“No Unescorted Ladies Will Be Served”

Following NOW’s victory at the Plaza, places like the Polo Lounge in Beverly Hills, the Berghoff bar in Chicago, and Heinemann’s Restaurant in Milwaukee, encountering complaints and picketing, also reversed their male-only policies. But other bars locked their doors or ordered their staff to ignore female customers. These owners dismissed the feminists as “troublemakers” and “zealots,” and drew upon the “common sense” notion that respectable women would have no interest in socially trespassing into the male domain.

Those against the feminist campaign were armed with an array of reasons for denying women equal access to accommodations. Some suggested that women lacked the ability to calculate the check and tip correctly, that bar crowds were too “rough” and boisterous for them, or that male-only spaces were sacred respites for politics and sports talk, where men could share “lewd stories” or “have a quiet beer and tell a few jokes.” The manager of Biltmore in Manhattan insisted that businessmen’s conversations were simply “not for women.” Bars were, in Hickey’s words, the “last stronghold of masculinity” in the early 1970s, an oasis for men during an historical moment marked by the transformation of gender norms. Government officials sometimes reinforced this notion: One Connecticut State Representative claimed that a bar was the only place a man could go “and not be nagged.”

- JSTOR Daily

Are We In A 'Galactic Zoo' Protected By Aliens? Scientists Meet To Investigate The 'Great Silence'

Are we alone? Probably not. After all, astronomers have already found 4,001 confirmed exoplanets in our Milky Way galaxy, and expect there to be over 50 billion exoplanets out there. For scientists gathering in Paris today, the question is different: why haven’t we made contact with alien civilizations?

- Forbes

Naples’ Secret Museum of Erotic Art

When the ancient Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were unearthed from under volcanic ash at the foothills of Mount Vesuvius, in the mid-18th century, the materials that emerged from the digs brought to light a certain aspect of the ancient world that caused great deal of embarrassment —the cities’ fascination with erotica. This was not the odd nude sculpture, but phallic shaped oils lamps and items of jewelry, frescoes of couples engaging in sex, scenes of fornications, and the most scandalous of them all —a statue depicting the half-man, half-goat Greek god Pan penetrating a female goat.

- Amusing Planet

Do hold your breath: on the benefits of conscious breathing

From first cry to last sigh, we do it without a thought. Yet the benefits of conscious breathing are truly remarkable.

In my 20s, like many others who find that their mind is poisoning their life, I discovered meditation. Though for a long time I found it impossible, I liked all the encouragements to stop paying attention to my thoughts, because I feared and loathed many of my thoughts. I was less impressed by the suggestion that – to quote the teacher at a retreat I attended – my breath was ‘the most powerful force in the Universe’ or that ‘all wisdom starts with proper breathing’. Breathing? I thought. That is how I will escape this flirtation with what feels like madness? By breathing? Sat stiffly, failing to follow the most powerful force in the Universe as it moved through my nostrils, I inwardly scoffed, warming myself with my own incredulity.

- Aeon

Photographer Travels the World Documenting Burning Man Festivals

In 2016, Czech photographer Marek Musil attended his first Burning Man festival, where he was able to photograph the incredible essence that makes this party in the Nevada desert so iconic. This first experience sparked further exploration, with Musil discovering that Burner events exist around the world, as regional groups pull together experiences that maintain the Burning Man festival ethos.

- My Modern Met

How scientists taught monkeys the concept of money. Not long after, the first prostitute monkey appeared

You may have thought things like currency or money are concepts known solely by man – something which differentiates humans from animals. Some might have a sense of ownership, besides of course territory, but trading and the likes haven’t been observed in any other species besides homo sapiens. However, in 2005, an economist/psychologist duo from Yale managed to teach seven capuchin monkeys how to use money, and I’m pretty sure from here on some of you might be able to guess what happened from there on… The first prostitute monkey appeared.

- Skeptical Kitten

Tannat et «dolce vita» en Uruguay

Je n’ai pas fait trois pas dans l’Almacen de la Capilla qu’un verre apparaît dans ma main comme par magie, verre qu’on s’empresse de remplir. « C’est la nouveauté de l’été, un assemblage très frais de chardonnay et de muscat de Hambourg », annonce Ana Paula Cordano, la patronne de ce magasin général d’un autre temps et du vignoble qui porte son nom. Rose saumoné, le vin est aussi délicieux que le lieu où je me trouve. Est-ce la chaleur de l’accueil ? La chaleur tout court (il fait 37 °C en cette fin de janvier) ? La perspective d’une longue dégustation sous une tonnelle couverte de vigne ? Je n’en sais rien, mais toujours est-il que l’Alice en moi a l’impression d’avoir trouvé son pays des merveilles.

- Le Devoir

The value of owning more books than you can read

Many readers buy books with every intention of reading them only to let them linger on the shelf.
Statistician Nassim Nicholas Taleb believes surrounding ourselves with unread books enriches our lives as they remind us of all we don't know. The Japanese call this practice tsundoku, and it may provide lasting benefits.

- Big Think

Terrible And Bizarre Pictures Taken By Real Estate Agents

What would your dream home look like? Would it be a rustic farm hidden deep in the woods or maybe a penthouse in Manhattan? Would the interior design be more traditional or perhaps a reflection of all the latest trends? While it is fun to think about the perfect house or flat, the reality of real estate listings is far harsher, and the choices are often really scarce. Thanks to a blog called Terrible Real Estate Agent Photos, we want to share with you how, ahem, creative some of the listings can get.

From horror movie-esque semi abandoned flats for rent to excessively unique home decor cases and very impractical architecture decisions, the real estate agents behind these funny ads didn’t even care to fix the places up before snapping the hilarious pictures. The caring levels were so low that there’s also a photo with a live bat in it, a huge pig laying around in the living room and feral horses relaxing in front yards. The most baffling part is that these funny photos were really used to advertise and show the good side of housings to possible tenants.

- Design you Trust

“A Playground for Men’s Hands” – Vintage Adverts: The Look of Love

A woman on the left, a guy on the right, both giving each other "the look of love" - it's the perfect formula, and one that has been used countless times in advertising. I suppose it’s supposed to indicate sweet, sweet lovemaking is about to commence, and therefore we subliminally associate the product with getting laid.  I’m sure it’s effective – we are an easily duped animal. Here’s a stack of vintage adverts employing the formula beautifully…

- Flashbak

This Is Why Weed Makes Some People Anxious

It’s a cruel irony that the very people who could benefit from weed’s relaxing effects are often the ones who don’t feel them.

As a type A person—a generous understatement—I used to have high hopes that weed could give me that elusive experience known as chilling out. But each of the five times that I tried it in high school and college, it did nothing. Then, when I was 24, a friend and I took a walk through San Francisco and saw a huge cloud of smoke rising from Golden Gate Park. That’s when we realized we’d arrived at around 4:20 on 4/20. Eager to take advantage of the coincidence, I bought a weed-laced Rice Krispies Treat from a guy in the park and downed a third of it. What followed was one of the most stressful afternoons of my life.

- Vice

Built in the Clouds, they’re the Highest Villages Frozen in Time

When you’re looking to escape the tedium of modern and mainstream tourism, sometimes the only way is up. Today, our armchair travels will take us to some of the most remote (and highest) villages in the world, from middle America to roof of Egypt. But of course, we’re not just going to drop you on the highest mountain in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do! To inspire your next adventure we’ll research local activities, where to stay and discover obscure little anecdotes about these elevated villages frozen in time….

- Messy Nessy Chic

Can You Get Addicted to Pot?

The proliferation of retail boutiques in California did not really bother him, Evan told me, but the billboards did. Advertisements for delivery, advertisements promoting the substance for relaxation, for fun, for health. “Shop. It’s legal.” “Hello marijuana, goodbye hangover.” “It’s not a trigger,” he told me. “But it is in your face.”

- The Atlantic

Inside Japan’s Chicano Subculture

When I heard Chicano culture had spread to Japan, I wanted to see it for myself. Who knew the culture I grew up with had a home so far from California? I met with stars Junichi Shimodaira, Mona “Sad Girl” and Night tha Funksta.

Parisian sex workers 1930s

Tears of Eros is an antique erotica curiosity shop in the heart of Paris. Open only by appointment, it is curated and run by Alexandre Dupouy. Alexandre has archived thousands of photographs, illustrations, books, ephemera and sexual objet d'art: he has been collecting for over fifty years.    

Alexandre has edited and authored over twenty-two books on antique erotica, including Vénus au bordel, La Photographie Erotique, Le premier pornographe, and L'album obcène d'un photographe anonyme. Perhaps the jewel in Alexandre’s crown is the collection of ‘Monsieur X’.

In 1975, an elderly gentleman contacted Alexandre and insisted on the two of them meeting to discuss something ‘special.’ The gentleman arrived with a collection of hundreds of photographs he had taken of sex workers in 1930s Paris. Box after box full of candid images of semi-nude women laughing, playing, posing and flashing the camera. They were taken inside a brothel on the Rue Pigalle, on the streets, in a car and alfresco in the surrounding countryside. The gentleman explained that wanted to pass on the collection before he died, on the strict condition he could remain anonymous. Alexandre agreed and the gentleman is now known only as ‘Monsieur X’. In 2014, Alexandre honoured Monsieur X’s request and published his collection as a book; Mauvaises filles: Portraits de prostituées 1925-1935.

- Whores of Yore

How to Make Friends By Telephone: A Guide From the 1940s

From what we understand of 1940s logic, if you are going to have a phone, you might as well start calling random people and make “friends.” Well, apparently that isn’t true and spreading a wee bit of phone etiquette might have been necessary as the phones were gaining ground. We’ll say the world needs another round of such information on phone etiquette.

- Randommization

This 1920s Concept for a Drive-Through Grocery Store Completely Failed

Today, the grocery delivery battle is being waged between companies like Amazon, Walmart, Target, FreshDirect, and Instacart. But there once was a time when the most futuristic thing in food shopping was the car. Specifically, drive-in shopping like these stores from the 1920s.

- Paleofuture

The Strange Story Behind Your Breakfast Cereal

Kellogg’s Corn Flakes were originally created by a doctor who believed bland food would reduce people’s urge to masturbate.

John Harvey Kellogg, the father of the prepared breakfast food industry, was born on February 26th, 1852. He lived for ninety-one years, perhaps thanks to the fresh air and vegetarian diet he advocated for as clean “biological living.” A physician, nutritionist, inventor, and medical missionary, Kellogg was part of the great wave of social reformers of the Progressive Era. He was also a bit of a nut when it came to that great bugbear of moral reform, sex.

- JSTOR Daily