History Clippings

Add showing images and prices for womens blouses and capes. a lot of prominent sleeves.

Clothing ad, 1896.

These are are very cool, and that looks like a very impractical amount of sleeve going on!

🗃️ #c19th #fashionhistory

LOC

www.loc.gov/resource/sn8...

Giant chest of drawers, NC, 2001.

The owner must be trying to one up their neighbour, the old lady who lives in a shoe...

Too silly not to post. Looking it up, its just one of those mid-century tourist traps?

LOC
flic.kr/p/2rdmYmf

#c21st 🗃️

ad parodying Washingtons crossing of the Delaware. but instead of ice in the river, it is Giant slices of pie.

Pie ad, 1947.

President's day is coming up in a few weeks, so why not remember that time that George Washington braved the pie slices in the Delaware...

Delightfully goofy.

LOC

flic.kr/p/2rGFqA7

#c20th #advertising

Public domain short film contest ad

For all those #filmmakers looking for a last-minute holiday project.

The internet archives is running a short film contest that celebrates all the great material in the public domain.

Top prize is $1500.

🎥

blog.archive.org/2025/12/01/2...

Oh wow. That does look like an interesting story!

Thanks for pointing that out both!

Oh wow. I'm sure that's the furthest out the books ever gone!

One thing that always amazes me is how many Hawkhurst Gang descendants there are out there.

Thanks for reading.

Hawkhurst Book Cover

If you're struggling to find a last minute gift for that crime lover in your life, check out my book.

It's a different kind of gangster book. Way more wigs and tea than the usual mafia!

thehistorypress.co.uk/publication/...

#booksky #c18th 🗃️

Secret Kent - Shootout at the Goudhurst Corral - BBC Sounds A story of smuggling, violence and the Hawkhurst Gang.

Check out my appearance on BBC Secret Kent!

I talk about the Battle of Goudhurst, Kent's gunfight at the OK Corral.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

#c18th #smuggling 🗃️ #podcasts

Seed catalogue from 1896. Color illustration of watermellons, corn, onions, radishes, and lettuce.

Seed catalogue cover, 1909. Color illustrations of onions.

The Internet Archive just released tens of thousands of seed catalogs, spanning over two centuries!

They are both lovely and interesting. Check them out!

archive.org/details/usda...

🗃️ #c18th #c19th #c20th #illustration

Deadly Enemy to Bacteria Found in Common Mold A common mold, of the same group that spoil oranges and other fruits, has been found to secrete a substance that is deadlier to bacteria than even the almost miraculous new sulfa drugs. Discovery of this property was made by an English bacteriologist, Prof. A. Fleming of St. Mary’s Hospi- tal, London. Reports of Prof. Flem- ing’s work have just reached this country. The mold belongs to the genus Peni- cillium, and the germ-killing sub- stance it secrets is called penicillin.

If you're 42 years old, we're as far away from your birth as your birth is from the invention of antibiotics!

History is weird.

What we consider modernity is way closer than we think...

1941

LOC
lccn.loc.gov/sn82016181

#c20th #histmed 🗃️

portrait of an early 20th century actor in an illustrated, ornate frame. Male, looking broody.

portrait of an early 20th century actor in an illustrated, ornate frame. Female, smiling at the camera.

Portraits from Photoplay Magazine, Jan 1915.

This is a great source for actors of the period, and I suspect some in the #geneology community will love it as well.

archive.org/details/Phot...

UPenn also has a list of available issues.
onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/seria...

🗃️ 📷 #c20th

stop smoking ad, 1929. picture of smoking man with large "quit tobacco headline"

Stop Smoking ad, 1929.

I suppose i shouldn't be surprised that there were people in the 20s looking to stop smoking, but I am.

This is in an old copy of Triple-X magazine, which is a pulp magazine that's far tamer than it sounds.

Internet Archive.

archive.org/details/trip...

#c20th 🗃️

That makes total sense, but still blows my mind a little. I've not got much experience with a typewriter.

Whoah that's cool! Thanks for sharing that!

There's so much stuff out there in these digital archives.

Using public domain images is also a good way to demonstrate copyright!

That's awesome!

So that's for stuff like underlining?

a 19th century line illustration of a typewriter thre are lots of exposed mechanisms on what looks like a ceramic body.

I'm designing some new business cards for myself and I thought, instead of using some lame clip art, I would find something cool in an old newspaper.

Voila! A really cool typewriter illustration from 1911.

Is that a tiny pencil on the top?

#c20th 🗃️

www.loc.gov/resource/sn8...

TAKE your Washington's Birthday guests to JENE'’S . , . this is one of the most popular restaurants in town, famous for its American and Italian dishes, with such specialties as chicken cacciatora, scaloppine of veal a la Marsala and veal cutlets a la Parmegiana. For his spaghetti Jene has 10 different sauces, and his American steaks are supreme! Din- ners $1 and $1.50. You'll be interested in Jene’s rare imported wines and famous cocktails. 1707 DeSales-st nw. Just around the corner from the Mayflower Hotel.

The Smorgishord ID YOU know that you can help yourself to Hl you can Hai at the SMORGASBORD .... this is Washington's original Swedish din- ing spot with a smorgasbord laden with intriguing dishes. Don’t let your holiday go by without dropping in at 1625 K-st nw. Today and to- morrow very special dinners will be on the menu for 85¢c, $1 and $1.25, so join the crowds and make 1625 K-st nw one of your stops.

HAVE you tried the big Louisiana frog legs served day in and day | out at PARCHEY’S? Their flavor is more delicate than chicken and this mid-town restaurant serves them to suit every size budget. Frog leg plates with one, two or three pairs are 50c, T5c and $1... complete din- ners with frog legs, French fries, cream cole slaw and sliced tomatoes, 75 cents. Hurry in! 19th and K streets now,

food you'll never forget is served at THE CHINESE LANTERN in its true na- tive style. Here's where Hl official and diplomatic Washington feasts on breaded shrimps, fried chopped chicken and Chinese mushrooms or almonds, fresh lotus nut soup and fried fresh lobster. Holiday dinners, T5e to $2. 6 Massachusetts-av nw.

Chinese, Italian, Swedish, frog's legs and a "succulent roast duckling" for good measure. Here's a President's Day restaurant guide from 1941.

some cool stuff in here, particularly the international style places.

#c20th 🗃️ 🍜

www.loc.gov/resource/sn8...

Turn of the century baseball player holding a large, old camera with both hands. One of his hands is in a baseball mitt.

Baseball player "Germany" Schaefer using a handheld camera. 1911

I love this photo. The juxtaposition of the baseball player and this oversized camera is really cool and kinda funny to my modern eyes.

A smart phone has a 1 inch square camera...

🗃️ #c20th #baseball

LOC Flickr
flic.kr/p/4i78qX

Thanks everyone who took the time to reply to this today. I appreciate it.

Based on the responses, I'm going to continue to write alt text by hand.

Hey thanks for this. That's a big help going forward when I'm working on the alt text for posts. Appreciate it.

I agree. Its one of the reasons I was exploring it as an option for captions. I felt like I was t using the al text space to it's full potential.

Thanks for sharing your experience with it. I'm getting the general impression these things don't produce a better quality output, even with human editing.

Thanks for this. It's good to know these models aren't there yet.

That's an interesting point. I always approached alt text as a pure description of the image for the visually impaired. I had never thought that it should directly link to the post itself.

Though I suppose that's also another reason why I think I'm doing a poor job of it most of the time.

How do people feel about using AI (LLMs like chatGPT) to generate alt text for images in bsky posts?

I've used tesseract to OCR newspaper clips for alt text before, but I'm thinking that an LLM will do a better job of visually describing images, and will better serve visually impaired readers.

Photo of building that looks like a gas station that says "Soul Winning Revival Center, George and Hattie Maunder Ministers"

"Soul Winning Revival Center"

I love the juxtaposition of mid century architecture and that very American expression of a religious revival.

1977, California

🗃️

LOC
flic.kr/p/2rvzfix

Picture: a drawing of a man and woman kissing. Text: 3 of enjoyment is found by every lover of good chewing tobacco in LORILLARD’S famous Climax Plug This tobacco represents. the result of 134 year’s experience in blending and preparing tobacco to suit a universal taste. A delicious flavor has been imparted to it without the addition of any harmful element. In substance it is unequalled by any chewing tobacco ever prepared. When you want a delicious satisfying chew, try CLIMAX PLUG.

Of course, Victorians were a very reserved people and never, ever even hinted about sex...

Well done to the #c19th ad man that made me do a double take 131 years later.

However I'm not sure chewing tobacco and kissing go together. yikes.

1894

LOC
www.loc.gov/resource/sn9...

#advertising

🗃️

“I dare say you didn’t look up into the rolling cloud of smoke to see the good fairy of the hoboes.”’ “Fairy!” “Cert. You didn’t expect the guardian fairy of the hoboes to tear around the country in all kinds of weather with a little white robe and some ostrich feather wings?”

He counted the money from one pocket and found that it amounted to $65, or 1,300 glasses of beer.

I've been diving into some #shortstories I've found in some #c19th newspapers.

This one, "Mr.Wilson" is a cool story that reads more modern than 1890.

And is a fun source that says $65 was 1,300 glasses of (presumably cheap) beer in 1890!

🗃️

www.loc.gov/resource/sn9...

Is it like the marshmallows fluf that I used to eat my peanut butter sandwiches in the 90s?