Strange T-shirts from exotic lands

theoddmentemporium: Bridget Cleary, Fairy Changeling Bridget...

Wed, 22 May 2013 16:33:02 -0400

Bridget Cleary, Fairy Changeling

Bridget Cleary was an Irish woman who, in 1895, was killed by her husband who believed she was a fairy changeling. In folklore a changeling is a fairy which is switched with a human infant. In many cases a changeling seemed like the only rational explanation for the unknown diseases etc., which might afflict a child.

Although her age, for she was 26 at the time, perhaps makes Bridget’s case unique, it was with such illness that her troubles began. She lay in bed with a fever for over a week, going undiagnosed by her physician and believed sufficiently ill enough to have a priest administer the last rites, before her husband and father declared her to be a changeling. In a curious ritual, aimed at expelling the fairy from her body, they doused her in urine and sat her before the fireplace.

A few days later she went missing. Her husband reiterated his belief that she had been taken by fairies, however, Bridget’s burnt remains were soon found nearby in a shallow grave. Evidence suggested that, as the Cleary family gathered at Bridget’s sick bed, an argument, tinged with fairy mythology, had erupted, and Bridget had offended her husband by telling him the only person who had gone off with the fairies had been his mother. This escalated into him menacing his wife with a flaming stick, which ignited her chemise. He then threw an oil lamp on her, all the while claiming that she was a changeling and that he would, by these means, get his wife back.

He was convicted of manslaughter, though some believe he concocted a ‘fairy defence’ after Bridget’s murder so he might get a lesser sentence. Nine other people were also charged for their involvement in the murder, demonstrating how widely believed fairy folklore was amongst these rural Irish communities at the time.

[Sources: Changeling | Bridget Cleary | Galway Advertiser | See Also]

ucsdspecialcollections: Summer days on California shores /...

Wed, 22 May 2013 12:58:26 -0400

ucsdspecialcollections:

Summer days on California shores / Southern Pacific, 1902

Catalog Record

Photo

Wed, 08 May 2013 21:13:43 -0400

criminalwisdom: The Adventures of Ego-Cop @ babylonfalling

Sun, 05 May 2013 15:16:11 -0400

criminalwisdom:

The Adventures of Ego-Cop @ babylonfalling

Ah, the weird ass notes you find in the forest.

Sat, 04 May 2013 17:30:41 -0400

Ah, the weird ass notes you find in the forest.

Photo

Sat, 04 May 2013 17:27:24 -0400

Dining room of the Hindenburg.

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:29:35 -0400

Dining room of the Hindenburg.

Photo

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 02:07:03 -0400

Bruce Minney, Voluptuous Voyage. paperback cover, 1962.

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 21:00:47 -0400

Bruce Minney, Voluptuous Voyage. paperback cover, 1962.

Cape. 1912, French. House of Worth. Source: Met Museum.

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:02:57 -0400

Cape. 1912, French.

House of Worth.

Source: Met Museum.

wnycradiolab: kateoplis: Reiner Riedler’s shots of original...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 17:23:56 -0400

wnycradiolab:

kateoplis:

Reiner Riedler’s shots of original filmrolls from The Deutsche Kinemathek

The Unseen

Get it while it lasts, folks. The movies of the future will be all digital, all the time.

npylog: Vintage electronics. Turn Table / Synth / Synthesizer /...

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:54:11 -0400

npylog:

Vintage electronics. Turn Table / Synth / Synthesizer / Recorder / Retro Audio.

ucsdspecialcollections: American tourists on street in Tijuana,...

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:50:34 -0400

ucsdspecialcollections:

American tourists on street in Tijuana, Mexico, June, 1964, by Harry Crosby

From the Harry Crosby Collection

theoddmentemporium: The Edelweiss Pirates The Edelweiss Pirates...

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 17:13:45 -0400

theoddmentemporium:

The Edelweiss Pirates

The Edelweiss Pirates were a German youth organisation which resisted the Nazis and their ideology. Consisting mainly of fourteen to seventeen year olds, who had evaded the Hitler Youth by leaving school at fourteen and were not yet old enough for military conscription, the group emerge as the Hitler Youth were mobilised to serve the state, severely impacting the leisure time, and more importantly, the autonomy of young people in Germany.

They were distinguishable by their dress, which was a take on fashions associated with American Swing mingled with German folk dress, for example, ‘Dressing in lederhosen was a central part of their look as German heritage and resisting its malign was always at the forefront of their minds.’ [Source]

Although a lot of their activity involved petty provocations, they actively defied the restrictions imposed by the government, gathering on street corners in mixed-gender groups, taking camping and hiking trips, and were highly antagonistic towards the Hitler Youth, frequently starting fights with them. As one Nazi official put it in 1941: “Every child knows who the [Edelweiss] Pirates are. They are everywhere; there are more of them than there are Hitler Youth… They beat up the patrols… They never take no for an answer.” During WWII they supported the allies, helped deserters of the German army, distributed allied propaganda, and possibly carried out the assassinations of several Gestapo Officers.

The government responded characteristically, shaving the heads of those they identified as Pirates to shame them, and often sending them to concentration camps and prisons. Thirteen members of a group from Cologne were publicly hanged.

[Sources: Previous Blog | Edelweiss Pirates]

typethatilike: Vintage Luggage Labels Folks who were...

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 13:31:20 -0400

typethatilike:

Vintage Luggage Labels

Folks who were privileged enough to travel during the first half of the 20th century used to collect luggage labels (often from airlines or hotels), displaying them as status symbols and proof of all the cool places you had been.

buzzfeed.com

My school has some weird shit on the activities board.

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 14:01:03 -0400

My school has some weird shit on the activities board.

relatively accurate.

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 00:46:26 -0400

relatively accurate.

nevver: Covers From The US Space Program

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 14:50:23 -0400

nevver:

Covers From The US Space Program

goodsilence: Josh King Wilkinson “WE ALMOST MET AT GOODWILL”

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 23:27:55 -0400

goodsilence:

Josh King Wilkinson

“WE ALMOST MET AT GOODWILL”

A single bag of Time Sand flowing through a standard hourglass...

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 00:56:10 -0400

A single bag of Time Sand flowing through a standard hourglass is the equivalent of 30 days, and the pallets and pallets of sand represent a generous estimation of an average human lifespan. (81 years)