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Comfort’s Palmistry Guide Really Doesn’t Look All That Comfortable Is it a tell tale hand, or simply a weird place for a tattoo? Only Cheiro the Palmist knows for sure! Cheiro was quite a dashing and celebrated international palmist, but there were some who couldn’t handle his dastardly hand-reading ways.  An attempt was made on his life in his swanky 5th Avenue bachelor apartment back in 1894.  Fortunately, his failed assassin only stabbed Cheiro’s cigarette case and Cheiro lived to read many a palm! This is yet another one of our great pulpy books from our Ottenheimer of Baltimore collection. Call No.: 133.6.C416 1894Location: George Peabody Library

Comfort’s Palmistry Guide Really Doesn’t Look All That Comfortable

Is it a tell tale hand, or simply a weird place for a tattoo? Only Cheiro the Palmist knows for sure! Cheiro was quite a dashing and celebrated international palmist, but there were some who couldn’t handle his dastardly hand-reading ways.  An attempt was made on his life in his swanky 5th Avenue bachelor apartment back in 1894.  Fortunately, his failed assassin only stabbed Cheiro’s cigarette case and Cheiro lived to read many a palm!

This is yet another one of our great pulpy books from our Ottenheimer of Baltimore collection.

Call No.: 133.6.C416 1894
Location: George Peabody Library

Tags: magic palmreading 19thcentury book libraries georgepeabodylibrary baltimore ottenheimer graphic design lol history lit
October 21, 2011
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Not That Kind of Hash, Silly! Instead, these are old-fashioned jokes guaranteed to offer a quick spit shine to the greasy spoon of your choice!  Hungry for a joke?  Then I hope this fills your belly with laughter (though it most likely won’t):Flip Boarder - Well, what have we got to eat this morning?Frosty Landlady - You ain’t got to eat nothing if you don’t want to.Call No.:  818 .5202 Ed33 1915Location: George Peabody Library

Not That Kind of Hash, Silly!

Instead, these are old-fashioned jokes guaranteed to offer a quick spit shine to the greasy spoon of your choice!  Hungry for a joke?  Then I hope this fills your belly with laughter (though it most likely won’t):

Flip Boarder - Well, what have we got to eat this morning?
Frosty Landlady - You ain’t got to eat nothing if you don’t want to.

Call No.:  818 .5202 Ed33 1915
Location: George Peabody Library

Tags: georgepeabodylibrary humor lol book graphic design baltimore ottenheimer jokes vintage food
September 26, 2011
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Hot Stuff and How!Here’s a joke that certainly went over well in the speakeasies:“Let me have a loaf of white bread, please.”“Sorry, we have nothing but rye.”“Oh, boy!  Fine!  Gimme a quart.”Call No.: 818 .5202 P398 1929Location: George Peabody Library

Hot Stuff and How!

Here’s a joke that certainly went over well in the speakeasies:
“Let me have a loaf of white bread, please.”
“Sorry, we have nothing but rye.”
“Oh, boy!  Fine!  Gimme a quart.”

Call No.: 818 .5202 P398 1929
Location: George Peabody Library

Tags: George Peabody Library ottenheimer baltimore thepastwasstrange book pepper graphic design jokes paperback humor lol library
September 14, 2011
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Sassy, Salty Humor! The cover is like Toy Story for sassy condiments! Here’s a risque pregnancy joke straight from the vaudeville acts of 1915, courtesy of Baltimore’s very own publishers of yore, the Ottenheimer Brothers!: Lady: “How much are your lollipops for children?”Clerk: “Fifty cents for a dozen.”Lady: “Thanks, I’ve only got eleven. I’ll call later.” Call No.: 818 .5202 Sp42 1915Location: George Peabody Library

Sassy, Salty Humor!

The cover is like Toy Story for sassy condiments! Here’s a risque pregnancy joke straight from the vaudeville acts of 1915, courtesy of Baltimore’s very own publishers of yore, the Ottenheimer Brothers!:

Lady: “How much are your lollipops for children?”
Clerk: “Fifty cents for a dozen.”
Lady: “Thanks, I’ve only got eleven. I’ll call later.”

Call No.: 818 .5202 Sp42 1915
Location: George Peabody Library

Tags: George Peabody Library Ottenheimer Baltimore graphic design vaudeville jokes salt and pepper thepastwasstrange when food gains cognition
August 17, 2011
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More Satyr Madness!The other week we caught a glimpse of a satyr getting frisky with a Roman maiden.  Now, we have to deal with a rather plump satyr using a flame-haired flapper as a cigarette lighter. Maybe this is why so many women bobbed their hair in the 1920s — it was a protective measure against the speakeasy-crazed satyrs! PS:  For all you Mencken aficionados, this is from our George Thompson Collection of H.L. Mencken!  We have oodles of Mencken materials, so come to the Peabody and research ‘em!

More Satyr Madness!
The other week we caught a glimpse of a satyr getting frisky with a Roman maiden.  Now, we have to deal with a rather plump satyr using a flame-haired flapper as a cigarette lighter. Maybe this is why so many women bobbed their hair in the 1920s — it was a protective measure against the speakeasy-crazed satyrs!

PS:  For all you Mencken aficionados, this is from our George Thompson Collection of H.L. Mencken!  We have oodles of Mencken materials, so come to the Peabody and research ‘em!

Tags: George Peabody Library Mencken Smart Set Baltimore Satyr Flappers smoking graphic design vintage cover lit
August 15, 2011
0 comments
7 notes

About

portrait

From dandies in danger to the lusty dramas of educated fleas, the George Peabody Library proves that the past was indeed STRANGE! Visit us in Baltimore (don't worry, in addition to the strange things depicted here, we also have plenty of old and rare and classy books, too).

Hours: Tuesday-Thursday 9am -5pm; Friday 9-3

Address: 17 East Mount Vernon Place Baltimore, MD 21202

Phone: 410-234-4943

Libguide: http://bit.ly/g1UsTk

Email: peabody@jhu.edu

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