January 28, 2012

Charm

I want to read a book of short stories by different authors about this one kid. I feel like he could go anywhere from here. Charming scamp? Total brat? Adored, abused, in on the joke? Or did he grow up, move to Paris, and become a major fashion designer?

no information available

Даёшь ясли!

No one ever looks at, say, a modern car ad and thinks, "Man, I really want to study graphic design."

Russian Poster
1920s

January 25, 2012

If she smokes, she pokes.

Reece Witherspoon, have you been time traveling again?

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Dive Deep

When I see photos like this, I try to imagine what it looked like under the water, peering out of a tiny porthole while you walked on the bottom of the ocean dragging your air with you.

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I was not prepared for a shark.

Wait a cotton pickin minute, what happened to that shark's teeth? And why is it still terrifying?

Vancouver, Canada

January 24, 2012

Freedomites

Nudity as protest. Simple, cheap, and it attracts plenty of attention. Plus, you get to take your pants off.

Doukhobors in Grand Fork, BC
1923

Disguised

Tell me this story in one sentence.

no information available

January 21, 2012

Game of Arrows

See that figure on the left? Dollars to doughnuts that's some kid they had retrieving the arrows.

1910, photographer Richard Throssel

Jack Ranch

What the whosie now? I couldn't have less idea what is going on than I do right now. I've had dreams like this one for sure.

Cholame, California
1928

Astronaut Training

Okay, now, that's just fucking cool looking. I intend to appropriate this graphic at the next opportunity.

San Diego

The Feed Themselves

Well that's just damn good advice. I'm sort of amazed sometimes that humans ever populated areas with no fish.

US Food Administration Poster
circa 1917 - 1919

what's mine is yours

You know he did this every day for that 'munk to be so friendly.

Oregon

January 17, 2012

Archelon Skeleton

This is wrong on every level, but I want to have a small cottage roofed with the shell of one of these.

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Leap

A good buddy of mine tried this one night. I think his ankle is still a little fucked up.

UCLA
1964

January 14, 2012

Slip of the Tongue

People: multishaped.

Porn Movie Poster
1970
from X-Rated

January 13, 2012

At The Pulpit

Jesus loves the little children, all the children in their cars.

no real information

January 12, 2012

every sailor a pirate

I was looking for a photo of a sailor with liberty cuffs on his uniform to show my sister when I found this one. It's not the best one out there of the cuffs themselves, but I love the lady who like what she sees.

(By the way, the gent in the middle back is sporting the decoration in question.)

1970 or 1971

January 11, 2012

us against the world

I feel like the word "tarnation" needs to be used in this caption somewhere. I bet she taught him how to play cards, too.

no information available

discovery of fossils

Well now what the hell am I supposed to do with them?

Dinosaur National Park
1923

familiarity

How long do you have to hang out with the gent with no legs who does tricks on a chair before you cease to notice?

Coney Island, NY
1885, George Bradford Brainerd

Bad Tools

No modesty in pursuit of safety. Plastic bras, who knew?

LA, CA
1943

form over function

Some things ain't deep, but they're pretty.

Reimagined poster for a '90 Hole show
2011, artist Mike Joyce

down but not out

And it comes to that part of night
and it comes to the singing part
he's remembering the words as he goes along
and my blood's so thin with beer
that there's weight in the air
and the air's my best blanket
and I've fallen asleep
feet flat on the floor
again.

Brooklyn, NYC
1960, photographer William Gale Gedney

January 10, 2012

Good Question

I dunno, Keith. You tell me.

1979ish

form and function

I look at this and despair of ever being able to create the beauty I admire.

Zurich
1933, illustrator A. Baggenstos

Bros

I won't lie, I know a couple dozen dudes who look just like these guys except without the excuse of being actual sailors. What is it about being at sea that leads to cultivating interesting facial hair?

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Cute Couple

Who doesn't love a photobooth?

no information available
from daphnep, posting to livejournal

January 9, 2012

comfort

You know, I don't think I have ever seen a James Dean movie all the way through. This photo makes me want to.

James Dean, but other than that
I have no information.
1950s

January 8, 2012

Hoover

I want everything he's got.

no information available

Galloping Gertie

Double hell no. I see this and all the air leaves my body.

Tacoma Narrows Bridge, Washington State
1940
(but I had to go digging around
to find out what bridge it was)

Astounding Surprises on the Frontiers of Tomorrow

I feel like one person saw this and came up with Terminator and another saw it and came up with Mad Men. Also, I want that wallpaper.

Fantastic Universe
1955

Update and More Info on Skiing Superheroes

Hey y'all. I meant to add this forever ago and then shit got busy and it slipped my mind. Remember that photo of the superheroes waterskiing at Sea World? I know you do, because that was one of my most popular posts ever. Well, back in August a fellow wrote me to let me know that he had tons of info and other photos on that ski show (and other awesome superhero stuff) at his blog.

If you dig heroes and pop culture like that there, Marc Nobleman's got you covered. Go, check it out. Do it. Tell him Hank sent you.

stripes

I was just thinking about how much I would love to go swimming tomorrow. The air here almost feels warm enough, but the Gulf would be cold cold cold. Lucky dudes.

Gallipoli, Turkey
1915

Striptease IV

He's starving for her, look at him. He wants to swallow her whole, like a fairy tale wolf. I've had the same reaction to a woman in stockings and garters myself.

Hamburg, Germany
1950s, photographer Herbert Dombrowski

stacked

Playing or working?

French Guiana
1995, photographer Giorgia Fiorio

Pigeon Boy

He's showing off for that girl behind him.

New York City, NY
1940s, photographer (the amazing) Vivian Maier

get her good side

Down here in the south, we have a saying. If someone acts the fool or shames him or herself in public, we might say so-and-so "really showed her ass last night." This right here is exactly what we mean by that.

San Francisco, CA
1974, photographer Mary Anne Kramer

January 7, 2012

Planet of the Knob Heads

Why? Why do they want human women so very badly? Robots, aliens, creatures from black lagoons, they all want those Earthly babes.

Cover of Science Fiction Magazine
1939, illustrator Frank R. Paul
from Ski-Ffy

Hiding

I'm damned curious about this photo. Was it just some 19th century art student's pretentiousness, the early version of pretty-women-wearing-gas-masks or unsmiling-children-near-abandoned-playgrounds? Or was there genuine emotion behind it? Grief? Shame? Was the photographer capturing, creating, or both?

The Unseen Eye: Photographs from the Unconscious 
by W.M. Hunt
1800s
but seen at Black and WTF, one of the best tumblrs out there
if you like this sort of thing

The Iron Dobbin

I could write a whole novel based on this one kid, his mechanical horse, and that fucking fez.

In Italy, featured in Popular Science Monthly
1933
but seen (once again) on Uncertain Times

Bless You

Beer and geeks: always a fun combination.

Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
1962, photographer Madeleine Willis