Cali Rezo

An extraordinary artist. Link…

Comic Strip

Maakies by Tony Millionare. Link…

The Anzac Book

Written by the troops at Anzac in 1915 & edited by CEW Bean. Link…

Sneeze

A humorous, heart warming story told through conversations with his father. Part 1 - The Mystery of the Face on the Cake. Part 2 - How To Draw a Face. Part 3 - Face to Face - 60 Years in the Making (with a cute twist at the end).

Edinburgh's Old or New Towns

"Cassell's Old and New Edinburgh by James Grant was printed as a periodical in the 1880s and is now seen as a set of three or six volumes, and describes its history, its people, and its places by using anecdotal historical text with endless illustrations." [The sample images above, are much reduced] Link…

Rama Rocks

Rama's monkey army, led by Hanuman, sings "Bolo Sabhi Jai Ram", a cheerful calypso-like number as they build the bridge to Lanka.

Piri Reis

A 1513 map of from Turkey with notes. One of the notes is "This country is inhabited. The entire population go naked." Link…
I have hugely downsampled the image from here

Human Protein Atlas

I can't pretend to understand what this is all about but I sure can appreciate the images. Nature as art. I've hugely sampled down these examples but the level of detail of the images on the site is awesome. As at this date there are 2,827,440 images. Link…

Loch Risay

"A Bernera man in the 1860s engineered a solution to a local problem. In high summer the lobsters [Bernera’s main industry] were at their most plentiful around Bernera; but because of the warmth and the distance to market it was not worth trying to export them. Before leaving for Australia to make some money, he marked out a site beside a narrow bay of Loch Risay. When he returned five years later, he used his money to build a dry stone wall right across the bay, cutting it off from the sea. The tide was able to run through the stone wall, aerating the water, but anything within could not escape." [my emphasis] Information from here. Other pictures. Link…

Signs of the Times

The Historical Marker Database. Link…

Bottle Ovens

Placing an oven
The ware to be fired was first arranged in fireclay boxes called saggars which were then placed inside the oven. The saggars were arranged in vertical stacks called bungs which extended from the floor of the oven to the ceiling.
When they were full, the saggars were carried into the oven by placers, who balanced them on their shoulders and heads. The weight of a full saggar was approximately half a hundred weight. To protect their heads and to keep the saggars in place, the placers wore rolls made from old stockings which were wedged into the front of each man's cap. Link…

Customs

Board of Trade Tape - The Waterguard used a special tape, made by Rabone Chesterman Ltd. and supplied by the Board of Trade.

Extending Rummage Mirror - Extending from about 1 foot to about 3 feet with the mirror mounted on a short 'ball and socket' arm, this was official issue to all APOs on rummage duties in the 1960/70's.

Shuftyscope - It was used by officers on rummage duties to see into confined, enclosed spaces. It had a light source powered by batteries and a lense mounted at the end of a 20mm diameter tube. The eye piece could be focused by a knurled ring mounted close to the handle.

Sykes Hydrometer - This used by Waterguard Officers to assess the alcoholic strength of any liquor presented, or detected, during passenger or crew baggage examination. Some spirits, such as rum, had the indicated strength reduced to compensate for any colouring or sweetening held in solution in the liquid. This was calculated in degrees of Obscuration.

Tuckstick - The tuckstick, or sword cane, was used from the 19th century onwards as a rummage tool to prod cargo in order to locate contraband goods.

All things smuggling at HM Waterguard. Link…

Rogues Gallery

"Patrick Reilly was convicted of cutting ladies skirts with a razor at Edinburgh Waverley Station on 28th February 1918. Being insane he was sent to Morningside Asylum." Some British Transport Police history. Link…[edit: broken link - 20 April 2010]

The King of Dolls

Ljeposlav Perinic's collection contains dolls that he obtained as gifts from dignitaries, Kings, Queens, Emperors, Empresses, Presidents, First Ladies, Prime Ministers, Governors, etc. Link…