Surreal Looking Hand-painted and Faded 1900 Stereoview, "The Courtesy" china paint heart shaped nose

heart shaped nose

easily opened with a tiny flathead screwdriver

Whether or not indeed "The Greatest Fortune Teller in the World" as he claimed to be

and then dressed in this crocheted onesie

Surreal Looking Hand-painted and Faded 1900 Stereoview, "The Courtesy" china paint heart shaped noseThe caption here tells us its a Colonial era parlor scene, and it seems clear that the woman at the center of the image (with an insane looking bright red smile) is giving a curtsy (a courtesy), but the way in which the photographic image has faded while the painting over top has remained turns the whole thing quite surreal. (Which one might say this sort social ceremony was is to begin with!) There is also a woman in white in the background who keeps