History Clippings

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?

That's one thing that draws me to all of these old ads.

Commercial art is art and I love to see the passion and craft in this work that was meant to be ephemeral.

Ice cream topping advert from a trade magazine, 1913

Coca cola advert, 1913. Man pouring soda from a tap.

Cooler, advert showing the machines with glass jars and taps, 1913

Cocoa adverts with a tiny cherub stirring a cup of cocoa. 1913

Because I've been thinking about soda for the last six months, here's a copy of the National Soda Fountain Guide from 1913.

Loads of adverts from the period and some good industry info!

I cant tell if Malo-Creme is good or a horror show.

#c20th 🗃️ 🍜

dn720700.ca.archive.org/0/items/nati...

When Coke and Pepsi Fought for Soft Drink Supremacy in Space

I can finally reveal why this account has been on hiatus for the summer...

I've been working on a piece for the New York Times on the 1980s cola space race!

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/29/s...

Its been a great experience working with the Times editors on this. #nasa #space #coke #pepsi

Man in 1940s diving suit on the side of a boat.

Just a heads up to everyone that I'm going to go into low-power mode here until the summer.

I've got a lot of writing projects on the go, one of which I'm really excited about and will reveal more when/if it's a done deal.

I'm diving in, I'll be back in the summer!

[Tuberculosis ward of the Hasköy Hospital for Women] / Constantinople, Abdullah Frères.

[Students, middle school Eyüp Rüşdiyesi] / Abdullah Frères, photographes de S.M.I. le Sultan.

Vue de la Tour de Galata / Abdullah Frères.

The Abdul Hamid II Collection at the LOC is a really awesome and extensive collection of photos from the late #c19th Ottoman Empire.

Its a great, diverse visual resource for that period and is somehting you could get lost for hours in.

🗃️

www.loc.gov/collecti...

framed photo of ironclad warships, late 19th century

The Imperial Ironclad Frigates Hamidiye, Osmaniye and Aziziye seen during equipping

late #c19th

This is part of a much larger collection of photographs of the late Ottoman Empire. A really great visual resource for people studying that period.

LOC
lccn.loc.gov/2003674603

Photo of Margate pier, late 19th century

Margate Pier, late #c19th

It's a cool shot. It's interesting how the pier branches out.

LOC
flic.kr/p/eLRKfM