In 17th century Chinese lore, spitting at a ghost is said to make it disappear.  From Lustige Blätter, 1917.

From Le Journal Amusant, 1893.

From Jugend, 1916.

"I never answer the door because of the horrors that could lurk there" —John Darling, Woman in Black.  Our illustration is from Lustige Blätter, 1901.

This photograph may be used to facilitate time travel. From the Evansville yearbook of 1978.

It's now politically incorrect to call foreign languages "strange tongues."  We once studied strange tongues but didn't keep in practice (we weren't friends with enough strangers), so now we're better at reading strangely than speaking strangely.  From North Central's 1986 yearbook.

Do you already know the secrets of Fluency in 5 Minutes?

Plus, this is a precursor to the astonishing Danish band Heilung.

From Memphis State's 1972 yearbook.

"I remember a pill that had as side effects — if you took an overdose — convulsions, coma, amd then death.  And in the literature, right after it told about the convulsions, coma and death, it said, May Be Habit Forming.  Which always struck me as an anticlimax. ... It's a strange world ... very strange." —Philip K. Dick, A Maze of Death

From Life, 1900.

The grand tradition of glowing trees in old yearbooks.  From Swarthmore's 1971 yearbook.

From L'Eclipse, 1875.

How pink is your Jolly Roger?  From East Carolina's 1934 yearbook.

You don't have to have a cat to experience this, but sometimes it helps.  From Spellbound, 1977.  (Courtesy of Archive.org.)