"No good.  Bldg. burned," as scanned by the Boston Public Library.

INSTRUCTIONS: Click to turn off the lights.

You've heard of meeting one's fate, but here's exactly where it happens: Denton, Texas.  The handwriting reads, "Here's where we meet our fate."  Note that Denton is the location for the fateful Rocky Horror story.

You know that one can hear the ocean in a seashell, but did you know that it's the shore at Atlantic City?  From 1907.

"Hunter's dream."

INSTRUCTIONS: Click to shift from the photo to the painting.

INSTRUCTIONS: Click to restore this torn postcard of the Battle of the Crater, Petersburg, VA.

(The postcard really was torn: here it is as the Boston Public Library scanned it for Flickr.)

"Don't worry!  You're coming to see me some day.  Aint you?  Eh?  This is the guy I saw the other night in my sleep.  Went to Vaudeville last night, with fellows in next room.  We'll be there to-gether old man."  From 1907.

INSTRUCTIONS: Click to hand tint.

"The drumming duck."

This 1906 spelling of choo-choo train, "chw-chw," is a Googlewhack.

Here's a precursor to the feeling when folks don't text/e-mail you back (much less actually write with a quill and bottle of ink).  From 1923.

Here's a precursor to the 1960s psychedelic "liquid light shows" (note that the Wikipedia article was tagged as a "personal reflection" of "feelings," which seems somehow appropriate).  The effect of this 1910 postcard appears due to a printing misalignment of the cyan and magenta.  Viewers with color blindness may not see anything out of the ordinary.

Did you know that museums have their own weather stations?  Indeed, museum climate control is a big issue.

INSTRUCTIONS: Click to deepen the sunset.

Here's a precursor to the Michael Jackson lyric, "Beat it, just beat it."  Date uncertain.

INSTRUCTIONS: Click to retint.

You've heard of "His Master's Voice," but "His Master's Breath" smells like whiskey.  Date uncertain.

INSTRUCTIONS: Click to bring on the night.