Community Standing

“Just as American girls expect candy and flowers from the young men who are attentive to them, so Dyak maidens expect freshly severed human heads. The warrior who refused to present his lady-love with such grisly evidences of his devotion would be rejected by her and ostracized by his tribe. Nor does head-hunting end with marriage, for the standing of both the man and his wife in the community depends upon the number of grinning skulls which swing from the ridgepole of their hut. Heads are to a Dyak what money is to a man in civilized countries — the more he has, the greater his importance.”

— From Where the Strange Trails Go Down (1921) by E. Alexander Powell

Jim Writes from Egypt, 1910

Jim’s enthusiasm for Murad Turkish Cigarettes knew no bounds.

Home

A postcard view of the Auburn, N.Y., prison. I assume these are the warden’s quarters. Love the ivy, the awnings, and, I also assume, the outhouse at the bottom of the stairs. Or it could be a potting shed, but I doubt it.

Blue

Not So Simple

Anya Taylor Joy photographed by Craig McDean, 2015

One could think of this as a simple photo, but no:

Styling: Karl Templer.

Cosmetics: Dior, including Diorskin Nude Air Healthy Glow Ultra-fluid Serum Foundation.

Hair: James Pecis/D+V Management.

Makeup: Peter Philips for Christian Dior.

Manicure: Yuko Tsuchihashi for Dior Vernis/Susan Price NYC.

Set design: Stefan Beckman/Exposure NY.

Producer: Sara Zion for Prodn/Art+Commerce.

Production manager: Ashley Scott for Prodn/Art+Commerce.

Retouching: Gloss Studio.

Digital technician: Nicholas Ong.

Photo assistants: Simon Roberts, Huan Nguyen, Maru Teppei and Dean Podmore.

Styling assistants: Melissa Levy and Aleksandra Koj. Hair assistant: Adlena Dignam.

Makeup assistants: Emiko Ayabe and Taly Waisberg.

Set design assistants: Max Zinser and Yonatan Zonszein.

Production assistants: Kaia Balcos and John Daniel Powers.

Special thanks: Soho Lofts.

Art by Tom Lovell

Faux Timbres: Vraie Actualité

From 1989 to 2003, France’s Jean Bachès, alias King Graffiti, created ‘false stamps’ illustrating significant news events or subjects typical of a country. One writer noted, “If the 12 o’clock news inspires him, he crunches the news, giving birth to his stamp. The height of mischief for this son of the main post office controller, he sends his creation to himself the same day… as evidenced by the postmark! Today, these “false stamps” allow you to leaf through, without nostalgia and with humour, the album of France and the world of the 20th century.”

The stamps were collected in 2004, in Faux Timbres, Vraie Actualité (“False Stamps, Real News”).

Posting a Letter in Devon

Art by Frank Patterson (1871-1952), an English illustrator best remembered for his pen & ink drawings of cycling in the first half of the 20th century.

Whatever Happened to Cigarettes in Cans?

Moonlight Ride

Such a cool postcard. The Prison du Temple was a medieval fortress built by the Knights Templar. Parts of the fortress were later used as a prison; during the French Revolution, it held the royal family before they were guillotined. It was demolished in the mid-19th century because it had become a place of pilgrimage for royalists. The heavy doors of the tower still exist, kept at Château de Vincennes.