13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 765)

1. A mid-19th-century French watch bottle (circa 1850)

Represents a luxurious, functional accessory blending horology and jewellery, likely created for the European market or high-end export. It typically features a miniature watch movement encased in azure blue enamel, decorated with seed pearls, and housed in a fitted red shell-shaped leather case.

Found on the Decorative World of Shell Artistry.

2. Scaling up the intimate art of cross-stitch to an architectural level

By set designer Raquel Rodrigo.

3. In 1973 Bhutan issued a set of postage stamps which were tiny, playable vinyl records.

Made of plastic and embossed with a melody, these tiny record stamps are among the strangest, most enchanting bits of vinyl out there. Discover how the Buddhist Kingdom of Bhutan came to produce the world’s “first talking stamps”. Found here.

4. The Secret Love Language of Stamp Placement 

I came across this and it fascinated me! (Sucker for secret languages)…

Popularized by young couples in the Victorian period, stamps were once used to symbolize a number of romantic messages. From a heartfelt “I am always thinking of you” to a wishful “When are you coming to see me?”, many secret conversations were had thanks to stamps.

Read more about the secret language here or check out this fun video from NatGeo.

5. The Love Letters of America’s Gay First Lady

When Grover Cleveland took office in 1885, he was a nearly 50-year-old bachelor, a fact that almost derailed his campaign when rumors spread that he had fathered a child out of wedlock. (He had.) Protocol for unmarried or widowed presidents called for a female relative to fill the role of first lady. In stepped his sister, Rose.

Rose Cleveland served as First Lady for 14 months. Her great love was a woman called Evangeline Simpson.

“You are mine, and I am yours, and we are one, and our lives are one henceforth, please God, who can alone separate us. I am bold to say this, to pray & to live to it. Am I too bold, Eve — tell me? … I shall go to bed, Eve — with your letters under my pillow.”

Read the full article on the Washington Post.

6. Cupid on the Move

Works by Michelangelo Maestri, found on Gods and Foolish Grandeur.

7. World railway map

Usually you see a railway map from a local perspective, because it’s meant to show how you get from point A to point B. As a learning experiment, Zhaoxu Sui mapped major railways worldwide. It’s not comprehensive but still interesting to think about, in case you’re trying to get to China from Europe by train.

You can grab the full PDF version here, found via Flowing Data.

8. The frescoes of Pompeii’s wildest party were only recently discovered

Read more about the House of Dionysian Delights.

9. How to Kiss a Girl in the Most Bizarre Way Possible, circa 1911

10. Typing for Love or MoneyThe Hidden Women’s Labor behind Modern Literary Masterpieces

Taking dictation, revising manuscripts, typing copies, literary amanuenses often labour for little compensation and even less recognition. Christine Jacobson explores the neglected efforts of women like Theodora Bosanquet, Véra Nabokov, and Valerie Eliot, who — through their work as typists, editors, and champions — had a profound impact on modern literature.

Read the full article by by Christine Jacobson on the Public Domain Review.

11. The Romance of Paper “Cobwebs”

Among the many works on paper in The Met’s Department of Drawings and Prints is a large collection of historic Valentines from Europe and the United States. In paper form, these tokens of love are known from the 17th century onwards, and were either handmade or, from the mid-18th century on

12. Pearly Tear Sculptures

By transforming sorrow and joy into shimmering, tangible strands, the artist suggests that our deepest emotions are not merely fleeting moments, but the very threads that bind us together.

Discover the Taiwanese artist Butaoxi Kao.

13. Love Lessons from a Forty-Four-Year-Old Plant Shop in New York City