An illustration from an 1853 issue of Punch magazine.

An illustration from a 1906 issue of Puck magazine.  Speaking of which, one of the many things we admire about our British brethren is that they've long been consciously aware that they've slipped down the rabbit hole.  So very few nations realize they're in Wonderland.

An illustration from a 1917 issue of Puck magazine.

An illustration from a 1917 issue of Puck magazine.

An illustration from a 1917 issue of Puck magazine.

"The sky is pocked with stars.  What eyes the wise men must have had to see a new one in so many.  I wonder, were there fewer stars then?  I don't know.  I fancy there's a mystery in it." —The Lion in Winter

Our illustration appears in Pleasant Hours, 1887.

An illustration from a 1901 issue of Punch magazine.

This precursor to Salvador Dalí is entitled "Wednesday, August 14, 1867."  From Punch.

Here's a precursor to the Coen brothers' baby-snatching comedy Raising Arizona, from an 1869 issue of Pleasant Hours.  The caption reads: "'Wife, here is your Christmas present!' he called out, as he placed the boy in her arms."

Here's a sword suspension from 1848, about a year before Robert-Houdin debuted his famous broomstick illusion.  From Punch.

An illustration from a 1904 issue of Puck magazine.

An illustration from an 1859 issue of Punch magazine.

"It struck me that it was different in colour": a black-and-white illustration from The Quiver, 1879.

Heat imps: an illustration from an 1890 issue of Puck magazine.

"I mean the deer thing was a long time ago. Why bring it up now?"
—Stevi Mittman, Who Makes Up These Rules, Anyway? (2006)

Here's a "deer thing" from a 1908 issue of The Windsor Magazine.  The caption reads, "The thing came away from the head."  [For Gary Barwin.]

Fifty-one years before one of the all-time great fads of college kids cramming themselves into telephone booths, people "launched themselves in a body at ... unfortunate telephone[s]," as we see in The Windsor Magazine, 1908.

An illustration from a 1900 issue of Punch magazine.  The caption reads: "Watchman: What of the Night?"

An illustration from an 1854 issue of Punch magazine.