “The Jungle Prince of Dehli” is one of those stories. Declarations of “How have we not heard about this?” and “Just when you think every story has been told…” made…

Vacationing at the West’s Smallest Ghost Town

Is luck just another word for good timing? It is for the town of Gold Point. Under the endless stretch of sky in Esmerelda County, Nevada, at the gateway of Death Valley, the little ghost town sleeps with dreams of bygone glory. Of chattering saloon life and gold dusted guns. Once upon a time –…

Paris without People

There was something strange about the collection of Paris photographs I stumbled upon in the archives of the French national library today. The streets and buildings looked surprisingly familiar despite the photographs being over 150 year old, but where were all the people? Was this Paris’ great disappearance act of the 19th century? Alas, the…

Lessons in Historical Male Peacocking, from Lord Gaga to the King of Afrofuturism

They’re performers. Dandies. Men with a streak of the mad poet. Writers, dancers, and professional party boys. Though these eccentrics span across generations, all share a brazen commitment to being themselves that’s made for some of the most memorable menswear moments in the 19th and 20th centuries. Long before fashion was giving the middle finger…

The 19th Century Escort Cards with Pick-Up Lines you definitely haven’t heard before

Without Facebook, online dating sites and lest we dare mention applications like Tinder, in the 19th century, single boys and girls had to be a little more inventive with their dating game. And thus, the American ‘escort card’ or ‘invitation card’ was introduced. It wasn’t exactly used in high society but this handy acquaintance card was…

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 Musician Searching for Forgotten Pianos Inside Derelict Wonders

Debussy said music is all about “the silence between the notes.” But for Romain Thiery, it’s about making sure that silence doesn’t grow too loud. Since 2009, the pianist, photographer, and overall urbex Renaissance man has been spotlighting the world’s grandest pianos in their final hour, in equally stunning and crumbling abodes, to give them…