Real World References- Ye Martian Wayfarere
Feb 5, 2017 20:36:34 GMT -5
clemtownkernel and Geodus like this
Post by dmikester on Feb 5, 2017 20:36:34 GMT -5
This is an attempt to catalog all of the real-world references made in each issue of Curios and Conundrums. In general, this is meant to be read after you’ve either completed the gone through and read/solved everything in a given issue of Curios and Conundrums, as this will take a big picture approach and will discuss all parts of an experience and will, when appropriate, spoil answers to puzzles in the issues. My hope with this is that we can have some enlightening discussion about non-puzzle specific items, and I especially hope that you feel free to add to the list, as I’m only one person and will likely miss some references and/or not research something closely enough. If I leave something off entirely here, like say a crossword puzzle, that’s because there are no real-world references included, only the usual puns and fun wordplay. Enjoy!
Mysterious Travel
Arkhangelsk is indeed a real town that is very much as described in the article. I'll link to the Wikipedia page just for convenience, and because most of the official pages are in Russian. The Sutyagin House really is a wild thing, and there's an article below with other pictures of the house that show just how nuts it really was:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkhangelsk
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1544827/Gangster-who-built-worlds-tallest-log-cabin.html
Dr. Davis' Pawtucket Candies
A real product and ad. Here's more info (it's #12 on the list):
www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/new-england-candy-king-15-sweet-facts/
Vigor's Horse-Action Saddle
One of my favorite ads from the C&C publications. Here's a write-up about it:
thequackdoctor.com/index.php/vigors-horse-action-saddle/
The Curator’s Kitchen
A real medieval recipe. You can find it here on page 91.
quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/CookBk?rgn=main;view=fulltext
Waipoua Forest Article
While this is clearly a fake article, considering that it mentions the MPC directly, the Waipoua Forest itself and the settlement mentioned here, the Waipoua Forest Stone City (at least I assume they’re referring to this), is a fascinating thing. Here’s a link to more info:
www.everythingselectric.com/forum/index.php?topic=312.0
Maypole Soap Dies Ad
A real vintage ad. I couldn’t find much info about it, but here’s a link to a site where you can buy it as a poster:
www.zazzle.co.uk/maypole+soap+gifts
Slaughtering Ad
Yet another real ad. Here’s a link to it from the Library of Congress:
www.loc.gov/resource/rbpe.01602600/
The Old Age Rejuvenator Centrifuge
An amazing and hopefully not actually produced piece of technology. Here are two articles about it; in the second one, you can see the actual text from the published article and compare it to the text that the MPC wrote.
boingboing.net/2007/12/31/old-age-rejuvenator.html
blog.modernmechanix.com/old-age-rejuvenator-centrifuge/
Handsome Women
A real ad. You can find it on this page of the Parisian Illustrated Review:
books.google.com/books?id=AwQZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA669&lpg=PA669
Get To Know The Architect
The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World are both very real and very excellent books that I highly recommend. This article actually inspired me to read Hard Boiled Wonderland, and it was well worth it. Also, his “Suspicious, but not an imminent threat” T-shirt is excellent.
Bestiary
The centicore is another (hopefully fantastical) monster mentioned in Pliny the Elder’s Natural History. Here’s a link to more info:
bestiary.ca/beasts/beast142.htm
Lactated Food Ad
Here is a very in-depth article on the company behind this ad that includes both the ad itself and many others that they produced:
seesaw.typepad.com/blog/2008/06/diamond-dyes.html
Strange Occurrences in the Sky
This was fun to research. The article in C&C is based on a real article in the Oakland Tribune on November 30th, 1896, which you can find below. The same link though has much more info on the “airship craze” that the article mentions, and it’s worth reading the whole thing:
www.astronomyufo.com/UFO/Venusufo.htm
Band-Saw Machines
A real ad that you can see highlighted here:
vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/imagedetail.aspx?id=776
Nobody Can Conceive the Wonders Unseen and Unseeable
Another reference to the airship craze mentioned above. I couldn’t find a direct link to the article, but here’s a link with a ton of airship references, and includes a mention to this article at the very top:
www.angelfire.com/ma4/oddities/page2.html
Mild spoilers (one crossword answer is discussed- recommended to read only after solving the crossword fully)
Heavy Spoilers- read only after solving all of Volume 1’s puzzles
Curios
There was a menu from the Waldorf-Astoria that had a menu identical to the film Babette's Feast (also a book).
Spoilers- read only after solving all of Volume 1 puzzles
In addition, there were three cards associated with this issue (subscribers only got one each, and had to collaborate) that referenced three real-world literary works. They are Beowulf (specifically the Penguin Books edition), Hamlet, and the Gospel of Luke from The King James Bible.
Mysterious Travel
Arkhangelsk is indeed a real town that is very much as described in the article. I'll link to the Wikipedia page just for convenience, and because most of the official pages are in Russian. The Sutyagin House really is a wild thing, and there's an article below with other pictures of the house that show just how nuts it really was:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkhangelsk
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1544827/Gangster-who-built-worlds-tallest-log-cabin.html
Dr. Davis' Pawtucket Candies
A real product and ad. Here's more info (it's #12 on the list):
www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/new-england-candy-king-15-sweet-facts/
Vigor's Horse-Action Saddle
One of my favorite ads from the C&C publications. Here's a write-up about it:
thequackdoctor.com/index.php/vigors-horse-action-saddle/
The Curator’s Kitchen
A real medieval recipe. You can find it here on page 91.
quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/CookBk?rgn=main;view=fulltext
Waipoua Forest Article
While this is clearly a fake article, considering that it mentions the MPC directly, the Waipoua Forest itself and the settlement mentioned here, the Waipoua Forest Stone City (at least I assume they’re referring to this), is a fascinating thing. Here’s a link to more info:
www.everythingselectric.com/forum/index.php?topic=312.0
Maypole Soap Dies Ad
A real vintage ad. I couldn’t find much info about it, but here’s a link to a site where you can buy it as a poster:
www.zazzle.co.uk/maypole+soap+gifts
Slaughtering Ad
Yet another real ad. Here’s a link to it from the Library of Congress:
www.loc.gov/resource/rbpe.01602600/
The Old Age Rejuvenator Centrifuge
An amazing and hopefully not actually produced piece of technology. Here are two articles about it; in the second one, you can see the actual text from the published article and compare it to the text that the MPC wrote.
boingboing.net/2007/12/31/old-age-rejuvenator.html
blog.modernmechanix.com/old-age-rejuvenator-centrifuge/
Handsome Women
A real ad. You can find it on this page of the Parisian Illustrated Review:
books.google.com/books?id=AwQZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA669&lpg=PA669
Get To Know The Architect
The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World are both very real and very excellent books that I highly recommend. This article actually inspired me to read Hard Boiled Wonderland, and it was well worth it. Also, his “Suspicious, but not an imminent threat” T-shirt is excellent.
Bestiary
The centicore is another (hopefully fantastical) monster mentioned in Pliny the Elder’s Natural History. Here’s a link to more info:
bestiary.ca/beasts/beast142.htm
Lactated Food Ad
Here is a very in-depth article on the company behind this ad that includes both the ad itself and many others that they produced:
seesaw.typepad.com/blog/2008/06/diamond-dyes.html
Strange Occurrences in the Sky
This was fun to research. The article in C&C is based on a real article in the Oakland Tribune on November 30th, 1896, which you can find below. The same link though has much more info on the “airship craze” that the article mentions, and it’s worth reading the whole thing:
www.astronomyufo.com/UFO/Venusufo.htm
Band-Saw Machines
A real ad that you can see highlighted here:
vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/imagedetail.aspx?id=776
Nobody Can Conceive the Wonders Unseen and Unseeable
Another reference to the airship craze mentioned above. I couldn’t find a direct link to the article, but here’s a link with a ton of airship references, and includes a mention to this article at the very top:
www.angelfire.com/ma4/oddities/page2.html
Mild spoilers (one crossword answer is discussed- recommended to read only after solving the crossword fully)
Spring Crossword
Only one real-world reference here: Sixteen Candles is a classic John Hughes film.
Only one real-world reference here: Sixteen Candles is a classic John Hughes film.
Heavy Spoilers- read only after solving all of Volume 1’s puzzles
Horoscopes
All of these horoscopes refer to stories and books by Rudyard Kipling. I haven’t read all of these, but the ones I have read are exceptionally well written, and are much eerier than I would have expected. Here they are:
Aries- City of the Dreadful Night
Taurus - My Own True Ghost Story
Gemini- The Prayer
Cancer- Swept and Garnished
Leo- Letters of Travel
Virgo- The Children of the Zodiac
Libra- The House Surgeon
Scorpio- The Man Who Would Be King
Sagittarius- The Finest Story in the World
Capricorn- The Phantom Rickshaw
Aquarius- The Wish House
Pisces- The Mark of the Beast
All of these horoscopes refer to stories and books by Rudyard Kipling. I haven’t read all of these, but the ones I have read are exceptionally well written, and are much eerier than I would have expected. Here they are:
Aries- City of the Dreadful Night
Taurus - My Own True Ghost Story
Gemini- The Prayer
Cancer- Swept and Garnished
Leo- Letters of Travel
Virgo- The Children of the Zodiac
Libra- The House Surgeon
Scorpio- The Man Who Would Be King
Sagittarius- The Finest Story in the World
Capricorn- The Phantom Rickshaw
Aquarius- The Wish House
Pisces- The Mark of the Beast
Curios
There was a menu from the Waldorf-Astoria that had a menu identical to the film Babette's Feast (also a book).
Spoilers- read only after solving all of Volume 1 puzzles
In addition, there were three cards associated with this issue (subscribers only got one each, and had to collaborate) that referenced three real-world literary works. They are Beowulf (specifically the Penguin Books edition), Hamlet, and the Gospel of Luke from The King James Bible.