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"The doomed tenth": a precursor to Agatha Christie's "ten little Indians" mystery formula, from Pearson's, 1913.
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This celebration of centuries (Portugal, 1940) is a precursor to Time 40: A Trilogy of Time in Four Parts by Andrew Doble. In the poster, a trilogy of centuries is written four times, all in their 40s (not that our point wasn't obvious).
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Here's a precursor to Heather Has Two Mommies. "Aint he like his fathers." From Judy, Or The London Serio-Comic Journal, 1885.
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Here's a precursor to "[How Do You Solve a Problem Like] Maria" in The Sound of Music: "How do you find a word that means Maria? A flibbertijibbet! A will-o'-the wisp! A clown!" The caption reads, "They call you by a name that makes me shudder when I hear it." From English Illustrated, 1890.
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Here's a precursor to the Transformers, c. 1890. When the wheels hatched, it became a flying machine.
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"Mr. Major bridging over eighteen centuries" (Once a Week, 1871). This is a precursor to Mrs. Slocombe's hip measurement of 42 inches plus the week of October the 5th (in the "Mrs. Slocombe, Senior Person" episode of Are You Being Served?).
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Here's a precursor to the Seinfeld episode "The Contest," which features the euphemism "master of my domain." The text reads, "As he lay down in his bed he exclaimed, under his breath, 'Master of the Situation!'" From Once a Week, 1870.
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Here's a precursor to Kafka attaining immortality -- it's a Kafka in English Illustrated, 1890.
"Why did Kafka not ask to have his physical body—like his body of work—burned? Perhaps he realized that the annihilation of his corpse would not save him from immortality" (J. Zilcosky, Kafka's Travels, 2003).
See our book of imaginary Kafka parables, Franzlations.
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Here's a precursor to the inflatable dancing tube figures used for advertising. From Judy, Or The London Serio-Comic Journal, 1873.
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"That's blood, Mother" -- a precusor to Norman Bates' "Mother! Oh, God, Mother! Blood! Blood!" in Psycho. From English Illustrated, 1907.
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Original Content Copyright © 2026 by Craig Conley. All rights reserved.
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