James Mitchell
@plainfeather.bsky.social
Retired book publisher and author, medievalist, photographer, Soto Zen student, early musician, San Francisco resident since 1967, unrepentant hippie. Like Bluesky, life is plenitudinous.
Xmas shopping began with ordering a tinned fruit cake, as shown in this 1947 Sears Roebuck catalog. The Rum and Brandy version for $2.98 was so stuffed with alcohol, sugary fruits, nuts and butter (with hot vanilla cream sauce added on top) that you couldn't get down more than a couple mouthfuls.
December 5, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Xmas shopping began with ordering a tinned fruit cake, as shown in this 1947 Sears Roebuck catalog. The Rum and Brandy version for $2.98 was so stuffed with alcohol, sugary fruits, nuts and butter (with hot vanilla cream sauce added on top) that you couldn't get down more than a couple mouthfuls.
NYC in wartime, looks like Broadway around 46th or 47th. If the clock is right, the crowds are probably gathering for a two o'clock movie matinee. I remember the Horn & Hardart Automats, and the big heavy overcoats people wore in those days.
#NewYorkCity
#NewYorkCity
December 4, 2025 at 4:22 PM
NYC in wartime, looks like Broadway around 46th or 47th. If the clock is right, the crowds are probably gathering for a two o'clock movie matinee. I remember the Horn & Hardart Automats, and the big heavy overcoats people wore in those days.
#NewYorkCity
#NewYorkCity
Photo: Nima Sarikhani, The Guardian.
December 2, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Photo: Nima Sarikhani, The Guardian.
December 1, 2025 at 3:49 PM
This creature is called an aak grasshopper and aside maybe from reproductive urgency, I seriously wonder just what message it is trying to send forth into the world.
#entomology
#entomology
November 30, 2025 at 4:56 PM
This creature is called an aak grasshopper and aside maybe from reproductive urgency, I seriously wonder just what message it is trying to send forth into the world.
#entomology
#entomology
An early depiction of the Trojan Horse.
Mykonos vase, Archaeological Museum of Mykonos, Inv. 2240.
#archaeology
Mykonos vase, Archaeological Museum of Mykonos, Inv. 2240.
#archaeology
November 28, 2025 at 4:05 PM
An early depiction of the Trojan Horse.
Mykonos vase, Archaeological Museum of Mykonos, Inv. 2240.
#archaeology
Mykonos vase, Archaeological Museum of Mykonos, Inv. 2240.
#archaeology
Octopus hiding from a fisherman. Detail from a drinking cup ca. 500 BC. Thx: @archaeologyart.
#archaeology
#archaeology
November 26, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Octopus hiding from a fisherman. Detail from a drinking cup ca. 500 BC. Thx: @archaeologyart.
#archaeology
#archaeology
Gustav Klimt, tarot card, 1907.
#oilpainting
#oilpainting
November 24, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Gustav Klimt, tarot card, 1907.
#oilpainting
#oilpainting
I like to think Armani would have loved this Larson cartoon.
#SundayFunnies
#SundayFunnies
November 23, 2025 at 2:07 PM
I like to think Armani would have loved this Larson cartoon.
#SundayFunnies
#SundayFunnies
Getting ready for winter.
"This year we'll do everything different. This winter we'll chip in together and buy a bright-as-day lamp. Then we'll produce lots of seratonin and share it equally."
(Comic artist: Lukas Jüliger, Le monde diplomatique.)
"This year we'll do everything different. This winter we'll chip in together and buy a bright-as-day lamp. Then we'll produce lots of seratonin and share it equally."
(Comic artist: Lukas Jüliger, Le monde diplomatique.)
November 20, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Getting ready for winter.
"This year we'll do everything different. This winter we'll chip in together and buy a bright-as-day lamp. Then we'll produce lots of seratonin and share it equally."
(Comic artist: Lukas Jüliger, Le monde diplomatique.)
"This year we'll do everything different. This winter we'll chip in together and buy a bright-as-day lamp. Then we'll produce lots of seratonin and share it equally."
(Comic artist: Lukas Jüliger, Le monde diplomatique.)
Reposted by James Mitchell
November 19, 2025 at 5:04 PM
The Carcer Tullianum, a Roman prison to hold prisoners awaiting trial or execution, known as the Mamertine Prison. Alumni included the Catiline conspirators, Vercingetorix, Sejanus, and St. Peter. The prisoners enjoyed plenty of fresh air through the hole in the roof. Thx: Dr Jo Ball.
#Archaeology
#Archaeology
November 18, 2025 at 5:01 PM
The Carcer Tullianum, a Roman prison to hold prisoners awaiting trial or execution, known as the Mamertine Prison. Alumni included the Catiline conspirators, Vercingetorix, Sejanus, and St. Peter. The prisoners enjoyed plenty of fresh air through the hole in the roof. Thx: Dr Jo Ball.
#Archaeology
#Archaeology
The pointy Playtex Maidenform bra is a happy male adolescent memory of the 1950s, even yet awakening a tiny frisson of excitement. It is shown here in a photo from the world of British sport, stretching a tight sweater, always its best viewing platform, to the point of structural unsustainability.
November 17, 2025 at 4:07 PM
The pointy Playtex Maidenform bra is a happy male adolescent memory of the 1950s, even yet awakening a tiny frisson of excitement. It is shown here in a photo from the world of British sport, stretching a tight sweater, always its best viewing platform, to the point of structural unsustainability.
This pleasantly self-skeptical portrait by Egon Schiele from 1912 reminds me I've not seen any Japanese lantern plants (Physalis alkekengi) since moving to California 58 yrs ago. In New England people would put them on the fireplace mantel in a vase with dried flowers during the winter.
#oilpainting
#oilpainting
November 16, 2025 at 5:33 PM
This pleasantly self-skeptical portrait by Egon Schiele from 1912 reminds me I've not seen any Japanese lantern plants (Physalis alkekengi) since moving to California 58 yrs ago. In New England people would put them on the fireplace mantel in a vase with dried flowers during the winter.
#oilpainting
#oilpainting
Greek archaic period, ca. 600-570 BCE. Museo Archeologico Regionale, Palermo.
#archaeology #antiquity
#archaeology #antiquity
November 12, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Greek archaic period, ca. 600-570 BCE. Museo Archeologico Regionale, Palermo.
#archaeology #antiquity
#archaeology #antiquity
For me this is the apotheosis of American automobile manufacture, the 1949 DeSoto convertible, appearing at a time when almost all cars were black. Plymouth produced similarly colorful models through the 1950s, replacing
#wheels
#wheels
November 11, 2025 at 3:53 PM
For me this is the apotheosis of American automobile manufacture, the 1949 DeSoto convertible, appearing at a time when almost all cars were black. Plymouth produced similarly colorful models through the 1950s, replacing
#wheels
#wheels
Egon Schiele, Four Trees, 1918.
#Oilpainting
#Oilpainting
November 10, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Egon Schiele, Four Trees, 1918.
#Oilpainting
#Oilpainting