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March 29, 2024

These Are the Only Three Known Photographs (Tintype) of Bloodletting by Venesection From the 1860s

Bloodletting has long been a practice for withdrawing blood from the human body. It was typically thought to restore balance and remove excess “humors.”




Bloodletting has long been a practice for withdrawing blood from the human body. It was typically thought to restore balance and remove excess “humors.”

One of the fathers of medicine, Hippocrates, believed that diseases were caused by an imbalance in the four basic humors. Treatment consisted of getting rid of the excess by various means such as bloodletting.

Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, and Asians all practiced bloodletting going back at least 3,000 years. In the Renaissance era, for example, it became incredibly prevalent across Europe. The technique remained in use as a medicinal treatment until the late 19th century, when it was finally discredited.

Bloodletting could be done through multiple means, like venesection or scarification. But leeches were a very common method for bloodletting. The medicinal leech could ingest almost ten times its weight in blood.

Bloodletting was believed to cure a wide range of diseases. It was used for everything from pneumonia and seizures to mental illness and “female hysteria.”

Although bloodletting has been discredited for most illnesses, leech therapy is still used in some situations today. Less often for fashion and beauty.

March 28, 2024

35 Vintage Snaps of People Camping in the 1950s

Camping as a recreational activity became popular among elites in the early 20th century. With time, it grew in popularity among other socioeconomic classes.

Camping in the 1950s was often a simpler and more rustic experience compared to modern camping. Campers typically used canvas tents, sleeping bags, and basic campfire cooking equipment. Outdoor activities like fishing, hiking, and roasting marshmallows were popular pastimes.

Camping gear was less advanced, with lanterns fueled by kerosene or propane, and campers relied more on their outdoor skills and resourcefulness. These vintage snapshots were found by Kai Heinrich that captured people camping in the 1950s.






50 Candid Photographs From The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” Sessions in 1966 and 1967

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the Beatles. Released on May 26, 1967, Sgt. Pepper is regarded by musicologists as an early concept album that advanced the roles of sound composition, extended form, psychedelic imagery, record sleeves, and the producer in popular music. The album had an immediate cross-generational impact and was associated with numerous touchstones of the era’s youth culture, such as fashion, drugs, mysticism, and a sense of optimism and empowerment. Critics lauded the album for its innovations in songwriting, production and graphic design, for bridging a cultural divide between popular music and high art, and for reflecting the interests of contemporary youth and the counterculture.

Sessions began on November 14, 1966 in Studio Two at EMI Studios (subsequently Abbey Road Studios), marking the first time that the Beatles had come together since September. Afforded the luxury of a nearly limitless recording budget, and with no absolute deadline for completion, the band booked open-ended sessions that started at 7 pm and allowed them to work as late as they wanted. They began with “Strawberry Fields Forever,” followed by two other songs that were thematically linked to their childhoods: “When I'm Sixty-Four,” the first session for which took place on December 6, and “Penny Lane.”

According to the musicologist Walter Everett, Sgt. Pepper marks the beginning of McCartney’s ascendancy as the Beatles' dominant creative force. He wrote more than half of the album’s material while asserting increasing control over the recording of his compositions. In an effort to get the right sound, the Beatles attempted numerous re-takes of McCartney’s song “Getting Better.” When the decision was made to re-record the basic track, Starr was summoned to the studio, but called off soon afterwards as the focus switched from rhythm to vocal tracking. Much of the bass guitar on the album was mixed upfront. Preferring to overdub his bass part last, McCartney tended to play other instruments when recording a song’s backing track. This approach afforded him the time to devise bass lines that were melodically adventurous – one of the qualities he especially admired in Wilson’s work on Pet Sounds – and complemented the song’s final arrangement. McCartney played keyboard instruments such as piano, grand piano and Lowrey organ, in addition to electric guitar on some songs, while Martin variously contributed on Hohner Pianet, harpsichord and harmonium. Lennon’s songs similarly showed a preference for keyboard instruments.

Although Harrison’s role as lead guitarist was limited during the sessions, Everett considers that “his contribution to the album is strong in several ways.” He provided Indian instrumentation in the form of sitar, tambura and swarmandal, and Martin credited him with being the most committed of the Beatles in striving for new sounds. Starr’s adoption of loose calfskin heads for his tom-toms ensured his drum kit had a deeper timbre than he had previously achieved with plastic heads. As on Revolver, the Beatles increasingly used session musicians, particularly for classical-inspired arrangements. Norman comments that Lennon’s prominent vocal on some of McCartney’s songs “hugely enhanced their atmosphere,” particularly “Lovely Rita.”

Within an hour of completing the last overdubs on the album’s songs, on April 20, 1967, the group returned to Harrison’s “Only a Northern Song,” the basic track of which they had taped in February. The Beatles overdubbed random sounds and instrumentation before submitting it as the first of four new songs they were contracted to supply to United Artists for inclusion in the animated film Yellow Submarine. In author Mark Lewisohn’s description, it was a “curious” session, but one that demonstrated the Beatles’ “tremendous appetite for recording.” During the Sgt. Pepper sessions, the band also recorded “Carnival of Light,” a McCartney-led experimental piece created for the Million Volt Light and Sound Rave, held at the Roundhouse Theatre on January 28 and February 4. The album was completed on April 21 with the recording of random noises and voices that were included on the run-out groove, preceded by a high-pitched tone that could be heard by dogs but was inaudible to most human ears.

The Beatles sought to inject an atmosphere of celebration into the recording sessions. Weary of the bland look inside EMI, they introduced psychedelic lighting to the studio space, including a device on which five red fluorescent tubes were fixed to a microphone stand, a lava lamp, a red darkroom lamp, and a stroboscope, the last of which they soon abandoned. Harrison later said the studio became the band’s clubhouse for Sgt. Pepper; David Crosby, Mick Jagger and Donovan were among the musician friends who visited them there. The band members also dressed up in psychedelic fashions, leading one session trumpeter to wonder whether they were in costume for a new film. Drug-taking was prevalent during the sessions, with Martin later recalling that the group would steal away to “have something.”

The February 10 session for orchestral overdubs on “A Day in the Life” was staged as a happening typical of the London avant-garde scene. The Beatles invited numerous friends and the session players wore formal dinner-wear augmented with fancy-dress props. Overseen by NEMS employee Tony Bramwell, the proceedings were filmed on seven handheld cameras, with the band doing some of the filming. Following this event, the group considered making a television special based on the album. Each of the songs was to be represented with a clip directed by a different director, but the cost of recording Sgt. Pepper made the idea prohibitive to EMI. For the March 15 session for “Within You Without You,” Studio Two was transformed with Indian carpets placed on the walls, dimmed lighting and burning incense to evoke the requisite Indian mood. Lennon described the session as a “great swinging evening” with “400 Indian fellas” among the guests.

The Beatles took an acetate disc of the completed album to the flat of American singer Cass Elliot, off King’s Road in Chelsea. There, at six in the morning, they played it at full volume with speakers set in open window frames. The group’s friend and former press agent, Derek Taylor, remembered that residents of the neighborhood opened their windows and listened without complaint to what they understood to be unreleased Beatles music.






Cutis Laxa, an Extremely Rare Connective Tissue Disorder, 1907

Dermatochalasia, also known as cutis laxa, is distinct from the more common Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, but displays many of the same symptoms, including hyperelasticity of the skin and joints.

(Image from Krankheiten der nerven, Muskeln und Haut. 1907)

Cutis laxa is caused by defects in the elastin fibers of the extracellular matrix, while Ehlers-Danlos is caused by defects in the collagen fibers of that matrix. Both conditions can be inherited in either an autosomal dominant or autosomal recessive pattern, but all are caused by genetic mutations.

Impressive Fashion Designs by Susan Small in the 1950s

Susan Small was a British ready-to-wear fashion label, best known for their party dresses and evening wear. Their colourful printed evening dresses often combined “contrasting elements of exotic prints on simple shapes or traditional fabrics”.

Fashion designs by Susan Small in the 1950s

Susan Small was founded by Leslie Carr Jones in the early 1940s. In 1943, Maureen Baker joined as head designer, and stayed in that role until the company closed and she started Maureen Baker Designs in 1978.

In 1947, Susan Small joined forces with other fashion design companies including Horrockses and Polly Peck to form the Model House Group, in order to be able to attract more buyers to larger shows. In 1950, their advertising featured the slogan, “To the smaller smart woman ... it’s a Susan Small world!” In 1953, Brian Duffy, later to find fame as a photographer and film producer, joined as an assistant designer, having studied dress design at Saint Martin’s School of Art.

In 1958, Model House Group became the Fashion House Group in 1958, headed by Carr Jones. In the 1970s, they were bought by Courtaulds. Here below is a set of amazing photos that show impressive fashion designs by Susan Small in the 1950s.

Barbara Goalen in beautiful tulle evening gown with glittering sequined bodice by Susan Small, Harper's Bazaar UK, August 1950

Barbara Goalen in evening dress by Susan Small, Harper's Bazaar UK, October 1950

Shelagh Wilson in navy wool dress with an overskirt faced with striped tie-silk by Susan Small, black felt hat by Clarida, photo by Henry Clarke, Harper's Bazaar UK, February, 1950

Anne Gunning in brilliant grosgrain evening coat overa white grosgrain dress by Susan Small, photo by Richard Dormer, Harper's Bazaar UK, August 1951

Anne Gunning in Grecian style dress of white lace flowers on mushroom-pink marquisette, a draped cross-over bodice, and full skirt gathered at the waist with narrow belt by Susan Small, photo by Keith Ewart, Harper's Bazaar UK, July 1951

March 27, 2024

The First Lady of Bass Guitar: Portraits of Carol Kaye From the 1960s and 1970s

Meet the woman who Brian Wilson and Quincy Jones called “the greatest bassist in the world“. The woman with appearances on an estimated 10,000 recordings, who worked on some of the greatest albums of all time. Meet Carol Kaye: the greatest session player you’ve never heard of.

Carol Kaye (nee. Smith) begun her music career on a $10 steel-string guitar in 1940s Los Angeles. At age 13, she was teaching guitar lessons and playing gigs in various nightclubs around LA. Kaye made a name for herself in the LA bebop scene and in 1957, she was approached by Robert ‘Bumps’ Blackwell — an early associate of Ray Charles.

Blackwell recruited her to play a session with Sam Cooke on “Summertime,” though Kaye was hesitant to accept, it was this decision that launched her career. From there, she became a regular guitarist on all sorts of rock ‘n’ roll, R ‘n’ B and soul records, and worked closely with star producer, Phil Spector. One of her most iconic guitar sessions? She featured on Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba” aged just 23.

These sessions brought her to Capitol Records, where a happy accident shifted her career into new territory. In 1963, when a bass player failed to show up for a session, Kaye volunteered for the role and completely fell in love with the instrument. 

Carol Kaye’s genius did not lie in her charisma or a rockstar lifestyle, but in her inventiveness, her dependability, and her incredible skill. Her basslines became the harmonic and rhythmic backbone for some of the most important rock songs of all time.

She was used for much of The Beach Boys best work through the 1960s. Her work was so good, it was bumped up in the mix to be heard louder than most other instruments. Producers even started asking other bassists if they could recreate the ‘Carol Kaye sound’, which Kaye says is a balance of clean lines, perfect timing and hard picking. 

“Good Vibrations” is the song that shows off the signature aspect of Kaye’s bass lines: her use of a pick. While bassists conventionally pluck with their fingers, Kaye had come from playing the guitar, so a pick felt most natural in her hand.






Intriguing Portrait of a Woman with Unusual Hair Growth, ca. 1896

A woman with hair growing between her shoulder blades. Her condition was probably due to naevus pilosus, aka congenital nevomelanocytic nevus, aka “hairy nevus.” These form with the same ways that Port Wine Stain birthmarks form, but extend into the lower third of the reticular dermis (which the port wine stains don’t).




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