CRAIG CONLEY (Prof. Oddfellow) is recognized by Encarta as “America’s most creative and diligent scholar of letters, words and punctuation.” He has been called a “language fanatic” by Page Six gossip columnist Cindy Adams, a “cult hero” by Publisher’s Weekly, a “monk for the modern age” by George Parker, and “a true Renaissance man of the modern era, diving headfirst into comprehensive, open-minded study of realms obscured or merely obscure” by Clint Marsh. An eccentric scholar, Conley’s ideas are often decades ahead of their time. He invented the concept of the “virtual pet” in 1980, fifteen years before the debut of the popular “Tamagotchi” in Japan. His virtual pet, actually a rare flower, still thrives and has reached an incomprehensible size. Conley’s website is OneLetterWords.com.
"As is well known, women and birds are able to see without turning their heads, and that is indeed a necessary provision, for they are both surrounded by enemies." From The Demi-gods by James Stephens, 1921.
Here's a precursor to the 1927 film It, with Clara Bow as the "it girl." Our illustration is by L. Hurley for The Echo yearbook of Greensboro College, 1921. (For some unbelievably weird yearbook imagery, see our How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.)
An illustration from Helen by Maria Edgeworth, (1896). The caption reads: "Her expertness at general answers which give no information completely baffled the two."
An illustration from a 1914 issue of McClure's magazine. The caption reads: "No, he doesn't explain a thing; just says he's coming back to-night. ... Do you think he knows about—them?"