Let me add this image to my earlier remarks on cat food.  The caption reads “Rat on Toast — for Dinner.”
(Posted by Doug Skinner)

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I’m not a pet owner; I shrink instinctively from such responsibility.  But, these days, I am tending a friend’s cats while he’s abroad (and perfect angels they are, too).  And that has led me to contemplate cat food more than I have before.
Cats and humans are different species, and have different diets.  Homo sapiens is […]

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It’s been said that the two things you should never watch being made are laws and sausages.  This vintage stereo card shows one of the above.
The observation is usually credited to Bismarck; a check of the www reveals multiple versions of it, and no definite source.  Huh.  The image can be safely ascribed to the […]

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Like many, I was disappointed by the quick fizzle of the Bigfoot Body hoax in Georgia.  I suppose I should wax explicit, and carefully explain that no, it’s not because I think Bigfoot is a real flesh-and-blood beastie, or because I was expecting, or even wanting, evidence.  The stories are real enough; and have their […]

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Let me add that the stories meant to amuse children often teach different lessons than the textbooks and tracts.  This toy magic lantern slide, for example, has an unusual moral: no dinner until you destroy the furniture.  Your teachers do not want you to emulate the pig; but every child will admire its inventiveness, envy its contentment, and […]

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The old game of dominoes is recast with lambs, puppies, kittens, turtles, cattle, pigs, and other creatures — and a stylish job, too, in my opinion. It was published by E. E. Fairchild (no date, as usual), and cost 19c.
(Posted by Doug Skinner)

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(We conclude here a short story by Paul Vibert, translated by Doug Skinner.)
I can repeat the celebrated procedure of the rats’ father, a prosthetic graft, and so join together two elephants, or two whales; then, when the graft has taken, all I need do is cut a small incision for communication; and as I […]

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(We present here the second part of a short story by Paul Vibert, translated by Doug Skinner. Please read the first part for your greater enjoyment.)
Obviously, there can be no question of a spacious apartment, but simply a small lodging, warm and convenient. It could be relocated at will; and man would thus […]

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(We have a serial for you this week: a short story by Paul Vibert, carved into three portions, so you won’t get sick by eating it all at once.
I know almost nothing about Vibert, except that he wrote stories in the 1890’s, often based on scientific fantasy. His curious tales can sometimes be found […]

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For 35¢ you could give your beloved the gift of sound –
in the form of an Amazing Talking-Tape Card.

This particular example was made by the now defunct White & Wyckoff Manufacturing Company of Holyoke, MA. Since 1889, White & Wyckoff had been part of a thriving paper industry in Western Massachusetts towns such as Holyoke […]

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