As mentioned previously on this site, one of the things about my spouse that demands affection is her collection of old books.
The following images are from one of them. I am not allowed to discuss this book in person with her, because it is one of the beloved memories of her childhood, and my comments are not -- and can never be -- properly reverential; and yet, it haunts me. It fills me with a dark commingling of horror and laughter, a kind of dread mirth. (The Lovecraftian syntax is intentional, I assure you. This book... is full of terrible things.)
It is called...
THREE LITTLE BUNNIES.
The horrifying realization it is left to the reader to discover within its pages...
... it is illustrated with photographs!
BEHOLD! (Click on the images below to enlarge them:)
Yes, in 1950, they amused small children with Live Animal Books.
O, noble matriarch of the Bunny clan.
Mischievous Maximilian gets his come-uppance! Oh, dear! Poor Maximilian! He must take a bath, ha ha!
There's a Mr. Bunny too. And Maximilian's little bunny siblings. Too many pages to replicate here. Now, you know -- you know it exists. But you must try to think of other things... for the sake of your own sanity!
Having seen those photos, I must question the use of the word 'live'.
Posted by: E. Randy on February 28, 2005 09:12 AMChrist, that's messed up beyond words. Are the bunnies on Valium or something?
Posted by: Mordant C. on March 1, 2005 07:40 AMthey are not on valium-- they are held firmly (but KINDLY) by a trained photographer! Dale Rooks! Whose name is an anagram for Dark Loose! As in FREEING THE ANCIENT EVIL FROM ITS BONDS!!
Posted by: grant on March 1, 2005 08:54 AMthat. is not. cute.
Posted by: adam on March 1, 2005 11:39 PMI reserve the right to be frightened.
Posted by: grubi on March 3, 2005 05:56 AMThis reminds me of the whisky museum in Edinburgh, Scotland. They have this so-not-Disney ride to show you the history of whisky in Scotland. And the animals along the ride all look so real! Cause they are real! Real, dead animals! Cue the cheerful music!
Posted by: Liz Rizzo on March 21, 2005 06:01 PMIf this bothers you, never, never, never watch the movie "The Night of the Lepus." http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069005/
This gem of a film is about giant rabbits that attack a small western town. There are alot of scary closeups of rabbits' twitching noses, and a scene where someone in a giant rabbit suit attacks some people in a mine shaft. My favorite moment, though, is when the rabbits are digging their way out of the mine shaft which has been blocked off, and you see the rabbit coming out of the ground. They keep flashing back and forth between the rabbit and reaction shots, until suddenly, the rabbit catapaults out of the earth...clearly shoved by a hand from beneath bunny butt!
Apparently this movie is shown playing on a television set at one point during The Matrix.
Posted by: Melise Gerber on March 30, 2005 05:01 PMI loved this book and was fascinated by the photographs. I still have it, and decades later realized that the bodies are fake. The stand-in bodies are posed against little sets with the bunny heads sticking out of disguised holes. The bunnies themselves are NOT dressed up, so I don't think there was any cruelty going on. Even in 1950, however, Rand Mc Nally felt obligated to explain that the animals were treated with 'extremely gentle care at all times.'
Posted by: Scott on May 21, 2005 01:28 AMMy father and mother were Dale and Sally Rooks the photographers for the books. It is my understanding that the animals their heads and their bodies were live and posed. Dale Rooks also wrote a book Photography Ten Easy Lessons. If anyone knows where I can get a copy I would greatly appreciate it. Dale died in 1954 at age 37 when I was 2 years old. The family copy of the book was lost when my mother died. dalenedg@excite.com