The American Boys’ Book of Signs, Signals and Symbols, by Dan Beard (1918), is a richly illustrated (“362 illustrations by the author”) collection of symbols: hobo chalk signs, cipher alphabets, common gestures, lantern and whistle railway signals, semaphore, and more. Here, for example, is a page of “Toot-Talk,” the signals used by steamers. Many of […]

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Ron Cobb is known particularly for his crisp and trenchant political cartoons, which were once a staple of the underground press.  He also designed the ecology flag, contributed designs to a number of movies, and did many other things.  However, this enchanting diagram, buried in a copy of the East Village Other (August 27, 1969) […]

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(Posted by Doug Skinner.  The illustration is from Safe Counsel, by B. G. Jefferis and J. L. Nichols, 1928.)

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A sad and surprising piece of news was reported in the Kokomo Daily Tribune, October 21, 1926.  Bobby Edwards, the avatar of Bohemia, got a job.  I only hope it didn’t last. (Posted by Doug Skinner)

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The Ullage Group proudly, but earnestly, announces its ninth presentation, “Marching to Utopia.”  We will acquaint you with a few schemes for the betterment of mankind. Step out of your cold, mechanistic, and meaningless universe, and go back to school with Lisa Hirschfield, your tour guide at the University of Science and Philosophy.  Far more […]

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You can find la Porta Magica in Rome, on the Piazza Vittorio.  It’s what remains of the villa of Massimiliano Palombara, a 17th century occultist. There are at least two competing stories about it.  One is that an archetypical mysterious stranger visited Palombara, and asked for funds and a room to test his alchemical know-how.  Palombara agreed; the stranger […]

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[Here is, approximately, the outline Dr. Mamie Caton and I followed for our bit in our Medi-Vaudeville event.  I prepared it to allow interaction with Mamie (who was too busy to write anything herself) and with the audience.  And I’ll pursue it on another page, to keep the home page tidy.] (Posted by Doug Skinner)

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In May 1776, the Continental Congress proclaimed a day of “Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer.”  Since then, our presidents have occasionally marked off a special day for prayer; and in 1988 Reagan fixed the first Thursday in May as “The National Day of Prayer.”  Humiliation and fasting have apparently been cut. Not all presidents have hopped […]

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Happy New Year.  It’s cold here.  We offer you a round to sing as you shiver. Here is old man Janus, the double-faced gatekeeper, gazing in the mirror and realizing how much colder he’s grown.  Given the subject, I’ve set it as a crab canon (that is, palindromic) — except for that flickering between F […]

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To our earlier post (10/21/08), illustrating the classic axiom, we add this variant.  It’s from 1902, from Underwood & Underwood; the caption reads “Try our sausages!  Made while you wait!– you can see just what you’re getting!” (Posted by Doug Skinner)

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