From the 1940s through the 1960s, the Alfred Mainzer Company of Long Island City, NY published a series of linen and photochrome humorous cat postcards illustrated by Eugen Hartung (or Hurtong) (1897–1973), sometimes referred to as “Mainzer Cats”. These postcards normally illustrate settings that are filled with action, often with a minor disaster just about to occur. While the dressed cats were by far the most popular and most plentiful cards, Hartung also painted other dressed animals – primarily mice, dogs, and hedgehogs.

“The most serious health problem in the U.S. today is obesity.” Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? But that pronouncement about obesity’s primacy in the hierarchy of national health problems is not new. Rather, it’s the opening line to a remarkable article published 60 years ago in LIFE magazine. This photographs made by Martha Holmes to illustrate that March 1954 article, titled “The Plague of Overweight.” Photo: Dorothy Bradley (left), photographed for LIFE magazine article on obesity, 1949. (Photo by Martha Holmes/Time & Life Pictures)

This Monday, September 15, 2014 photo shows glazed bricks displayed at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad. The Islamic State militants seek to purge society of all influences that don't conform with their strict, puritanical version of Islam. That means destroying not only relics seen as pagan but also Muslim sites they see as contradicting their ideology, particularly Sunni Muslim shrines they see as idolatrous as well as mosques used by Shiites, a branch of Islam they consider heretical. (Photo by Hadi Mizban/AP Photo)

Grand banqueting halls, opulent lobbies and vast ballrooms; you could easily be forgiven for thinking this was a collection of photographs was documenting some of Europe’s grandest hotels. However, a closer look will reveal the majestic rooms to be engulfed in swathes of dust and moss; hotels that once hosted royals and high society abandoned to the elements. This is the latest result of urban exploration photography, going beyond “no entry” signs to capture images of dilapidated buildings across Europe. IT worker Thomas Windisch, from Graz in Austria, indulged his passion for photography by traveling across the continent, visiting over 100 abandoned hotels along the way. Here: inside a hotel in Austria. (Photo by Thomas Windisch/Caters News)

Maya, 8, and Kishore, 13, pose for a wedding photo inside their new home, the day after the Hindu holy day of Akshaya Tritiya, called Akha Teej in North India. Despite legislation forbidding child marriage in India (Child Marriage Restraint Act-1929) and the much more progressive Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (2006) and many initiatives to prevent child marriage, marrying children off at a very tender age continues to be accepted by large sections of society. (Photo by Stephanie Sinclair/VII Photo Agency)

Tokyo Rainbow Pride 2015, at Yoyogi park-Shibuya, on April 26, 2015. Some 3,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people paraded through Tokyo’s Shibuya district Sunday afternoon to demonstrate their hope that Japanese society will continue to forge ahead with recent moves to embrace equality and diversity. In a nation where prejudice against sexual minorities persists, the annual Tokyo Rainbow Pride parade has sought to counter the trend by openly spotlighting LGBT residents and spreading their voices. But this year, LGBT participants and proponents seemed particularly joyous, emboldened by what they see as a blossoming of LGBT-friendly moves by municipalities and companies. (Photo by Yoshiaki Miura)

A toddler sits on the winner of the giant pumpkin category during the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) London Harvest Festival Show at RHS Lindley Halls on October 6, 2015 in London, England. The traditional harvest themed show runs October 6-7 and showcases a wide range of late summer grown fruit and vegetables. (Photo by Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images)

Members of the Beltane Fire Society take part in Samhuinn Fire Festival on October 31, 2023 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Once celebrated from October 31 to November 1 by ancient Celts, Samhain, pronounced “SOW-in” or “SAH-win”, marked the shift from the brighter to the darker half of the year and was seen as a time when the boundary between the physical and spirit worlds was thought to weaken, influencing the development of contemporary Halloween customs. (Photo by Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian)