Models

A fabulous collection of model cars from the German Democratic Republic at DDR-MODELLAUTOS.INFO. Oh! and space ships and tanks and boats and… Link…

Visual Culture and Health Posters

The National Library of Medicine (Bethesda) has a selection of posters on their site covering infectious disease, environmental health, anti-smoking campaigns and HIV/AIDS. Great looking art on some of the retro ones. Link…

Mutinus caninus (Dog stinkhorn)

I have quite a few of these in my garden. Tom Volk has a great fungi site. Check out his fungi of the month. Link…

Free State Art

The Irish Free State established by the Anglo-Irish Treaty (1921) following the War of Independence (1919-1921) pursued a project of cultural nationalism which among other aims focused on reviving the Irish language. The Cumann na nGaedheal government established An Gúm, the publications branch of the Department of Education (later Oifig an tSoláthair/the State Publishing Agency) in 1925-1926 to supply textbooks and fiction in Irish for the educational and recreation needs of the newly independent Ireland. Link…

Defence of Cumbria in the 20th Century

I used to hang out in pillboxes like this a lot when I was a kid. Not in Cumbria though, Kent. These things are to be found all over the UK. Link…

19th-century racial images

The majority of these images originally appeared in the Australian popular press of last century. Link…

The War of the Worlds

Over 100 years of covers of the H. G. Wells classic in various languages. Link…

Boxcar art

Photographs, articles and links about hoboes and trains. Link…

The Girl's Own Paper

Fiction and non-fiction, 1880 to 1941. Link… This is just an index. Go to this page to access selected pages. This should all be in one place.

Handmoulds

A website about the development, shape and use of typefounders' moulds. Is it just me and the industry I work in, or are these not things of beauty? Link…

Ice from Norway to Britain

19th Century London wanted ice in far greater quantities than the British climate provided. Whilst ice was gathered from lakes, and indeed from the Regent's Canal, and was stored, the amount of ice available was small and its quality often poor. Ice started to be imported from the United States in the 1840's, with the Wenham Lake Ice Company as one of the most famous names in the business. Carlo Gatti brought his first consignment of ice from Norway to London in 1857, of 400 tons, and one of the two ice wells at 12-13 New Wharf Road was almost certainly dug to receive it and store it until it was wanted by customers. Customers wanted ice for food preservation, for making ice cream, and for medical use. In the last 40 years of the century Norwegian ice dominated the market in London. Link…

Ani

Invaded by the Arabs, Mongols, Turks and Russians. Devastated by earthquakes and storms. Subject to forced emigration and ethnic cleansing. The Armenian city of Ani, in existence since the 5th Century AD, is a ghost city. It now faces another threat - 'restoration' by the Turkish Ministry of Culture. Link…

Norwegian Stave Churches

Boat construction and home building in the Viking times had developed the technique and tradition of combining art with wood working. This culminated in the stave churches. There are several types of stave churches but the common element to all of them is that they have corner-posts (�staves�) and a skeleton or framework of timber with wall planks standing on sills. Link…

The Illustrated London News

Photograph of Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970), author of "All Quiet on the Western Front", taken circa. 1929. Just one of the many pictures available from the Illustrated London News picture library. Link…