Regions Beyond

Morbid curiosities, twisted history, and goth nonsense. Also, cats.

[cultofweird]

Explore the scenes of some of history’s most deranged moments with these incredibly detailed and macabre dioramas by artist Lee Harper.

See More: HistoryBones.com | @HistoryBones on Instagram

[regionsbey0nd]

Let’s sleep in. 

[regionsbey0nd]

"La Mujer Barbuda” by Jusepe de Ribera. 52-year-old Magdalena Ventura with her husband and newborn son in 1631. 

While facial hair can thicken during pregnancy, the abundance of her beard and the unusual age of her conception in any era makes me wonder if she had some kind of hormonal disorder. Anyone out there have any ideas?

[regionsbey0nd]

Mademoiselle Gabrielle The Half Lady

Born in Switzerland in 1884, Gabrielle Fuller was a sideshow performer (I know it was the parlance of the time, but I kind of hate the still careless tossing around of “freak,” so I will not be using it on this blog) who was born without legs. She is often photographed sitting on end tables to showcase the way her body “ended gracefully at the hips.” She enjoyed appearing in elaborate late-Victorian finery to accentuate her femininity despite her anatomical anomaly and was married three times. 

Can we just appreciate for a second how the beauty standards of the day demanded that even a woman who was mostly torso still needed a corset? haha. 

[regionsbey0nd]

Monday morning responsibilities. 

[regionsbey0nd]

"During the Victorian era, this grief took shape in elaborate pet funerals. For cats, who were still persecuted in so many ways, these ceremonies strike me as especially poignant."

Cat funerals in the Victorian Era.

Painting: Elizabeth Platonovna Yaroshenko by Nikolai Yaroshenko, 1880.

[regionsbey0nd]

Sunday nights are made of lazy. 

[regionsbey0nd]

Elk skeleton preserved as he fell against a fir tree. Source unknown. Fascinating.

[regionsbey0nd]

A different kind of baby making: German doll factory, circa 1950.

[regionsbey0nd]

Light as a feather, stiff as a board...

[regionsbey0nd]

Squad goals. 

[regionsbey0nd]

Ever wonder why public drinking fountains are a thing? During the temperance and suffrage movements, as clean water became more accessible in urban areas, the activist Frances Willard (a badass educator and women's advocate ahead of her time who traveled tirelessly with her personal assistant/lesbian partner) worked to have them installed in cities across the country as a ready alternative to liquor. This beautiful example called "Little Water Girl" was erected in Chicago for the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 and stood in front of the women's organization that bore Willard's name until the '20s. After it was moved to Lincoln Park, it was unfortunately stolen and never recovered. 

[regionsbey0nd]

Autumn in the forest, Taichung, Taiwan.

[regionsbey0nd]

Happy Friday The 13th, lovelies! Quick research indicates this is a 19th century flyer for a "13th Club" chapter--a gentlemen's club (not that kind) along the lines of the Oddfellows.

[regionsbey0nd]

The beautiful and fascinating Maud Wagner.

Here she is in 1907 covered in her husband Gus’s handiwork. In addition to being a talented circus performer and acrobat, she was one of the first prominent female tattoo artists herself, passing her art down to her daughter who picked up the tattoo machine at the ripe old age of 9. 

[regionsbey0nd]

You can thank the ladies who perished from licking radiated paint all day making glow-in-the-dark watches for the military for your right to hold your employer accountable for your safety.

Read more about the Radium Girls. 

[regionsbey0nd]

Young girl with cat circa 1920's.