Surprising Collection

Bermuda - Humorous Greetings Postcard - Onion
Blessed is the man who comes to Bermuda (The modern paradise) And is tempted to eat a sweet onion instead of a forbidden apple

Masses Paul Et Virginie
PAUL ET VIRGINIE Its surprising that more composers haven t had a go at this idiotic story with its ludicrously dramatic plot and splendidly unhappy ending

The Lords Prayer in ten different languages (English, French, Spanish, Italian, Irish, Portuguese, Greek, German, Latin and Welsh) Date: 1841

A Barn Owl hunting a rat. Pen & ink illustration by Raymond Sheppard

Landlady discovers the lodger in the bath
The Lodger was in the bath. A landlady receives a nasty surprise as she comes across the lodger taking a bath

Maskelyne and Cookes "The Artists Dream". John Nevil Maskelyne and George Co
Maskelyne and Cookes " The Artists Dream". John Nevil Maskelyne and George Cooke, presented for the first time to a West End audience an entertainment they had been giving for several years

WW1 - Four Gurkha Bagpipe Pipers - British Indian Army forces on the Western Front in France. Date: 1915

A South African Man with skin pigmentation condition
A South African Man with the skin pigmentation condition vitiligo, creating a remarkable patched appearance, captioned here as Leopard Skin (!). Date: circa 1900

The Crooked House, Himley, Staffordshire
The Passage and doorway of the Crooked House, Himley, Staffordshire. During the early 19th century, mining in the area caused one side of the building to begin gradually sinking

The Crooked House, Himley, Staffordshire - Doorway
The Doorway of the Crooked House, Himley, Staffordshire. During the early 19th century, mining in the area caused one side of the building to begin gradually sinking

The Crooked House, Himley, Staffordshire - Sitting Room
The Sitting Room of the Crooked House, Himley, Staffordshire. During the early 19th century, mining in the area caused one side of the building to begin gradually sinking

Russia - Tsar Nicholas II in a canoe
Russia - Tsar Nicholas II going for a spin in a perissory (perissoire), a type of long canoe. Date: circa 1905

Stork-powered baby transport! Date: circa 1910s

Queen Mary surprising Courtenay and Princess Elizabeth
Queen Mary I surprising Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon, and Princess Elizabeth. Although they were all related as second cousins

Punch and Judy with elves, Dorothy M Wheeler
Christmas Command Performance! illustration of elves watching Punch and Judy show, surprising the drummer and the dog. Dorothy M Wheeler, illustrator, (1891-1966)

Say it with Flowers
A wish from me.... Depicting a young boy surprising his girl with a bunch of flowers. Artist: HGC Marsh Lambert Date: 1919

English grocer entering a dining room and surprising his family, 19th century. Mr. John Jorrocks enters to find Mrs Jorrocks in red and gold turban

Cartoon, The Amenities of the Circus are positively surprising, showing London circus owners George Sanger (left) and Frederick Charles Hengler (right) with William Holland (centre)

The Brighton and Rottingdean Seashore Electric Railway - a unique coastline railway running through the shallow coastal waters of the English Channel between 1896 and 1901. Date: 1896

The Smallest House in England - Wavertree, Lancashire
The Smallest House in England - Wavertree, Liverpool, Lancashire - situated at No. 95 High Street, the house is only 6ft wide and was occupied until 1925

Little Girl with unusual snowman with newspaper hat and gun over his shoulder! Date: 1906

Laval, France - The Two Railway Stations and the Avenue. Date: 1911

Fijian Warriors on a visit to Balmoral, Scotland
Adolf Brester (1854-1937) with a group of Fijian Warriors (Armed Police) pictured in their uniforms standing in front of the castle on a visit to Balmoral, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Date: 1902

Die-cut Trade Card for F G Jaeger Confectioners of Brockton, Massachusetts, USA, using the somewhat surprising visual motifs of an artists palette and a kitten... Date: circa 1900s

French Advertising Postcard - Mineral Water Gas Soda Stream
French Advertising Postcard - Bowing down in reverence at the shrine of a Mineral Water Gas Soda Stream / Siphon. Date: circa 1930s

Lebanon - Married Druze Woman with Tantour hat
The traditional vertigious tantour hat of a married Druze (a monotheistic religious community) woman of Lebanon (sadly not an example of the popular trend to replicate the landscape of late 19th)

Woman using a urinal - WW2
" I m doing a mans job ain t I?" A tall imposing lady World War Two Factory worker passes comment in reposte to the surprise shown at her appearance at the Gents Toilet urinals by a fellow

British propaganda for Belgium
One of a series showing pretty ladies in National dress. This one is for Belgium. She looks rather glum which is not surprising because her country was over-run by the Germans in 1914 at the start of

English ladies swimming team - Stockholm Olympics 1912
The English ladies swimming team at the Stockholm Olympics in 1912, winners of the 4 x 100m race, wearing surprisingly revealing swimming costumes

Turkestan - One man riding a bull and two on a donkey! Date: circa 1909

Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris - Fontaine de Medicis. Built in about 1630 by Marie de Medici, the widow of King Henry IV of France and regent of King Louis XIII of France

Mr Louis Napoleon Parker playing a solo on the Megaphone
Mr Louis Napoleon Parker (1852-1944) " playing a solo" on the Megaphone at the Warwick Pageant of 1906 (the only way he could successfully direct a vast cast)

A Washington Saw Log used as the home for a man and a bear! Date: circa 1907

Hand-drawn and painted postcard featuring a cricketing Duck
Rather unusual hand-drawn and painted French Birthday Greetings postcard featuring a cricketing Duck, dispatching the ball out of the ground! circa 1920s

Russian Soldiers hatching out of eggs - Easter Postcard
A rather odd Easter Greetings card depicting a unit of Russian Soldiers hatching out of eggs! Date: circa 1910s

Boating in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris
This couple boating on the lake in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris, seem to be attracting a surprising amount of attention, including a vendor of things to eat... Date: 1905

Kitchener takes Egypt and its gods by surprise, 1914
Horatio, Lord Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum(1850-1916). Soldier; caricatured as El Lord, surprising the gods of Egypt

Maskelyne and Cookes Mysteries - The Artists Dream
Promotional postcard for Maskelyne and Cookes The Artists Dream. John Nevil Maskelyne and George Cooke, presented for the first time to a West End audience an entertainment they had been giving for

Little girl surprised by the Easter Bunny on Easter Day
To Greet you on Easter Day ! Little girl surprised by the Easter Bunny on Easter Day - or perhaps it is visa-versa!! Date: circa 1906

Tunisia - Jewish Community - Prayers in the Cemetery, Tunis. The devotees are almost totally encased within their tent-like robes. Date: circa 1903

Swiss National Costume - Fribourg. The nature, intention of the large medallion bearing the letter M is unclear... Date: circa 1904

Worm Farm - Japan - Straw Layers in which the worms are kept. Date: circa 1910s

British Bulldog Tank surprises Germans in a trench
A truly superb postcard showing a British Tank represented by an armour-plated Bulldog surprising three German soldiers in their trench. WWI era

Auguste, the First Elephant ever born in France
First Elephant ever born in France - named Auguste - on 5th August 1936 at Douai. Baptised with Champagne by the unlikely combination of pachyderm Admirers, Maurice Chevalier and Josephine Baker!!

Japan - Remarkable Fowl at Miyanoshita
Japan - Remarkable Onagadori at Miyanoshita with incredibly long tail feathers - nothing poultry about this display! Onagadori means " long-tailed fowl" in Japanese

Business Notes Illustrated - Receiving an Unexpected Rise A Gentleman is accidently lifted aloft by a warehouse crane outside a warehouse. Date: circa 1909

Bathers & Admirers 1906
two girls attracting male attention. Not surprising as their wet bathing costumes cling seductively to their figures

Great Buzzing Bee Boyle
This little girl is feeling rather nervous, which isn t surprising when theres a bee close by which is almost as big as herself

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