One of our favorite early theories concerning the North Pole is the guardian bear/cat of the great spoon.  From Jugend, 1924.

"Why we should bathe internally."  From McClure's, 1920.

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

Here's a precursor to The Iceman Cometh.  The sudden appearance of an ice man, and not the long-expected murderously jealous husband, ends a comedic sketch with one character screaming in fright, and the script promises that it's one of the best finishes in vaudeville.  From A Cold Finish, A Vaudeville Sketch by Harry Lee Newton, 1905.

"The Ripsnorter."  From Judge's Library, 1904.

From Kladderadatsch, 1930.

"They were still standing there in the open door."  From The Unknown Lady by Justus Miles Forman, 1911.

"A gigantic hand seemed to form in the vapor, and between the thumb and forefinger it held a ring."  From The Bradys and the Magic Ring, 1908.

This sounds like our Tumblr feed!  My Dark Companions and Their Strange Stories by Henry Morton Stanley, 1893.

Don't move!  From Le Rire, 1902.

"Israel and the water-maidens."  From West Indian Fairy Tales by Gertrude Shaw and illustrated by H. J. Stock, 1914.

From Fliegende Blätter, 1936.

From Kladderadatsch, 1941.