oddeveld

oddeveld

The blog of oddities.

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theoddmentemporium:

abinferis:

…The effect of life was sometimes enhanced by either propping the subject’s eyes open or painting pupils onto the photographic print, and many early images have a rosy tint added to the cheeks of the corpse.

As interesting as it is, I haven’t posted much about post-mortem photography before, just because its EVERYWHERE, but this image is particularly haunting!

This is awesome, I totally would want something like this in my apartment.

ma·ca·bre

words-roll-off-my-tongue:

[muh-kah-bruh, -kahb, -kah-ber]

adjective

gruesome and horrifying; ghastly; horrible.

of, pertaining to, dealing with, or representing death, especially its grimmer or uglier aspect.

of or suggestive of the allegorical dance of death.

(via funeral-wreaths)

areoccuringnightmare:

“19th century coal miners would traditionally take canarys in cages down into the mine with them. The birds would act as an early warning system for carbon monoxide gas. When the canary stopped singing the miner would know that he had to escape the chamber he was in.”
“This particular yellow canary was obviously a favoured pet as well as a working bird. Inscribed with the legend : ‘In Memory of Little Joe. Died November 3rd 1875. Aged 3 Years’”

I’m in love with this little guy <3

theoddmentemporium:

catafalques:
Wax vanitas, Europe, 1701-1800
Vanitas are works of art intended to remind the viewer of the shortness of human life, the uselessness of vanity and the certainty of death. This example features many symbols typical for this type of object, such as a skull and insects that feast on decaying flesh. The other side of the model shows the face during life. The verse scratched on to the front is from the biblical book of Ecclesiastes and reads “vanity of vanities, all is vanity”.

collective-history:

Mushroom Hat
This hat, shaped from the fibrous interior of Fomes fomentarius, was mailed to National Geographic headquarters by William J. O’Reardon in 1920. Its accompanying letter cataloged the cap’s dimensions and alerted the editors that this “very rare and extraordinary cap [is] made from a mushroom.”
Photograph by Charles Martin, National Geographic

tuesday-johnson:

ca. 1870-90’s, “In the Work Room”, [carte de visite portrait of taxidermist M.A. Maxwell]

“Maxwell is best known for her participation in the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, in which she displayed her taxidermy mounts in realistic settings of the Rocky Mountains. She was photographed many times in both carte and cabinet style. Here she displays her Evans repeating rifle in both images.”

via Cowan’s Auctions

Corset Silhouette Timeline 1900 - 1919

weirdvintage:

1865, prosthetic boot, M Fontaine

theoddmentemporium:

Lover’s Eyes
Lover’s eyes are hand-painted portraits on ivory which were popular in England between the 1780s and 1830s. The history of this jewelry style is as juicy as the paintings are gorgeous. Since romantic love didn’t typically exist within the confines of a marriage at this point in history, affairs were pretty common. So how would you show your loyalty to your lover? By wearing a sentimental portrait of an unidentifiable part of their person, of course.
According to the Smithsonian, “One of the earliest known eye miniatures was painted in 1786 by the English artist Richard Cosway for the Prince of Wales, later King George IV. The miniature showed the eye of Mrs. Fitzherbert, the prince’s mistress.” And since just the eye of one’s lover was visible, the piece could be worn while your inamorata’s identify remained secret. It’s also been theorized that the “single eye also symbolized the watchful gaze of a jealous partner, who feared that his or her lover might stray.”

5handscuriosities:

Finely Preserved Antique Vervet Monkey Paw. 5handscuriosities.tumblr.com from the collection.

(via theodditiesblog)

malformalady:

The Holy Rosary Church is believed to have been built by the French missionaries in 1860. For six months in a year it gets submerged in the river Hemvati and remains above it for the rest of the year.