#I have a research problem

[toadlessgirl]

20 Names More Common in the Regency Era than any of the Bridgerton Girls' Names

Araminta

Asenath

Brittania

Cherry

Christmas

Cleopatra

Dorcas

Dove

Easter

Etheldred

Happy

Keren-happuch

Mehetabel

Peace

Petronella

Philadelphia

Seabright

Urania

Virtue

Zilpah

[yeoldenews]

I fell down a rabbit hole last night researching this girl and found some photographs of her that are just peak Weird Little Girl (affectionate) energy, so I'm sharing.

Gladys (sometimes spelled Gladyce) Ditmars was born October 16, 1903 in the Bronx.

Her father, Raymond L. Ditmars was, at the time, the assistant reptile curator at the Bronx Zoo, and would later be appointed curator of the entire zoo.

Raymond met his future wife, Clara, when she was visiting the zoo and witnessed Raymond break up a fight between two venomous snakes. She was so impressed she asked to meet him. They were married eight months later. The venue was decorated with snake skins and Clara wore a live gopher snake around her neck during the ceremony.

Gladys first made the papers at the age of two and a half in the article @yesterdaysprint posted, which was reprinted across the country, as well as appearing in newspapers as far away as Australia.

The photograph of Gladys above dates to the same time as the article, and I believe the snake she is holding is likely 'Indigo', a four-foot long black-snake the article mentions her rocking to sleep.

Gladys was fascinated by snakes from infancy, and loved both the live animals her father sometimes kept at home overnight before giving lectures, as well as the preserved specimens he kept in jars in his office.

Mr. Ditmars stated in the 1906 article that Gladys appeared to have "no inborn fear for any animal" and reported that she "claps her hands with glee" upon seeing bears fight in the zoo.

Mr. and Mrs. Ditmars, Gladys and her younger sister Beatrice (born in 1905) were never out of the news for long. Prior to his marriage Mr. Ditmars had briefly worked for the New York Times, and the close relationship he maintained with his former colleagues kept the Bronx Zoo, and with it the Ditmars family, as a convenient source whenever the Times required a public interest story on a slow news day.

Mrs. Ditmars and the girls often accompanied Mr. Ditmars on his trips to collect new specimens for the zoo.

At the age of 14 Gladys captured a 6-foot diamondback rattlesnake in an improvised trap of her own design.

In her early 20s Gladys once again made headlines for speeding her roadster through the streets of New York City in order to get a vial of antivenom on a departing train, saving the life a man who was bitten by a diamondback rattlesnake in upstate New York. Her adventure grew comparisons to the story of Balto which had occurred only a year previously. A picture of Gladys posing with the famed Balto statue in Central Park, at the time only a few months old, appeared in newspapers across the country.

Raymond Ditmars was also a pioneer in the development of using motion pictures to record the natural world. Over his career he produced dozens of nature documentaries and educational reels, many of which are now unfortunately lost films. Gladys appears to have been very active in assisting with these films and can be seen (and heard!) in a surviving 1931 film reel titled "Monkey Whoopee!" playing a newspaper reporter opposite her father.

Gladys appears to have never held any official salaried position at the zoo, but served as her father's unofficial assistant until his death in 1942. She was a near daily fixture at his office and worked developing film, organizing and typing his notes and letters, as well as accompanying him into the field - including an expedition to Trinidad which resulted in the first ever capture and display of live vampire bats.

After Raymond Ditmars death, Gladys assisted in the publication of his biography.

After a brief marriage in the 1930s to a talent agent, which resulted in him allegedly cheating with a radio singer and a $100,000 lawsuit, Gladys remained single for the rest of her life. She lived quietly with her mother and sister in Westchester County, dying in 1979 at the age of 75.

The Great Bend Weekly Tribune, Kansas, March 2, 1906

[kenapiece-main]

Can you believe I'm having to make this meme even after successfully finishing up taxes and applying to job

[notbrucewayne48]

"aphobia doesn't exist"

bitch literally not that long ago an aroace youtuber animator was insulted by almost half of its community for being it

[toadlessgirl]

#how do we know this is a bridesmaid dress#was it worn in that context at a wedding at some point? I'd love to see the background! (via @tattedpetticoats)

This dress was donated to the MET by heiress Agnes Miles Carpenter in 1941.

As Agnes was born in 1865, she would have been 30-31 in 1896, so it seems likely it may have been her dress and she explained the context she originally wore it in at the time of donation.

Also donated by Agnes the same year was this Worth wedding gown, also from 1896. (The bridesmaid dress is a Worth design, but was actually made by a local NYC department store.)

Agnes never married, so I'm unsure where she acquired the wedding gown. I suspected it may have been the wedding dress of her sister Edith, who was married in 1896, but Agnes isn't listed as a bridesmaid and the dresses don't really match the descriptions of the dresses at Edith's wedding I've found in newspaper accounts. I didn't find any additional context in the MET archives or accession records so idk where the wedding dress came from, or if it was originally worn alongside the bridesmaid dress.

Agnes was a globe trotter and an apparent fashionista (she donated several other dresses to the MET including gowns by Callot Soeurs and Fortuny, as well as a large collection of 18th century fans).

Edith was instrumental in the early foundation of the Girl Scouts, (apparently at one point inviting socialites over to her apartment to view her art collection and then locking the doors and refusing to let them leave until they agreed to join the board of directors) and several sources credit her as the origin of the idea for Girl Scout cookies.

Bridesmaid dress, House of Worth (French, 1858–1956), silk with pearl trim, 1896

[stuckinapril]

I think my life would be fixed if I fell asleep at a beautiful 8 pm and woke up at a beautiful 4 am bc it means I’m asleep when most people are awake and I’m awake when most people are asleep and honestly? Couldn’t ask for more

[uhbasicallyjustmilex]

🩵

[dionysiaproductions]

For the record the writing research internet search of "dog carrier antique" was a mistake. Half those things look like iron maidens.

On the other hand, I found this banger of an image:

Why yes, just me driving with my child stored on my lap and my goat in the slapped together 2 by 4 rack right next to us. I'm sure the goat won't try to eat the baby's clothes while I'm busy operating heavy machinery.

[not-the-coffee-machine4]

Me: *tries to see what the Queen fans on TikTok have to say*

*Jim hate*

*”facts” that may or not be actually true*

*”Freddie Mercury was bisexual-“*

*Using Barbara Valentin as evidence*

*thinking things that happened in the movie actually happened irl*

*general misinformation about everyone and everything*

Me: aaaaand back to Tumblr I go

(open tags at your own risk, there’s a whole essay in there)

[toadlessgirl]

This afternoon I found a really cute Dear Santa letter where a mom transcribed her four-year-old son's imaginary phone call to Santa - full of such important Christmas-related information as his mamma's name is "just mamma" and "All our bees are dead."

One six hour research rabbit hole later - and I just listened to a recording of the same little boy making a phone call 60 years later. This one was to Richard Nixon.

[elizabethan-memes]

[pushing500]

Nothing too exciting or noteworthy is happening to the Jones boys today...

Alfihar (who joined us a while back but wasn't particularly noteworthy) is actually pretty dang good at melee combat, so he tanked the War Queen with shocking ease!!!

THREE CHEERS FOR ALFIHAR!!

We're so close to getting an android I can almost taste it!!!

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[littlelightfish]

I will scream at every non-romantic post I see about these guys. Writers be not afraid. I will love their non-romance fics. I'll blow up your coment section all alone if I have to. I will find you. Artists be not afraid. I will reach tag limit on your artpiece. If I see it at least. And if I don't, I will eventually. Or I'll try. Or @me so I won't fail you.

[jasontoddenthusiastt]

“Stop excusing Jason killing just because he died!!1!111!!1”

We don’t excuse his killings, you ignorant fool. We actively encourage it.

[falconfate]

Hello ranger’s apprentice fandom can we talk real quick about the stupidest thing Flanagan ever wrote

It’s about the bows. Yanno, the rangers’ Iconique™️ main weapon. That one. You know the one.

Flanagan. Flanagan why are your rangers using longbows.

“uh well recurve arrows drop faster” BUT DO THEY. FLANAGAN. DO THEY.

the answer is no they don’t. Compared to a MODERN, COMPOUND (aka cheating) bow, yes, but compared to a longbow? Y’know, what the rangers use in canon? Yeah no a recurve actually has a FLATTER trajectory. It drops LATER.

This from an article comparing the two:

“Both a longbow and a recurve bow, when equipped with the right arrow and broadhead combination, are capable of taking down big game animals. Afterall, hunters have been doing it for centuries with both types of bows.

However, generally speaking and all things equal, a recurve bow will offer more arrow speed, creating a flatter flight trajectory and retain more kinetic energy at impact.

The archers draw length, along with the weight of the arrow also affect speed and kinetic energy. However, the curved design of the limbs on a recurve adds to its output of force.”

It doesn’t actually mention ANY distance in range! And this is from a resource for bow hunting, which, presumably, WOULD CARE ABOUT THAT SORT OF THING!

Okay so that’s just. That’s just the first thing.

The MAIN thing is that even accounting for “hur dur recurves drop faster” LONGBOWS ARE STILL THE STUPID OPTION.

Longbows, particularly and especially ENGLISH longbows, are—as their name suggests—very long. English longbows in particular are often as tall or taller than their wielder even while strung, but especially when unstrung. An unstrung longbow is a very long and expensive stick, one that will GLADLY entangle itself in nearby trees, other people’s clothes, and any doorway you’re passing through.

And yes, there are shorter longbows, but at that point if you’re shortening your longbow, just get a goddamn recurve. And Flanagan makes a point to compare his rangers’ bows to the Very Long English Longbow.

Oh, do you know how the Very Long English Longbow was mostly historically militarily used? BY ON-FOOT ARCHER UNITS. Do you know what they’re TERRIBLE for? MOUNTED ARCHERY.

Trust me. Go look up right now “mounted archery longbow.” You’ll find MAYBE one or two pictures of some guy on a horse struggling with a big stick; mostly you will actually see either mounted archers with RECURVES, or comparisons of Roman longbow archers to Mongolian horse archers (which are neat, can’t lie, I love comparing archery styles like that).

Anyway. Why are longbows terrible for mounted archery? Because they’re so damn long. Think about it: imagine you’re on a horse. You’re straddling a beast that can think for itself and moves at your command, but ultimately independently of you; if you’re both well-trained enough, you’re barely paying attention to your horse except to give it commands. And you have a bow in your hands. If your target is close enough to you that you know, from years of shooting experience, you will need to actually angle your bow down to hit it because of your equine height advantage, guess what? If you have a longbow, YOU CAN’T! YOUR HORSE IS IN THE WAY BECAUSE YOUR BOW IS TOO LONG! Worse, it’s probably going to get in the general area of your horse’s shoulder or legs, aka moving parts, which WILL injure your horse AND your bow and leave you fresh out of both a getaway vehicle and a ranged weapon. It’s stupid. Don’t do it.

A recurve, on the other hand, is short. It was literally made for horse archers. You have SO much range of motion with a recurve on horseback; and if you’re REALLY good, you know how to give yourself even more, with techniques like Jamarkee, a Turkish technique where you LITERALLY CAN AIM BACKWARDS.

For your viewing enjoyment, Serena Lynn of Texas demonstrating Jamarkee:

Yes, that’s real! This type of draw style is INCREDIBLY versatile: you can shoot backwards on horseback, straight down from a parapet or sally port without exposing yourself as a target, or from low to the ground to keep stealthy without banging your bow against the ground. And, while I’m sure you could attempt it with a longbow, I wouldn’t recommend it: a recurve’s smaller size makes it far more maneuverable up and over your head to actually get it into position for a Jamarkee shot.

A recurve just makes so much more SENSE. It’s not a baby bow! It’s not the longbow’s lesser cousin! It’s a COMPLETELY different instrument made to be used in a completely different context! For the rangers of Araluen, who put soooo much stock in being stealthy and their strong bonds with their horses, a recurve is the perfect fit! It’s small and easily transportable, it’s more maneuverable in combat and especially on horseback, it offers more power than a longbow of the same draw weight—really, truly, the only advantage in this case that a longbow has over the recurve is that longbows are quicker and easier to make. But we KNOW the rangers don’t care about that, their KNIVES use a forging technique (folding) that takes several times as long as standard Araluen forging practices at the time!

Okay.

Okay I think I’m done. For now.

[unopenablebox]

the way people talk about """"building community"""" feels so weirdly like. abstract? artificial? alienating? idk. i see those posts and have an immediate reflexive feeling of "this could only be done by some entirely other kind of person with whom i share no skills or interpersonal approaches" and it takes me a while after that to remember that i organized a union