This German copy of Faust also makes me sad. It was found in the trenches in 1918, and its owner likely died.
It's super weird to see telegrams, considering all the ways we have to communicate quickly and efficiently from almost anywhere now. This notice of a woman's death feels especially impersonal.
I'm actually kind of shocked we never saw this letter from Gandhi to Hitler in history class.
I'm not as shocked that we never learned about this CIA-issued toolkit for spies that can be hidden in your butt in case of capture.
These hourly pay rates for railroad workers in the US in 1923 are...sad to see now. Though, to be fair, $1.22 is around $23/hour today.
TIL in London in the '40s, they would do gas exercises for civilians to prepare for gas attacks from Germany.
I also learned that some planes had WICKER seats back in the day??? Oh, and check out the first example of an in-flight film.
One more thing I learned today? Due to high inflation during the Civil War, people began hoarding their coins, leading to a huge shortage. Businesses began issuing tokens made of copper instead, which were used by customers in place of real money.
The contents of the wallet of a man killed in WWII are a fascinating yet heartbreaking snapshot of life back then
Here's a drawing from a Vietnamese prisoner of war from 1969 that also makes me sad.
This lighter from a soldier in Vietnam is also super sad to me.
As is this letter a soldier in Vietnam sent home on his birthday.
On a lighter note, this letter from John Steinbeck to Marilyn Monroe made me laugh — though it's unconfirmed if it's real (it was found in Monroe's possessions, though!).
This photo of kids engaging in remote learning — over the radio — from 1937 (due to the polio epidemic) makes me feel weirdly connected to the past.
As a huge LOTR fan, I'm super jealous of this fan who wrote to Tolkien in 1959 and actually got a letter back.
This letter from then–President Bill Clinton to a 10-year-old who wrote him is less cool but still interesting.
This photo from Afghanistan of female medical students — and a female professor — is very, very sad to see now.
This passage from an 1800s book that offers a treatment for masturbation — including cutting your hair short and sleeping on a hard bed and pillow with ice on your neck — is kind of disturbing.
Seeing anything that still exists from hundreds of years ago also makes me feel super connected to the past — like this graffiti stating the date (the day of the battle of Bunker Hill) in this old house in Massachusetts.
Similarly, check out this cannonball still stuck in a wall from the Revolutionary War!
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They should bring those back, be good for a little boost on a long day (couldn't be any worse for you than chugging a couple redbulls...)
They are the initials of the letter writer and the initials of the typist.