The Poison Fiend

That is one whacked out Death, and I especially like the pitchforks at the bottom. Lydia Sherman, not someone you would have wanted to marry.

Philadelphia - 1873 - The National Library of Medicine

The Montgomery Guard

He is a queer bundle of contradictions at all times. Drunk and foul-mouthed, ready to cut the throat of a defenceless stranger at the toss of a cent, fresh from beating his decent mother black and blue to get money for rum, he will resent as an intolerable insult the imputation that he is “no gentleman.” Fighting his battles with the coward’s weapons, the brass-knuckles and the deadly sand-bag, or with brick-bats from the housetops, he is still in all seriousness a lover of fair play, and as likely as not, when his gang has downed a policeman in a battle that has cost a dozen broken heads, to be found next saving a drowning child or woman at the peril of his own life. It depends on the angle at which he is seen, whether he is a cowardly ruffian, or a possible hero with different training and under different social conditions.
- How the Other Half Lives, Jacob A. Riis

New York City - 1880s - Jacob A. Riis - Preus Museum

Murder Scene and Death Auto

At what point did the practical and the beautiful diverge?

Los Angeles, CA - 1928 - Lieut. Edwin L. Berger, posing - @ Skyscraper Page

Prisoner

There is no way that things turned out well for this guy. One of the weird things about looking at these old photos is that although everyone in them is dead, you figure that some of them are deader than others.

Possibly Panama 
from Paul Frecker

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

from Canadian Mysteries

the force is with them

It's like a publicity shot for some small town staging of Romeo and Juliet as a gay space opera.

1978

from unexpectedtales' flickr stream

the boys said okay - - feet first

There's something that I really, really enjoy about this cover. The man's face, determined, hers, adoring. Her hand on his back, the gun in his hands. Even his watch and the pattern of her dress.

Dig My Grave Deep Cover

1956, artist Lou Kimmel (a master of cover art)

from UK Vintage, seen at Pulp Covers

Touching

If I have a favorite pop-culture referencing visual artist, it may be this one. I love that they included Buster.

Hands

2011, artist Fro

from Fro Design Co

Billy Bounce Saves the King

Wild hair and devil horns: the interplanetary signs of anarchy.

Billy Bounce Comics

1906, illustrator C. W. Kahles

from Barnacles Press

Reefer Queen

If I owned a bar, I would paint one whole wall with this image.

Current Detective Magazine

1945

from Schaffer Library of Drug Policy

De Gracy and Dalton

Honestly, I could just as easily picked any other picture from this collection. They're all amazing. My friend Tay said of one, "That's not a mug shot, that's fashion photography." As far as these two, between the eyes and the scar, I want to write a series of novels about their exploits.

Central Police Station, Sydney

1920

from the Historic Houses Trust

T U V

I love the wildness of these drawings. What's up with that crazy dog barking at Tom?

The Absurd ABC by Walter Crane

1874

from Project Gutenberg

Omar Little

Even if you are not a Wire fan, this thijng is still a thing of beauty. Amazing screenprinting.

Poster

2010, artist Justin Van Genderen

from his etsy shop, seen on Typography Served

Searched

This is the dirtiest clean picture I have ever posted.

Chicago House of Correction

1904

from Library of Congress

Ideas become FAR OUT!

If I'm reading this correctly, smoking weed can cause you to go from a normal looking cartoon to a crazed, whacked out chicken scratch cartoon. Or is that some sort of example of how your drawing style might change if you get too high?

Users are Losers comic book

1970

from Comics With Problems

Practicing Homosexuals

When the government gets involved in who's screwing who, it just winds up in sillies. This is from a state-created pamphlet about homosexuality in Florida and SHOULD WE BE CONCERNED and WHAT CAN BE DONE. Of course, not long after that it was being sold on the streets of NYC as porn. What can you do?

Homosexuality and citizenship in Florida

aka The Purple Pamphlet

1964, created by Legislative Investigation Committee

from Florida Heritage Collection,

but mentioned to me by my friend Anna

Who fought for what you take for granted?

We are here, not because we are law-breakers; we are here in our efforts to become law-makers.

(Emmeline Pankhurst)

London

1914

from mirabile dictu

I Dreamed I Broke Into An Abandoned Church In My Maidenform Bra

If you're going to break into an abandoned church, why not go all the way and do it in your undies?

1940s

from clotho98's flickr stream

Buried Treasure

I spent so much time digging holes and making or reading maps as a kid, you don't even know.

(Hit the "from" link to see what all these numbers and letters refer to.)

Mechanix Illustrated

1956

from Modern Mechanix

Something Missing

A couple things:

- apparently, the white American family tree starts in pirate rape and works its way up from there

- I don't see any redheads here, so where did Howdy Doodie come from up top?

- isn't this really more of a family bush?

- seriously, this shit is some kind of white.

"Family Tree"

1959, illustrator Norman Rockwell

from 100 Years of Illustration