Thorns with Roses

Donald Grant Mitchell, Dream Life (1899)

photos from iran taken from 1870-1928.

1. a dervish.

2. ta'ziya performance.

3. a tekyeh/hussainieh.

4. persian school.

5. armenian girls in urmia.

6. an armenian lady poses for a portrait.

7. a jewish girl.

8. a village jewish kurdish girl.

9. a persian woman in a ballerina costume.

Fabergé, Chick, 1899-1908 (source).

I NEVER KNEW ANY OF THEM HATCHED

apparently the first bird field guide was written by a woman who was rallying against the fashion of turning birds into hats. she tried lobbying against the practice, she tried writing angry newspaper articles about it, she tried holding informative classes about why people should like live birds instead, but no dice! no-one cared that someone hated what they liked, no matter how many letters to the editor she wrote

so instead she wrote a funny little book that people could carry around with them, encouraging them to look at the birds that lived around the area and describing them not in dry textbook terms but instead as flashy young men and somber old grumps and sweet little housewives working hard to feed their children, something entertaining and fun to read that turned birds into interesting little feathery people worthy of sympathy instead of just a resource

it worked and her effort in changing the public’s opinions on birds was credited as part of the reason why the practice was eventually outlawed

this is the most ruthlessly perfect execution of more flies with honey than vinegar i’ve seen, i’m so impressed