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.
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Abecedarian personal effects of 'a mad genius'
A Turkish Delight of musings on languages, deflations of metaphysics, vauntings of arcana, and great visual humor.

Found 1,362 posts tagged ‘1950s’

Yearbook Weirdness – March 25, 2020 (permalink)

X marks the spot.  "We all know it's more than just a location on the map of Arizona."  From the Phoenix yearbook of 1951.  For over 80 surprising meanings of the letter X, see One-Letter Words: A Dictionary.
> read more from Yearbook Weirdness . . .
#vintage illustration #vintage yearbook #map #yearbook #arizona #x marks the spot #1950s
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Yearbook Weirdness – March 7, 2020 (permalink)

"As we follow the sun -- so follow the seasons."  From Mansfield's 1950 yearbook.

*For some unbelievably weird yearbook imagery, see our How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.
> read more from Yearbook Weirdness . . .
#vintage illustration #time #vintage yearbook #yearbook #clock #seasons #1950s
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Yearbook Weirdness – February 27, 2020 (permalink)

Weed fiend, loudest dressed, and night owl.  From Charlotte College's 1951 yearbook.

*For some unbelievably weird yearbook imagery, see our How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.
> read more from Yearbook Weirdness . . .
#vintage photo #vintage yearbook #yearbook #1950s
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Images Moving Through Time – February 9, 2020 (permalink)

From Taylor's Gem yearbook, 1958.
> read more from Images Moving Through Time . . .
#vintage photo #vintage yearbook #night photography #yearbook #inner city #vintage man #man #downtown #back alley #1950s
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Yearbook Weirdness – January 7, 2020 (permalink)

From the University of Maryland, College Park yearbook of 1952.

*For some unbelievably weird yearbook imagery, see our How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.
> read more from Yearbook Weirdness . . .
#skeleton #vintage photo #vintage yearbook #yearbook #puppets #marionette #1950s
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Strange Dreams – December 2, 2019 (permalink)

"If you were a dime, you might also have a dream of glory."  From The Link, 1956.
If you have a strange dream to share, send it along!
> read more from Strange Dreams . . .
#vintage illustration #money #anthropomorphism #faces in things #1950s #dime
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Yearbook Weirdness – December 2, 2019 (permalink)

You've heard that beauty is its own excuse for being, but here's the actual mathematics of it.  From Lambuth's 1959 yearbook.

*For some unbelievably weird yearbook imagery, see our How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.
> read more from Yearbook Weirdness . . .
#vintage illustration #vintage yearbook #yearbook #math #beauty #1950s
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Images Moving Through Time – October 28, 2019 (permalink)

News we can believe in.  From City Light newsletter, 1959.  Courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives.
> read more from Images Moving Through Time . . .
#jack-o'-lantern #vintage photo #hallowe'en #carved pumpkin #pumpkin lamp #1950s
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Yearbook Weirdness – October 21, 2019 (permalink)

From the 1959 Ole Miss yearbook.

*For some unbelievably weird yearbook imagery, see our How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.
> read more from Yearbook Weirdness . . .
#vintage photo #vintage yearbook #yearbook #typewriter #vintage men #men #1950s
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Yearbook Weirdness – September 27, 2019 (permalink)

Like something out of a Japanese horror film, these blurry-faced cheerleaders haunt the UC Southern Branch yearbook of 1959.  See How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.
> read more from Yearbook Weirdness . . .
#vintage yearbook #yearbook #blurred #faceless #no face #cheerleader #1950s
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Yearbook Weirdness – September 2, 2019 (permalink)

This is the most interesting college seal we've encountered, for its inclusion of the sprite Willie who is conjured with the magic words "Brillig Spillig Jiminillig."  From Wesleyan College's 1953 yearbook.

*For some unbelievably weird yearbook imagery, see our How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.
> read more from Yearbook Weirdness . . .
#vintage illustration #vintage yearbook #yearbook #magic words #sprite #illustration #1950s #college seal
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Yearbook Weirdness – September 2, 2019 (permalink)

You've heard that you're part of all you've met, but here's the actual mathematics of it.  From Lambuth's 1959 yearbook.

*For some unbelievably weird yearbook imagery, see our How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.
> read more from Yearbook Weirdness . . .
#vintage illustration #vintage yearbook #yearbook #tennyson #geometry #math #1950s
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Yearbook Weirdness – August 22, 2019 (permalink)

This photograph may be used to initiate time travel.  From Taylor University's Gem yearbook, 1959.

*For some unbelievably weird yearbook imagery, see our How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.
> read more from Yearbook Weirdness . . .
#eerie #vintage photo #vintage yearbook #night photography #yearbook #glowing #1950s #glowing tree
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Restoring the Lost Sense – August 18, 2019 (permalink)

Bookworms don't necessarily make holes in pages by eating them.  Sometimes they focus light through a magnifying glass and burn holes.  From Science Fiction Quarterly, 1956.
Thank you to Ant-Soul who commented, "This is the best thing I’ve seen."
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #anthropomorphism #bookworm #illustration #1950s
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Restoring the Lost Sense – August 9, 2019 (permalink)

Freehand emoticons of the 1950s, by Milt Hammer.  From The Link, 1953.
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #faces #emotions #cartooning #emoticon #1950s
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Old News – August 2, 2019 (permalink)

You've heard the saying, "It's happy hour in France."  Turns out that, through one weird trick with time zones, it's always happy hour in France.  From Awake magazine, 1957.
> read more from Old News . . .
#vintage illustration #alcoholism #alcohol #france #vintage headline #happy hour #illustration #headline #1950s
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Restoring the Lost Sense – July 30, 2019 (permalink)

From Taylor University's Gem yearbook of 1957.
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #shadow #vintage yearbook #vintage book #yearbook #book #perspective #1957 #1950s
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Restoring the Lost Sense – June 28, 2019 (permalink)

A "Sam" you know will likely confirm this diagram.  From The Link, 1954.
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #vintage diagram #triangle #sacred geometry #god #diagram #1950s
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Restoring the Lost Sense – June 19, 2019 (permalink)

From Nebelspalter, 1958.
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #piggy bank #leg #beggar #1950s
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Images Moving Through Time – June 7, 2019 (permalink)

Reblog if, due to budget cuts, your art and language classes were combined.  From Washington College's 1959 yearbook.
> read more from Images Moving Through Time . . .
#vintage photo #vintage yearbook #yearbook #vintage men #men #1950s #blackboard #spanish class
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