Cabbaging Cove

Cabbage - [kab-ij] Chiefly British 1. a. cloth scraps that remain after a garment has been cut from a fabric and that by custom the tailor may claim. 2. slang - verb. To steal; pilfer: He cabbaged whole yards of cloth. Cove - (kəʊv) Brit, Austral 1. old-fashioned , slang - a fellow; chap. Cabbaging Cove: A scoundrel keen on pilfering [from the annals of not-so-distant history]! About the Cabbaging Cove

[biomedicalephemera]

Waist Belts! Wear them at your own peril!

The greatest destroyer of health, life, and beauty in the civilized world!

[nemfrog]

Wild geese in the sky above a Wisconsin lake. The Educational screen. November 1941. Cover art. 

[nemfrog]

Flamingo tucks head under its neck. Camps and cruises of an ornithologist. 1908. 

[nemfrog]

Fig. 56. “Coyote song.” Swan Lake Flat, April 14, 1938. Ecology of the coyote in the Yellowstone. 1940. 

[humanoidhistory]

TODAY IN HISTORY: The 14-kiloton “Charlie” nuclear device goes boom in the Nevada desert, October 30, 1951, part of the Buster-Jangle series of atomic tests.

[cabbagingcove]

For a year or two, my nickname was “Starfish Prime” or some variant thereof. I think it’s still how a few people have found me on Facebook.

[nemfrog]

“Tableau Showing the Distribution of Animal and Vegetable Life in Ascending Regions.” The Atlas Of Physical Geography: Constructed By Augustus Petermann, F.R.G.S. 1850. Frontispiece.

[centuriespast]

SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE ENGLISH, 1769–1830

THE HONORABLE CAROLINE UPTON c. 1800 Oil on canvas

The Clark

[nemfrog]

Map. Crater Lake National Park. National Park Series. 1919-20.

[nemfrog]

National Park Service centennial. 

[ofpaperandponies]

“If you could live in any time period...”

When I was a kid I used to fantasize about living in the Victorian Era. My family was white and solidly middle-class, and I had no feelings about the fashions (though they did seem a bit uncomfortable), but the social directives. Doing *this* plus *that* would equal response A, B, or C, which had their own tree of directives!

They were so CLEAR. So understandable. Oh, sure, as a headstrong and forward female, I didn’t always AGREE with the way Victoriana went about social engagements and personal interactions, but even that! Even that was something I wanted! If I’d been a placid and studious woman of high etiquette, I could have filled a role that had unambiguous assumptions and responsibilities. If I’d bucked those trends, maybe I’d go down in history as a trailblazer! It took a very long time to realize that a hundred years from now, there will almost certainly be books written about us that make things seem as simplistic and understandable as the Victorian era was to me. Sure, back then there were fewer roles women were allowed to fill. Things may have been simpler. But that doesn’t mean they were better - or that they were anywhere near as proscribed and simplistic as many books after the fact have made it seem.

I kind of hate that. I wish it were that simple. It was nice to have a time period to fantasize about, some period simpler than the current era, a time where Interaction A plus Interaction B led to Reaction A or Interaction C.

But life is more complicated than that. And it’s clear to me that it’s way more beautiful than that. But it’s so easy to get caught up in a desire for social simplicity while you’re still in middle school. That place is a labyrinth of social nightmares and hormonal minotaurs.

[nemfrog]

Landmarks in the history of Air France. Air-France revue. Spring 1950. 

[nemfrog]

“Face of a glacier - 100 feet high.” Two years in the Antarctic. 1905.

[mapsontheweb]

[detrituss]

mapsontheweb

Gazing towards Europe, from the Horn of Africa, 1938

[cabbagingcove]

I shall make a new song

before the wind blows and it freezes and rains.

My lady is trying and testing me,

to find out how much I love her.

Well, no matter what quarrel she makes,

she will not loose me from her bond.

Rather I become her servant, surrender to her,

so she can write my name in her contract.

Now don't go thinking I must be drunk

if I love my good lady;

for without her I cannot live...

[nemfrog]

Figs. 24 & 25. The effect of the lens in photography. The fundamentals of photography. 1920.

[cabbagingcove]

“Behind the Scenes”

Painted by Albert Vargas for Shadowland, September 1922

[biomedicalephemera]

You know nothing, John Snow…

Extra Credits has just wrapped up an excellent series on cholera, Dr. John Snow, epidemiology, and life in Victorian England.

I highly recommend you watch it all, including the Epilogue and “Lies” episodes, for bonus fascinating history and current stuff.

Episode 1: You Know Nothing, John Snow!

Episode 2: Epidemiology Begins!

Episode 3: Map of the Blue Death

The Sanitary Movement

England: The Broad Street Pump - “Lies”

[gwuscrc]

Pair of copperplate engravings from Augustin Calmet, An historical, critical, geographical, chronological, and etymological dictionary of the Holy Bible, in three volumes, trans. Samuel D’Oyly and John Colson (London: Knapton et al., 1732). Based on the earlier French edition, Dictionnaire historique, critique, chronologique, géographique et littéral de la Bible, originally published in Paris in 1720.

A Benedictine monk and biblical scholar, Antoine Augustin Calmet (1672-1757) was also known for his writings on the occult.

I. Edward Kiev Judaica Collection, K0005/001-MF43 and -MF44.