Elsewhere, I have written of "the future of the past" to capture this massive spiraling model of historical thinking and interpretation. By this paradoxical expression, I mean that we need to come to terms with the simple fact that, yes, we can now read the past in ways that past peoples could not read their own presents. Our future changes the meanings of their past. But any adequate understanding of their past will also inevitably challenge our own present assumptions about the world and so change the meaning of our present. There is no straight arrow here. There is a kind of recurring time loop, a constant return to the past in order to reassess and recalibrate the present toward a different kind of future. Anyone who works seriously with historical materials is familiar with these interpretive paradoxes.

—Whitley Strieber and Jeffrey Kripal, The Super Natural: Why the Unexplained is Real [via Gordon Meyer]

For reformation read separation, for hamper read transfer, for addressing read advising, for ministers read members.  From The Law Magazine and Law Review, 1856.

A sparring match from The Harvard Lampoon, 1887.

"An old card superstition that people standing behind one's back during play bring bad luck is well founded."  From Popular Mechanics, 1927.

Here's how the ghost of a snore comes into being, from Sayings and Doings in America by Costard Sly, 1834.

"Worshippers at the shrine of Thespis," from The Sketch, 1908.

Our custom widget that checks for duplicated images suggested this unlikely pairing.  Click each image for its source.

From Jugend, 1899.  See also this bug slayer extraordinaire, and this proof that bug slayers start young.

"Having finished it he brought it to life."  From North American Indian Fairy Tales, Folklore and Legends, 1905.

"Do spirits talk through the ouija board."  From Popular Science Monthly, 1920.