Witch in a bottle
Would you dare open this glass bottle, said to contain the spirit of a witch?
Categories: Curiosities, history, Museums • Tags: curiosities, magic, mystery, witch
Author Archives: Chelsea Nichols
Mistaken for a nosepicker
Some good life advice: don’t let anyone take a picture of you taking snuff, unless you want to be immortalized as a Victorian nose-picker. Snuff is a form of tobacco ground into a fine powder, taken by snorting a little pinch up one’s nose. In the 18th and 19th centuries, it was a luxury only the rich could afford. So in these pictures, the posh ladies are trying to demonstrate their social standing by posing with a status symbol. But […]
Categories: Curiosities, Strange Photographs • Tags: curiosities, nose, photography, victorian era, weird, women
Dispenser of gum and nightmares
Does your chewing gum give you nightmares? If not, the Blinkey Eye Soda Mint Gum Machine is here.
Categories: Curiosities • Tags: automaton, creepy, curiosities, eye, horror
Syrup jars for earthworm oil
A collection of apothecary jars for storing oil of earthworms, plus recipes for making your own disgusting worm syrup
Categories: Curiosities, history, Museums • Tags: apothecary, curiosities, drugs, medicine, science, worms
Prostitutes in the fruitbowl
Explores the use of medlar fruits as symbols for prostitution in 17th century Dutch still life painting
Categories: Curiosities, Historical Art • Tags: art history, food, fruit, Historical Art, prostitute, symbolism
Unusual orange perfume bottle
An exquisite and strange perfume bottle from 1925 shaped like orange segments
Categories: Curiosities • Tags: curiosities, fruit, oranges, perfume
Bizarre picture of a man feeding a doll
Share your best theories about this strange 19th century photograph of a grown man feeding a doll
Categories: Curiosities, Strange Photographs, Unsettling Things • Tags: 19th century, bizarre, creepy, doll, photography
Vintage ophthalmology signs
I love this 1962 photograph by Chinese photographer Wang Shuangquan 王双全 (1920-1978). It depicts the beautiful and bizarre eyeball signs that surround the entrance to an ophthalmology clinic in Tainan City, Taiwan. Isn’t there something weirdly flirty about those hand-painted eyes trying to lure in new customers? I think the jumble of eyes also makes the building look a bit monstrous, like a creature staring off in different directions. Can you imagine walking by this shop everyday and feeling all […]
Categories: Curiosities, Strange Photographs, Unsettling Things • Tags: advertisements, eye, photography
