Real Word References- The Feline Nemesis
Mar 19, 2017 0:18:39 GMT -5
Todd, clemtownkernel, and 1 more like this
Post by dmikester on Mar 19, 2017 0:18:39 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 or 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
Cape Verde, or as it’s now better known Cabo Verde, is a real island country made up of several islands with wildly different characteristics from each other, and is actually one of the most demoractic countries in all of Africa. The Wikipedia page gives a good summary of the country:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Verde
Dr. Wilbor’s Cod-Liver Oil and Phosphates
I had trouble finding this in an actual newspaper online, but there are several examples of Dr. Wilbor’s Cod-Liver Oil and Phosphates in article form in old newspapers. There’s also a nice summary of what this stuff actually was in a book on Google: search “dr. wilbor's cod-liver oil and phosphates ad” in Google Books and look for Goods For Sale: Products and Advertising in the Massachusetts Industrial Age.
Stemt Rood!
This is a Dutch poster for the Socialist Democratic Party in the Netherlands. Here’s a link to a newsletter with the poster and much more info about election campaigns of the time:
www.peoplesheritage.eu/pdf_newsletter/1211_Newsletter_03.pdf
Van Delft’s Tafelkoeken
More Dutch artwork. You can see some basic info about this from this site:
www.geheugenvannederland.nl/en/geheugen/view?coll=ngvn&identifier=RA01%3A30051001522033
Curator’s Kitchen
Another ancient recipe that can be found in the same book as before; this one is on page 100:
quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/CookBk?rgn=main;view=fulltext
Steven’s Bicycle Rifle
Believe it or not, a real gun designed to be used on a bicycle! You can find this ad on Pinterest, but I’ll do better: here’s an amazing picture of one of the guns, and also the Wikipedia page on Stevens Arms:
thecabe.com/forum/threads/bicycle-rifle.64380/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevens_Arms
Dr. McLaughlin’s Electric Belt
Electric belts were a huge trend in the Victorian era. Here’s a great article from Atlas Obscura about it, with more McLaughlin electric belt ad pictures. I’m also including a lengthy article about the Irish media of the time that includes a picture of this exact ad:
www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-victorian-tool-for-everything-from-hernias-to-sexa-vibrating-electric-belt
irishmediahistory.com/tag/electric-belt/
Witchcraft Accusations
This is a very straightforward summary of 16th and 17th century witchcraft trials. I could provide a dozen links here, but you can just read this article and get all the knowledge you need. Here’s a Wikipedia link to early European witch trials:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_trials_in_the_early_modern_period
3 Day Cure for Men
Here’s a picture of the ad with the actual product, and below that a link to a judgement against this company basically saying the product was snake oil:
www.shorpy.com/node/8596
ceb.nlm.nih.gov/fdanj/items-by-subject?subject=3+Days+Cure+for+Men
Tom Cat Sunkist
Weirdly, I can’t find a direct link to this, though it seems clear that it’s real. I think the reason this has been tough to find is that it appears to be a crate label and not an ad per se. You can just search for Tom Cat Sunkist and you’ll find the image in many different places.
Bestiary
The Hydrus is a (very hopefully) fictional creature that appears in medieval bestiaries. Here’s an article with a picture of the hydrus from an ancient bestiary:
bestiary.ca/beasts/beast272.htm
Granola Ad
This is a fun one to deep dive into. Here’s a great article about the history of granola that includes the company that produced this ad:
www.foodreference.com/html/artgranola.html
Modern Witchcraft
This is similar to the other witchcraft article in the issue; it’s a very straightforward report about modern witchcraft. Here’s an article with more detail about some of the specific cases brought up in the article:
nypost.com/2010/11/14/how-modern-day-witch-trials-are-destroying-rural-africa/
La Chablisienne
This is either a wine label or an ad for Chablis wine. Here’s the official website for the wines themselves:
www.chablis.fr/
The One Man Band
Another straightforward article about the history of one-man bands. The Wikipedia entry for this is very good, but I’m also including a blog post that goes into much more length and features Joe Barrick and a link to the picture in the article:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-man_band
www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/barrick.htm
www.vintag.es/2016/03/one-man-band-ca-late-1800s.html
Encyclopedia Brittanica Ad
A straightforward ad for the 11th edition of the Encyclopedia Brittanica circa 1913. The Wikipedia entry for the Encyclopedia Brittanica includes the ad and is very comprehensive:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica
Get to Know The Chronologist
There is a reference here to The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare, a novel by G. K. Chesterton.
Spoilers- only look at this after you've solved the crossword puzzle.
Heavy Spoilers- Only read after solving all of Volume 1
Mysterious Travel
Cape Verde, or as it’s now better known Cabo Verde, is a real island country made up of several islands with wildly different characteristics from each other, and is actually one of the most demoractic countries in all of Africa. The Wikipedia page gives a good summary of the country:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Verde
Dr. Wilbor’s Cod-Liver Oil and Phosphates
I had trouble finding this in an actual newspaper online, but there are several examples of Dr. Wilbor’s Cod-Liver Oil and Phosphates in article form in old newspapers. There’s also a nice summary of what this stuff actually was in a book on Google: search “dr. wilbor's cod-liver oil and phosphates ad” in Google Books and look for Goods For Sale: Products and Advertising in the Massachusetts Industrial Age.
Stemt Rood!
This is a Dutch poster for the Socialist Democratic Party in the Netherlands. Here’s a link to a newsletter with the poster and much more info about election campaigns of the time:
www.peoplesheritage.eu/pdf_newsletter/1211_Newsletter_03.pdf
Van Delft’s Tafelkoeken
More Dutch artwork. You can see some basic info about this from this site:
www.geheugenvannederland.nl/en/geheugen/view?coll=ngvn&identifier=RA01%3A30051001522033
Curator’s Kitchen
Another ancient recipe that can be found in the same book as before; this one is on page 100:
quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/CookBk?rgn=main;view=fulltext
Steven’s Bicycle Rifle
Believe it or not, a real gun designed to be used on a bicycle! You can find this ad on Pinterest, but I’ll do better: here’s an amazing picture of one of the guns, and also the Wikipedia page on Stevens Arms:
thecabe.com/forum/threads/bicycle-rifle.64380/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevens_Arms
Dr. McLaughlin’s Electric Belt
Electric belts were a huge trend in the Victorian era. Here’s a great article from Atlas Obscura about it, with more McLaughlin electric belt ad pictures. I’m also including a lengthy article about the Irish media of the time that includes a picture of this exact ad:
www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-victorian-tool-for-everything-from-hernias-to-sexa-vibrating-electric-belt
irishmediahistory.com/tag/electric-belt/
Witchcraft Accusations
This is a very straightforward summary of 16th and 17th century witchcraft trials. I could provide a dozen links here, but you can just read this article and get all the knowledge you need. Here’s a Wikipedia link to early European witch trials:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_trials_in_the_early_modern_period
3 Day Cure for Men
Here’s a picture of the ad with the actual product, and below that a link to a judgement against this company basically saying the product was snake oil:
www.shorpy.com/node/8596
ceb.nlm.nih.gov/fdanj/items-by-subject?subject=3+Days+Cure+for+Men
Tom Cat Sunkist
Weirdly, I can’t find a direct link to this, though it seems clear that it’s real. I think the reason this has been tough to find is that it appears to be a crate label and not an ad per se. You can just search for Tom Cat Sunkist and you’ll find the image in many different places.
Bestiary
The Hydrus is a (very hopefully) fictional creature that appears in medieval bestiaries. Here’s an article with a picture of the hydrus from an ancient bestiary:
bestiary.ca/beasts/beast272.htm
Granola Ad
This is a fun one to deep dive into. Here’s a great article about the history of granola that includes the company that produced this ad:
www.foodreference.com/html/artgranola.html
Modern Witchcraft
This is similar to the other witchcraft article in the issue; it’s a very straightforward report about modern witchcraft. Here’s an article with more detail about some of the specific cases brought up in the article:
nypost.com/2010/11/14/how-modern-day-witch-trials-are-destroying-rural-africa/
La Chablisienne
This is either a wine label or an ad for Chablis wine. Here’s the official website for the wines themselves:
www.chablis.fr/
The One Man Band
Another straightforward article about the history of one-man bands. The Wikipedia entry for this is very good, but I’m also including a blog post that goes into much more length and features Joe Barrick and a link to the picture in the article:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-man_band
www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/barrick.htm
www.vintag.es/2016/03/one-man-band-ca-late-1800s.html
Encyclopedia Brittanica Ad
A straightforward ad for the 11th edition of the Encyclopedia Brittanica circa 1913. The Wikipedia entry for the Encyclopedia Brittanica includes the ad and is very comprehensive:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica
Get to Know The Chronologist
There is a reference here to The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare, a novel by G. K. Chesterton.
Spoilers- only look at this after you've solved the crossword puzzle.
Crossword
There are many real world references here: Lovecraft’s quote “It is good to be a cynic, it is better to be a contented cat, and it is best not to exist at all” from his Collected Essays, the Society Islands, playing card nicknames, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Ramlat al-Sab’atayn and Karakum deserts, the novel We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, the Adhan Islamic prayer, and even Han Solo from Star Wars.
There are many real world references here: Lovecraft’s quote “It is good to be a cynic, it is better to be a contented cat, and it is best not to exist at all” from his Collected Essays, the Society Islands, playing card nicknames, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Ramlat al-Sab’atayn and Karakum deserts, the novel We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, the Adhan Islamic prayer, and even Han Solo from Star Wars.
Heavy Spoilers- Only read after solving all of Volume 1
Horoscopes
All of these reference, in order, the first twelve chapters of Alice In Wonderland.
All of these reference, in order, the first twelve chapters of Alice In Wonderland.