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.
Here's a precursor to M. C. Escher's interlocking animals, from a year before he began his education in decorative arts. From How to Tell the Birds from the Flowers by Robert Williams Wood, 1917.
She's captivated by the representation, even as swans are swimming right behind her. We don't even know if that's the point of this image from The Eastern Wonderland by D. C. Angus, 1882. Spoiler: the swans behind her are representations, too!
The text reads, "Soph[omore]. He thinks himself a bird. But --- he is." From The Chsite yearbook of Carey High School, 1920. See How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.
Here's a precursor to the Dial-A-Joke telephone service phenomenon. From Athens Female College's Oracle yearbook, 1912. (For some unbelievably weird yearbook imagery, see our How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.)
"Birds are seen approaching in the air carrying nests full of eggs in their beaks." From The Paradise of Birds by William John Courthope and illustrated by Lancelot Speed, 1889.