Mystery Massbuch

I have been collecting ephemera for a very long time, & usually can work out what things are, but today I had a Fleam Find that puzzles & intrigues me. Does anyone have a clue what these notes might be about? They all seem to involve color & historical events. At first I thought it might be stamp descriptions, but then what are all the grain measurements about? (Or is there perhaps a currency abbreviated gr? I couldn't find one.)

If anyone has a clue I would be deeply grateful-- my curiosity is tormenting me!

Oh, by the way, the notebook is a small Massbuch, a Catholic calendar, though if there is a connection I can't make it out.

Edit: The mystery is solved! A Twitter friend, @norlik, figured out that this is in fact a list of stamps-- Polish stamps. The gr is neither grams nor grains, but Groszy, 1/100 złoty.

@norlik even found a link to one of the stamps mentioned, the Madame Curie commemorative.

Thank you so much, @norlik! I love the internet!

Brain Medicine & Drawing Instruction

Despite temps nearing 100 & rain threatening, I had a splendid morning at the Fleam: I found some great old textbooks & ephemera for cheap, as well as a handsome Visible Man model with at least most of his dainty little parts intact.

These ads are both from Primary Education magazine, January 1923.

I imagine being forced to teach drawing does sometimes result in dreadful mental strain. That's probably why the arts are disappearing from our schools, right? So maybe we just need to bring back Horsford's.

Institute of Genotechnics

I've been mining my collection of texts for goodies to include in the collage elements of the new piece, & I found this great ad which I'd scanned from an old Mechanics Illustrated:


















These zoobotanical creatures are the result of extensive genetic engineering, so I did a bit of pixel engineering in Photoshop.




















You will see this again in later posts, showing the collage state, but most of it will be obliterated by paint in the end... I'm glad I'm keeping progress shots from this one!

Please click the image for details. To see all the posts in this process, please click the "Goodly Creature" label below.