Precursors

Here's time lord Gene Wilder as he appeared in Felttogene, 1848, 49, 50 by Vilhelm Holst, 1852.

Here's a precursor to Batman's residence at Stately Wayne Manor.  From Victoria and its Metropolis Past and Present by Alexander Sutherland (1888).  The caption reads: "Batman's dwelling on the Yarra."

Kansas.—Dear Sir: Not having enough room under our present arrangements, and wishing to make the Roller-Towel House the recognized head-quarters for traveling men, we desire to enlarge the building. Not having the money on hand to do so, we make the following proposition: If you will advance us $5, to be used for the above purpose, we will deduct that amount from your bill when stopping with us. We feel assured that the traveling men appreciate our efforts to give them first-class accommodations, and as the above amount will be deducted from your bill when stopping with us, we hope for a favorable reply. Should you not visit our town again the loan will be repaid in cash.

     J. Krash Towel, Proprietor Roller-Towel House.

Here's a precursor to the expression, "Hey, four-eyes."  From A String of Chinese Peach-Stones by William Arthur Cornaby, 1895.

Here's a precursor to Gary Barwin's Yiddish for Pirates (Random House Canada, 2016), a novel narrated by a parrot.  The caption reads, "The very parrot was a participator."  From Annals of the Parish and the Ayrshire Legatees by John Galt and illustrated by Charles Edmund Brock, 1895.

Pictured first is an ancient precursor to the Rabbit-Duck Illusion (1892), excavated from the Hopewell Mound City Group in Ohio and depicted in The Antiquarian (1897).

Here's a precursor to the 'couch potato' phenomenon of the 1970s, from Bachelor Ballads and Other Lazy Lyrics by Harry Spurr and illustrated by J. Hassall (1899).

A close encounter with a Grey from Eaglehawk and Crow A Study of the Australian Aborigines by John Mathew (1899).

"Party animal" traces back to 1982 (if you trust Merriam-Webster), but here are some true party animals depicted in Broadside Black-letter Ballads, Printed in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, edited by John Payne Collier, 1868.

Here's a precursor to Bonnie and Clyde being riddled with bullet holes, from Film Flashes: The Wit and Humor of a Nation in Pictures, 1916.

Here's a precursor: Remember the nineties, when everyone was putting out those little 'zines?  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Petit_Journal_des_Refus

Here's a precursor to the flamboyant Cockettes (founded 1969), from the medieval land of contraries, Cockayne.  From Carols of Cockayne by Henry Sambrooke Leigh, 1874.

Here's a precursor to Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels (1974), from The Merry Ballads of the Olden Time (1880).

Here's a precursor to the aborted high five prank, from The Talk of the Town by James Payn and illustrated by Harry Furniss (1885).  The caption reads: "The other, instead of taking his hand, drew himself up."

The expression about letting the cat out of the bag is commonly traced to a 1760 issue of The London Magazine, but we've followed it all the way back to Fulvia, the first non-mythological woman to appear on Roman coins.  We find her letting the cat out of the bag in The Comic History of Rome by Gilbert Abbott A'Beckett and illustrated by John Leech, 1897.

Here's a precursor to the 1937 film A Star is Born, from Baby's Book by Ida Scott Taylor (1898).

Are they Watson and Crick on the double staircase?  From A Handbook of Tamworth, Its Church & Castle by Thomas Cooke, 1876.

Here's a precursor to Antiques Roadshow, from A Tramp Abroad, Etc. by Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1897.