Whispering a secret to a mask: an illustration from a 1900 issue of Pall Mall magazine.

An illustration from an 1858 issue of Harper's magazine.  The caption reads: "Smuggled candy in school; smoked cigars, and—oh, fie!—read a great many very queer books on the sly."

Dedicated to Teresa Burritt.

"Sometimes you can fan the flame of your thoughts so vigorously that they give off a spray of sparks that fly to the brain of the person standing next to you."
—Gustav Meyrink, The Golem

Older and older men are starting families, and when we see white-haired grandfatherly types out and about with their newborns, we can't help but to see classic archetypes at play: Father Time and Baby New Year.  Here they are as depicted in Life magazine, 1902:

An illustration from an 1897 issue of Pall Mall magazine.

An illustration from an 1884 issue of London Society Illustrated magazine.  The caption reads: "The gold sprite."

An illustration from an 1895 issue of The Strand magazine.  The caption reads: "Curfew shall not ring to-night."

Dedicated to Teresa Burritt.

You've heard of a "murder of crows" and other fun collective nouns.  But what do you call a collection of elders?

"An infinity of elders." —William Beckford, Vathek

An illustration from a 1902 issue of Pall Mall magazine.  The caption reads: "'When,' he cried, 'will women learn that the small hours of the morning are the very worst in which to start these infernal maunderings about their empty lives?'"

An illustration from a 1905 issue of Pall Mall magazine.  The caption simply reads: "Science."

Auroral spirits: An illustration from a 1903 issue of Century Illustrated magazine.

An illustration from an 1896 issue of Harper's magazine.  The caption reads: "He went into one of his trances."

Staring into the depths: an illustration from a 1906 issue of Pall Mall magazine.  The caption reads: "She took her eyes from the mile-deep caverns in the fire and glanced at the faded daguerrotype."

An illustration from a 1906 issue of Pall Mall magazine.  The caption reads: "'Oh, don't!' she cried.  'Don't get any bigger.  I can't bear it.'"

From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook: