There Might Just Be A Reason For The Masks

We don’t always wish to be remembered for our costumes… Would you be proud to discover your ancestor in this vintage Halloween photo, circa 1920s? Wouldn’t you prefer to remain ignorant to grandpa in blackface? I’d prefer he was the gas-mask wearing guy. But never ever the horn-playing clown. I’m fine, however, with cross-dressing grandma. I have plenty of those in my family tree. (I’m pretty sure I posted pics of that somewhere… But I couldn’t find them, even with Google’s help. Bummer.)

Photo via Lynnstudios.

Look for the other Kitschy Kitschy Coo Halloween posts here and here.

A 1962 Bouffant Optical Illusion

When I first looked at this cover of the 1962 Christmas Recipes booklet, “To you, best ever, from” Wisconsin Power and Light Company, I thought the image was of one woman with a huge bouffant — or some furry hat. But apparently it’s a woman and her child.

Gernsback’s ADD & ADHD Treatment

The Isolator by Hugo Gernsback, as it appeared on the cover of, and the pages in between, the July 1925 issue of Science and Invention.

While Attention Deficit Order, with or without hyperactivity, isn’t mentioned (it didn’t exist as a diagnosis back then), The Isolator was designed to help focus the mind, particularly when reading and writing (literacy is hard work!). The helmet not only eliminated all outside noise, limited sight to just one line of text at a time, but it also pumped in oxygen. From the looks of it, the contraption would also assist in limiting hyperactivity by limiting movement, or, between weight and limited visibility, it would at least slow you down.

Via A Great Disorder and 50 Watts. At Boing Boing, Mark captions the mag cover “Portrait of a Blogger in the 1920s.”

Don’t “Muff” It This Craft Scan Friday– Make Some Sort Of Napkin Hat

A photo for a vintage pattern, circa 1940s, available from Vintage-Visage-kpriday.