Category Archives: History

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The Guardian’s Alex Godfrey recently blogged his fascinating research into the origins of the painting by Tommy DeVito’s mother in Scorcese’s Goodfellas.

You remember the scene.

The painting used in the movie was created by Goodfellas co-writer Nicholas Pileggi’s mother based on a 1978 photograph in National Geographic magazine of ‘river nomad’ and former banker John Weaving and his dogs Brocky and Twiggy on the Shannon.

Did you know this? We did not know this.

It’s a fascinating story, well told.

READ ON: Whaddya want from me? (mrgodfrey)

(H/T: Cohen Hand)

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From Steve Vistaunet’s Pinterest  – a sample of many, many examples of hand-decorated cassette spines from the golden era of the mixtape.

What do you mean ‘what’s a mixtape?’

Ask your dad.

Jeez.

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https://vimeo.com/65542790

Photographer Dean Saffron’s short film about bike collector James Macdonald:

…a very enigmatic man who has taken it upon himself to collect one bicycle from each developmental epoch for future generations to enjoy , a kind of time capsule…

Related: Evolution Of The Dandy Horse

(H/T: Mark Geary)

jfk-picture-001-685x456 jfk-picture-0061-685x456 jfk-picture-002-685x456Artist Sonia King, daughter of the late photographer H. Warner King recently discovered a box marked ‘November 1963’ among her father’s possessions.

The photographs inside, unseen for five decades, were taken moments before Kennedy’s assassination by the Mafia/Illuminati/Repubicans/CIAspooks/aliens at Dealey Plaza.

MORE: Never-Before-Seen Photos of JFK’s Final Minutes in Dallas (TIME)

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https://vimeo.com/75227411

Swann Auction Galleries in Manhattan recently sold an album of 1500 early twentieth century mugshots…

…including several depicting members of the International Workers of the World (“Wobblies”), in addition to a cross-section of crimes from across the country, including California, Oregon, Iowa, Arkansas, and New York (and Canada), likely assembled for surveillance and perp identification.

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Illustrations by Christina Hess : Cat Queen (Elizabeth I), Napoleon Boneapart, Cleocatra, Jizo Bodhissatva, Henry V, Bruno The Brave, Joan of Bark and Marie Antoinippe.

(Yes, we’re aware that Bodhisattva and Joan of Arc were not monarchs. We just like the art.)

MORE: Historical Figures Playfully Portrayed as Cats and Dogs
(My Modern Met)

(H/T: Joanne)

1379717_10153505580545038_1095919010_nThe passport issued to W.B. Yeats (and his wife Georgie) with which they traveled to accept the author’s 1923 Nobel Prize for Literature.

Currently on display at the National Library of Ireland or – if you’re far away – as part of the library’s online exhibition.

(H/T: Spaghetti Hoop)

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An animated 8-bit game style history of London’s Barbican Center – based on an article by Peter Ackbourne – from Roman era fort to contemporary performing arts venue by UK digital animation studio Persistent Peril.

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In a new episode of the PBS Blank On Blank animated interview series, the late Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead talks to Joe Smith in 1988 about the early days of the band, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest author Ken Kesey and the infamous ‘acid test’ parties of the late 60s.

Previously: ‘I Didn’t Know Until This Year That The Name Cobain Was Irish’

laughingsquid