CRAIG CONLEY (Prof. Oddfellow) is recognized by Encarta as “America’s most creative and diligent scholar of letters, words and punctuation.” He has been called a “language fanatic” by Page Six gossip columnist Cindy Adams, a “cult hero” by Publisher’s Weekly, a “monk for the modern age” by George Parker, and “a true Renaissance man of the modern era, diving headfirst into comprehensive, open-minded study of realms obscured or merely obscure” by Clint Marsh. An eccentric scholar, Conley’s ideas are often decades ahead of their time. He invented the concept of the “virtual pet” in 1980, fifteen years before the debut of the popular “Tamagotchi” in Japan. His virtual pet, actually a rare flower, still thrives and has reached an incomprehensible size. Conley’s website is OneLetterWords.com.
This is what can happen if your dinner party does not feature an eye-catching centerpiece. From Making Up with Mr. Dog by Albert Bigelow Paine and illustrated by J. M. Paine, 1901.
Though Wikipedia dates the oath "Sakes alive" from the 1930s to the 1950s, here it is in 1918. Sakes alive, Wikipedia! From Doctor Rabbit and Ki-yi Coyote by Thomas Hinkle, 1918.
You've heard that cats are aware of God's existence and know that humans are middlemen between them and the divine realm. This kitten, even through closed eyes and the mists of time, is aware of you as an intermediary. From Northeastern Illinois' 1974 yearbook.
I'm not sure that calling otherworldly beings "macrobes" (opposite of "microbes") ever caught on. From Tico Times (San Jose), via UFO Newsclipping Service, 1994.