As it turns out, not all vampires are pointy-toothed Transylvanian counts or lovelorn, sparkly teenagers. Sometimes, they're squid.
The vampire squid, or Vampyroteuthis infernalis (formerly Melanoteuthis lucens, as it was called in the plate above), dwells 2,000-3,000 feet under the sea. It has a dark body, red eyes and generally creepy appearance, perfectly suitable for such a horrofic name. This image, from Prince Albert I of Monacco's Résultats des campagnes scientifiques accomplies sur son yacht was recently digitized, but we've pulled together our all time favorite frightening images for you in Flickr.
Here's a peek (note: slideshow requires Flash):
Did we miss your favorite ghoulish or gross image from our collection? Let us know!
The Trade Literature Collection at the National Museum of American History Library includes many catalogs related to automobiles. One of these is this 1899 trade catalog by Roach & Barnes entitled Waverly Electric Automobiles. Shown in the catalog are four vehicles named the Run-About, Stanhope, Combination Wagon, and Merchandise Delivery.
The least expensive of these vehicles was the Run-About. Priced at $1,000, it could be used for pleasure or business purposes. Even though it seated four people, the vehicle was really meant for only two people due to the strength of the springs and the power of the motor and battery. The back seat was to be used only when absolutely necessary "and then with extreme care." The Run-About had a motor of one and one-half horsepower and could travel up to twelve to fourteen miles per hour.
Priced at $1,600, the Merchandise Delivery vehicle was the most expensive vehicle shown in Waverly Electric Automobiles. Described as "very powerful and entirely practical," this vehicle traveled at speeds from eight to twelve miles per hour depending on local conditions and could "do the work of three horses."
The other two vehicles shown in the catalog were the Stanhope and the Combination Wagon. The Stanhope was a pleasure vehicle, especially made for physicians. It had about a two horsepower motor and traveled at twelve to fourteen miles per hour. The Combination Wagon was built for parcel delivery but could also be converted into a pleasure vehicle. It traveled at speeds of about twelve miles per hour. For an additional cost, it could seat four people by adding an extra seat. The Stanhope was priced at $1,500 while the Combination Wagon was priced at $1,200.
Friday, October 21st may have been chilly and quiet on the outside, but that night the inside of the National Museum of the American Indian was filled to the brim with warm and energetic educators. In fact, thousands of local teachers were expected to attend the Smithsonian Teachers' Night 2011.
Susan Frampton manning the Smithsonian Libraries table at Teachers' Night.
Each year the Smithsonian invites teachers to this free event, with the opportunity to meet Smithsonian staff, discover new educational resources from the Institution and attend demonstrations. Representing the Smithsonian Libraries this year were Susan Frampton, Trina Brown and Erin Rushing. The trio manned a table stacked high with posters, bookmarks and SIL brochures. They quickly learned that the posters, created for our Picturing Words: The Power of Book Illustration exhibit, were very popular for classroom decoration. Teachers who had received them years before sought out new copies to replaces ones damaged in office moves. Bookmarks, which are often used as prizes in the classroom, were also a hit.
Posters and bookmarks were extremely popular.
In addition to passing out freebies, the Libraries staff discussed SIL resources that could benefit teachers in the classroom. Many science teachers were interested to hear about the Biodiversity Heritage Library and just about every educator was pointed to our Galaxy of Images to find more pretty pictures like those used on our bookmarks.
Trina Brown discusses SIL resources with an educator.
These photos don't show some of the more frenzied points of the evening. Several times the line for SIL materials was seven people deep! We were thrilled to see so many teachers interested in our resources and we're looking forward to the 2012 event!
Did you attend Smithsonian Teachers' Night? What did you think? We would love to hear from you!
Blogs across the Smithsonian will give an inside look at the Institution’s archival collections and practices during a month long blogathon in celebration of October’s American Archives Month. See additional posts from our other participating blogs, as well as related events and resources, on the Smithsonian’s Archives Month website.
With millions of digital images at our fingertips, it’s easy to forget the long history of picture collections that proceeded. Many public and academic libraries across the country collected images from books, magazines, and various ephemera that might have otherwise been sold for scrap. These picture collections, in physical and now digital formats, continue to meet the needs of artists, illustrators, designers, teachers, students and general researchers. One such picture collection is the George A. Kubler Collection at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Library.
George Adolf Kubler (1876-1944) was the founder and president of Certified Dry Mat Corporation. The firm made stereotype matrices, an essential product for rotary press printing of newspapers that was used all over the world. His passion for printing extended beyond newspapers to collecting and cataloging thousands of prints. He painstakingly clipped, mounted, filed, and indexed over 60,000 images. His widow donated the product of his lengthy labor to the Cooper Union Museum Library in 1948.
An earthquake scene from the Kubler Collection.
The range of topics covered is vast. Archery, boxing, dry docks, funerals, irrigation, milk peddlers, riots, stenography, volcanoes and wrecks is a random sampling of subject areas included in the collection. Portraits and city views, occupations and churches, emigrants and historical events may all be found. Mr. Kubler acquired European and American books and periodicals, dating almost exclusively from the nineteenth century, and removed the illustrations, most of which are wood or steel engravings. One can consult a list of roughly 400 titles from which the prints came. It includes many popular works, such as Harper’s Weekly, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, Puck, Illustrated London News, and King’s New York City Views, plus obscure volumes such as Zuni and Colorado Rivers by Sitgreaves (1855).
Currently one can only gain access to the prints by using an extensive card catalog that occupies 24 drawers. The cataloging system is almost exclusively by subject with no regard for artist, engraver, or source of the picture. Despite these drawbacks, the Kubler Collection has been very useful for picture research, exhibition materials, and answering reference questions.
Mr. Kubler's card catalog.
To make this collection more accessible, library staff and volunteers have been transcribing Mr. Kubler’s card catalog into electronic format. Many of these cards are hand written by Kubler himself, posing the added challenge of reading his handwriting. Luckily many cards are also typed. Over 17,000 have been entered to date. The library is also exploring ways to digitize this large visual collection. In the meantime, please enjoy a large sampling of what the Kubler collection has under the category “Niagara Falls”. Note: the Flickr slideshow below requires Flash for viewing.
