“Portraits Of Bedlam”: Haunting Photos Of Patients Treated At Britain’s Most Notorious Psychiatric Hospital In The 19th Century
Haunting photographs show people who attended the infamous Bethlem Royal Hospital where patients were ‘treated’ by being spun round in chairs in front of paying punters. Most of the patients at the London asylum, better known as Bedlam, were diagnosed with acute mania and some arrived after killing people. Continue reading »
This French Custom Retro-Futuristic Furniture Made From Classic Car Parts
Most car fanatics prefer to see classic cars kept together and driveable. But for one reason or another, they sometimes end up in junk yards, barns, or abandoned in a field. If you can bear the thought of your favorite classic car being transformed into furniture, then then read on. Otherwise, avert your eyes. Continue reading »
Concepts From Future Past: Alfa Romeo Carabo, 1968
Auto designers certainly fell in love with wedge-shaped cars in the late 1960s. With many of the best known examples of the wedge design coming out of Europe, it’s no surprise that at least one bears the Alfa Romeo nameplate. First shown in Paris in 1968, the Alfa Romeo Carabo was designed by Bertone’s Marcello Gandini. Continue reading »
Life Of The 1850s: Amazing Photos That Show How The World Looked Like Over 160 Years Ago
Drinking and cards, circa late 1850s
Over 160 years ago, the world was in a state of transition. The Industrial Revolution had laid the groundwork for an upcoming rapid modernization; steamships and telegraph lines were making the world a smaller place; the United States was struggling with the issue of slavery and trying to avoid a civil war; and a relatively new invention was becoming an indispensable tool for artists, documentarians, and journalists: the camera. Continue reading »
Nike Created A Limited-Edition “Stranger Things” Sneakers Made With Fabric That Can Be Burned Away To Reveal Hidden Details
The “Stranger Things” hype isn’t over yet. Nike has once again teamed up with Netflix to create a special pair of Tailwind sneakers featuring details paying homage to the latest season of the show. Continue reading »
Weird Medieval Paintings Of Cats Licking Their Butts
Medieval monks were put to work making “illuminated manuscripts” – holy books in which every page was filled with beautiful works of art. Sometimes, they would fill the page with beautiful patterns of flowers and ivy. Sometimes, they would add depth to the words by illustrating the stories. And sometimes, they’d just draw cats licking their butts. Continue reading »
Amazing Colorized Photos Show What Kitchens Looked Like In The First Half Of The 20th Century
Tenement Kitchen, 1905
An amazing set of colorized photographs from Color Me Six Ways to Sunday that show what kitchens looked like from the first half of the 20th century. Continue reading »
People Blend Themselves In With Vinyls
Since retro is the new hot nowadays, vinyl is starting its great comeback. So if you are a vinyl junkie or your parents have a big collection of the greatest ’80s hits, this could be your next great opportunity. People across the Internet unleash their creativity by paying homage to vinyl cover art and bringing it to life in a new context. Following the trend, people are obscuring or augmenting their body parts with record sleeves causing an entertaining illusion captured on photos before digital collages were cool. Continue reading »
“A Colorful Day Out To Coney Island”: Color Photographs Of A Summer’s Escape From New York City In 1948
Back to the good old days, Coney Island was a place where the straight-talking working class lapped up the fun in an America founded on security and purpose. This was confident, snooty-free America, the antithesis of knowing, sneery European high-brow culture and the affected, needy good taste that thrills only to exclude. Boy, was it fabulous. Now we go back to see Coney Island on a summer’s day in 1948. Continue reading »
Сontroversial Portrait Photos Of Jane Birkin And Serge Gainsbourg In The 1970s
Jane Birkin met Serge Gainsbourg on the set of Slogan in 1968 and had a passionate and creative relationship with him. A relationship lasted 13 years. They never married, despite rumours and misreporting to the contrary. Continue reading »
The Badass Sean Connery In Zardoz, The Most Insane Must-See Cult Classic
“John Boorman’s Zardoz is a genuinely quirky movie, a trip into a future that seems ruled by perpetually stoned set decorators.” It’s set in a post-apocalyptic Ireland. And to go there is either a guilty pleasure or a mistake. As Mark Kermode puts it, “the man who made Deliverance – one of the outstanding works of seventies cinema – followed it up with the worst science-fiction movie ever made… As falls from grace go, that is surely one of the most spectacular.” Continue reading »
Amazing Vintage Photographs Of Cat’s Meat Sellers In London In The Early 20th Century
The cat’s meat man used to be a common sight in London and other large towns between the mid 1800s and the 1930s. If you think they sold cat meat, you are entirely wrong. What a cat’s meat seller sold was meat to cats. Continue reading »
The Snail Family In Medieval Art
Erik Wade presents us with a bestiary of sorts, a collection of medieval snail art that shows how medieval monks combined snails with people, cats, dogs, deer, unicorns, birds, chickens, rabbits, monkeys, pigs, and other creatures. Maybe there’s some symbolism here, but I believe that snails are just an easy doodle that you can turn into something else. If you make half the animal a snail, then you don’t have to draw legs or whatever- just a spiral. Continue reading »
“Real Life Film Noir”: Vintage Crime Scenes From The LAPD Archives
Forensic detail of bullet holes in a car window – 1942
Warning: this gallery contains images some people may find distressing.
Crime scene photographs shot by Los Angeles police officers in the line of duty between 1925 and the 1970s are on show at the city’s Lucie Foundation. More than 80 images are on display, drawn from the thousands discovered in a warehouse in 2000 by the fototeka Gallery. Continue reading »
Beautiful Photos Of John Lennon With His First Wife Cynthia At Their Home In 1965
After a college party to celebrate the end of term, John Lennon asked Cynthia Powell if she would like to “go out” with him. She quickly replied that she was engaged to a young man in Hoylake; he replied, “I didn’t ask you to marry me, did I?” He later approached her and asked if she would go to the Ye Cracke pub. She was confused when he ignored her all evening, but eventually invited her into the group with a joke. Continue reading »
25 Year Old British Man Dresses As A 19th Century Regency Gentleman In Bespoke Clothing He Designs
25 year old Zack MacLeod Pinsent of Pinset Tailoring in Brighton, U.K. is a very dapper young man who dresses as if he were a Regency gentleman from the 19th century. Pinset told the BBC that this clothing is far more comfortable for him and builds his confidence more than modern clothing ever did. In fact, he burned his last pair of jeans as a teenager. Continue reading »
Stunning Rare Photos Of The Emperor Nicholas II Fooling Around With His Friends In 1899
These photos cannot be called rare but still they are very cool to look at. They were taken in 1899 at Wolfsgarten castle not far from Darmstadt. On the photos are emperor Nicholas II, his spouse Alexandra Fedorovna and their friends – princess Ingeborg of Denmark, the Duchess of Darmstadt and prince Nicholas of Greece. As you may see nothing human was alien to the Russian arostocracy then. The images are more than a century old but the friendly and relaxed atmosphere featured on them is still felt very clearly. Continue reading »
Classic Rock And New Wave Songs Brilliantly Reimagined As Vintage Pulp Fiction Paperbacks
“London Calling” re-imagines the classic Clash song as an issue of a 1950s-era pulp detective magazine. Prints come in four sizes, priced accordingly. Prints are on heavy, glossy archival-quality paper. The perfect gift for the punk rocker in your life.
Graphic artist Todd Alcott has brilliantly reimagined classic rock and new wave songs as vintage pulp-fiction paperback books. Continue reading »
At Home With The Rolling Stones: Surprising, Charismatic, Scandalous, Intense And Reckless, Here Are The Early Stones As Never Seen Before
In 1960, childhood friends Keith Richards and Mick Jagger reconnected by chance on a train. More than 45 years later, the Rolling Stones remain superstars in the fickle world of rock ‘n’ roll. This collection of photographs provides a unique record of the band before they became the icons of rock. Most of these images have never been published before, making this book a must-have for the Stones’ legion of fans. Continue reading »
After Watching Chernobyl, Couple Decided To Design Their Apartment In Soviet Style And Listed It In On Airbnb
According to Rasa Jusionyte: “There’s a famous line in HBO’s Chernobyl: “Comrades, we are so focused on our search for truth we fail to consider how few actually want us to find it”. And the truth is that “Chernobyl” was filmed in Vilnius. This apartment is located in the heart of the neighborhood that acted as Pripyat. Not only the location is unique but the apartment itself is an ode to Soviet life – from the plates you eat from to the bedding you sleep in, it’s as authentic and unique as it was back in the USSR! Continue reading »
That Time When Nirvana Dressed Up In Woman Clothes For Mademoiselle Magazine In 1993
Under the headline: “Reaching Nirvana: The Grunge Gods Get In Touch With Their Feminine Side”, Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic posed for these sexy fashionable photos in the November 1993 issue of Mademoiselle Magazine. Kurt Cobain wearing a Dries Van Noten sweater. Dave Grohl in a Todd Oldham sweater. Krist Novoselic in a Joan Vass sweater. All scarves (shown as skirts) by Gene Meyer. Continue reading »
These Artists Restore Old Damaged Photos And The Results Are Incredible
There’s even a subreddit called r/estoration that is full of artists that will sometimes take requests and restore old pictures for other users. In the gallery below we see the amazing transformation these artists have made to photos that may have otherwise been lost to time. Continue reading »
1938 Phantom Corsair: The Regret Of A Car Ahead Of Its Time
The Phantom Corsair is a prototype automobile built in 1938. It is a six-passenger 2-door sedan that was designed by Rust Heinz of the H. J. Heinz family and Maurice Schwartz of the Bohman & Schwartz coachbuilding company in Pasadena, California. Continue reading »
A Time Travel To The Happy Childhood Times In The Soviet Russia
This is pure nostalgia, something so kind and dear, so touching and warm. It would be cool to travel back to that time for a few days. That happiness had a different taste. Continue reading »
Atmospheric Retro Images Of The USSR As Photographed By American Professor Thomas T. Hammond
Thomas T. Hammond, an American professor at the University of Virginia and a specialist in the history of Russia and the USSR, was taking photographs of Soviet Russia for long time, nineteen years during the 1950s, the 1960s and the 1970s. He paid many visits to the USSR with his family, saw Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev, Yaroslavl, Samarkand, Pyatigorsk, and Riga. Thomas used his photos as illustrations for his works – thus, for example, National Geographic Magazine published his material in a 1966 article, “A first look at the Soviet Union – An American in Moscow”. Continue reading »
