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 12 posts tagged ‘shadow puppet’

Restoring the Lost Sense – November 25, 2029 (permalink)

From The Children's Newspaper, 1932.
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #shadow #cockatoo #1930s #illustration #shadow puppet
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Restoring the Lost Sense – May 24, 2027 (permalink)

From Ellis Stanyon's Magic, 1910.
[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 #devil #shadow #hand #illustration #shadow puppet #Mephistopheles
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Restoring the Lost Sense – March 31, 2026 (permalink)

Here's why a shadow puppet can do anything but turn around on the stage.  From The Heroes of the Puppet Stage by Madge Anderson, 1923.
[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 #1920s #puppet #illustration #shadow puppet
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Restoring the Lost Sense – April 29, 2025 (permalink)

From The Heroes of the Puppet Stage by Madge Anderson, 1923.
[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 #silhouette #1920s #illustration #shadow puppet
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Restoring the Lost Sense – May 14, 2020 (permalink)

From Moving Picture World, 1920.
[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 #wolf #shadow puppet
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Precursors – July 5, 2018 (permalink)

Here's a precursor to the Coneheads from Saturday Night Live.  From L'Album Comique de la Famille, 1902.  Previously, we saw this other surprising precursor to the Coneheads.
> read more from Precursors . . .
#vintage illustration #shadow #shadow puppet #coneheads
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Restoring the Lost Sense – November 18, 2017 (permalink)

From Die Muskete, 1935.
[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 #hand #illustration #shadow puppet
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Restoring the Lost Sense – August 24, 2017 (permalink)

From Pick Me Up, 1893.

[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 #illustration #shadow puppet
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Forgotten Wisdom – January 28, 2014 (permalink)

From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook:

The text reads: "If one's portentous shadow precedes, the unknown future into which one advances will dread one's arrival. —John Cowper-Powys, Porius (paraphrased)"
Printed collections of Forgotten Wisdom diagrams are available: Volume I from Mindful Greetings and Volumes II, III and IV from Amazon.  Selected posters are also available via Zazzle.
> read more from Forgotten Wisdom . . .
#vintage illustration #goat #shadow #illustration #John Cowper Powys #shadow puppet
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Colorful Allusions – June 2, 2011 (permalink)


> read more from Colorful Allusions . . .
#sun #eclipse #destiny #hand of god #devo #shadow puppet
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Forgotten Wisdom – May 23, 2010 (permalink)

1273366982_sourceFrom Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook:

Click to view a larger image

Inspired by surrealist J. Karl Bogartte.

---

Gary Barwin suggests:

because the shadows are sheep
> read more from Forgotten Wisdom . . .
#wolf #shadow #clock #shadow puppet #sun dial
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Puzzles and Games – April 8, 2007 (permalink)

> read more from Puzzles and Games . . .
#shadow #rabbit #hand #shadow puppet
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Original Content Copyright © 2026 by Craig Conley. All rights reserved.