Shipwrecks and Sea Monsters
Norfolk on the east coast of England is a mysterious place, for those who don't know it, of mudflats and eerie marshland, so it's not surprising that the Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service online collections throw up all sorts of weird flotsam, among the usual seaside jollity:
There are pictures of unexpected catches being marvelled at, such as this shark in Sheringham in 1913 (the back of the postcard apparently says "Dear F, just a card to show you the latest production of this enlightened hamlet; please note by cross, future Prime Minister and coming Amateur Billiard and Golf Champion standing in his characteristic attitude with hands in pocket, write later, CR")
There are men rescued from a shipwreck being given tea by kind Cromer ladies in the Bath House Hotel:
Strangely spooky scenes from the British Gut Factory in Kings Lynn:
A large number of glaring stuffed birds:
and page after page of the most frightening dolls I've ever seen:
But the best is this 1786 sketch of a sighting of a (Cornish) sea monster by Charles Catton: "first discover'd by two boys at day break. / from top of the Head - to the end of its tail 48ft 10ins - the thickest part of the body":
