"The answer couldn't be simpler. Just forget Mary, and use whichever pronoun you'd use if she weren't there.”

—Y.M.M.I.A. Improvement Era (1944)

An illustration from a 1912 issue of Hampton's magazine.  The caption reads: "Concentrate thought on a given matter."

"A Strange Valentine": an illustration from an 1883 issue of Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly magazine.  The caption reads: "Sprinkling the pulverized herbs over the fire, and with her eyes fixed on the bright moon, she pronounced, in an extremely tremulous voice, the invocation."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't want to do it, tonight.  I just want to be held."
—Jonathan Kellerman, The Conspiracy Club

An illustration from a 1910 issue of Hampton's magazine.

Staring into the depths: an illustration from an 1896 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine.  The caption reads: "So deep the dark abyss, so deep the darkness of the rolling cloud."

"This may surprise you, but a little conflict here and there can be a good thing for your small group."
—Doug Fields & Brett Eastman, Connecting Your Heart to Others (2003)

An illustration from a 1909 issue of Hampton's magazine.  The caption reads: "Levitation of the medium, Eusapia, to the top of a table."

An illustration from a 1909 issue of Hampton's magazine.  The caption reads: "Engaged, evidently, in weaving a tale of magic."

An illustration from a 1904 issue of Century Illustrated magazine.  The caption reads: "'Skyrocket! Skyrocket! Skyrocket!' he cried."

See if this very strange phenomenon happens to you: Do the mystical symbols on the cover of Magic Words: A Dictionary inexplicably disappear in Amazon.com's scan of the softcover?  Note that if you click on the Kindle edition of the book, the mystical symbols re-materialize.  Here's the link to compare the two covers.  Is it just us?  If not, what's behind this "now you see it, now you don't" routine over at Amazon?

An illustration from a 1912 issue of Hampton's magazine.  The caption reads: "Suddenly I was roused by hearing my name called."

An illustration from an 1869 issue of Harper's magazine.

"It is strange that in this world in which everything is sooner or later lost, where losing is the only certainty, one gets attached to even the smallest things and wants to be able to say goodbye even to a pair of pants, rather than have it simply disappear."
—Allen Shawn, Twin: A Memoir (2010)

An illustration from a 1912 issue of Hampton's magazine.  The caption reads: "A person is able to transmit messages directly and instantaneously to another person though they may be half the world apart."

An illustration from a 1910 issue of Hampton's magazine.  The caption reads: "Luminous waves rolled toward me, covered with the faces of the dead.  I saw blue eyes all around the room."

photo by Cobalt 123

"Here I may add that I consider that I am still a useful member of society and I believe still capable of being pleasant and amusing when the occasion seems fit."
—Leonora Carrington, The Hearing Trumpet

An illustration from a 1912 issue of Hampton's magazine.