Category: History
Sola Busca Tarot (1491)
Considered the oldest complete seventy-eight card tarot deck in existence, the Sola Busca — named for the family of Milanese nobles who owned it for some five generations — was the first to be produced using copperplate engraving. It is also the earliest known tarot deck that illustrates the Major and Minor Trumps in the way that has become the standard, with characters and objects depicting allegorical scenes. In the Renaissance era this would have been revolutionary, while, today, some of these cards may seem familiar.
[Full size images and the history of the deck found here.]
Wave Hello To Honest Joe – Rubin Goldstein
“Nobody outside his family knew his real name. Dallas knew him as Honest Joe. For nearly three decades Honest Joe’s pawn shop was one of the central hubs of activity in Deep Ellum. He sold everything from gold watches to prosthetic limbs to automatic weapons. His two-story building was covered in hand-painted signs and hubcaps – or was it? It was covered in signage and hubcaps, but as for the two-story part . . . well, that’s another story . . .”
[Top photo by Thomas Hoepker (1963) found here. Second photo found here (with a must-read history); third here; fourth here.]
The Pillar-Biter
The Pillar-Biter (1509-1517), seen on the lower part of the choir screen of St. Bavo Church, Haarlem, the Netherlands.
A common motif in late medieval and early modern Northern European art is the “pillar-biter.” Usually, the pillar-biter is depicted as a man who clings to a column while biting into it, but there are also representations of men and women who embrace or kiss columns. In the iconographic literature, the motif is usually linked to religious hypocrisy and the dissimulation of piety.
[Image found here, caption here.]
[Update: Another pillar-biter from the same church, found here.]
French April Fool’s Day Vintage Postcards
“Back in the old days in France (up until 1564), the new year was celebrated on April first, based on the Julian calendar. That was before King Charles IX came along and decided that everybody should be following the Gregorian calendar, which starts the new year on the first day of January.
“Not everyone welcomed this change, or so the story goes, and some people continued to celebrate April 1 as the first day of the year. Allegedly, those people were mocked and referred to as April fools. Whatever the case, it became a tradition to do things such as pasting a fish on unsuspecting people’s backs on April 1, and calling them a Poisson d’Avril or an April Fish. The symbol of the fish may also have been connected with Jesus Christ.”
[These undated postcards were found in this fine collection. There is a small envelope attached to one of the fish, meaning unknown. The caption, along with more vintage French April Fish postcards, found here.]
DS Time
Because of two Acts of Congress establishing DST in the US.
[Poster found here.]
Pacific Northwest Tribal Masks
“An assemblage of anthropomorphic masks created by Pacific Northwest Coast Indigenous peoples on the continent of North America. 19th-20th century.”
[Found here.]
The Namazu-e of 1855
In November 1855, the Great Ansei Earthquake struck the city of Edo (now Tokyo), claiming 7,000 lives and inflicting widespread damage. Within days, a new type of color woodblock print known as namazu-e (lit. “catfish pictures”) became popular among the residents of the shaken city. These prints featured depictions of mythical giant catfish (namazu) who, according to popular legend, caused earthquakes by thrashing about in their underground lairs. In addition to providing humor and social commentary, many prints claimed to offer protection from future earthquakes.
Namazu are normally kept under control by the god Kashima using a large rock known as kaname-ishi. The Great Ansei Earthquake of 1855 is said to have occurred when Kashima went out of town and left Ebisu (god of fishing and commerce) in charge. In this print, the giant subterranean catfish unleashes destruction on the city while Ebisu sleeps on the job. Kashima rushes home on horseback while the city burns, and Raijin the thunder god defecates drums. Large gold coins fall from the sky, symbolizing the redistribution of wealth during the rebuilding phase.
[Full story and more images found here.]
Inauguration Day 2025
[Still image from The Patriot.]
Emergency Gear
When nuclear fallout protection was all the rage.
Not sure what’s in the Emergency Life Pack, perhaps an 8 day supply of cigarettes and iodine pills. Note that the Cuban Missile Crisis went down in October of 1962, so the photo date may be in error.
[Photo by Max Scheler, colorized, found here.]
Tacky Raccoons 