Many Things Thursday - The Black Cat

"The time has come," the Walrus said, "to talk of many things."

Thursday, on Shades Of The Departed, will be dedicated to
many things, and nothing in particular.

Many Things Thursday
The Black Cat 

The young woman above appears to be advertising a once popular magazine called The Black Cat. This photograph is common for the genre referred to as advertising photographs.

Black Cat Roller Derby Woman, c. 1800s | Retronaut

The Black Cat Cover 1895

The Black Cat (1895–1922) was an American literary magazine published in Boston, Massachusetts. It specialized in short stories of an "unusual" nature. The magazine's first editor was Herman Umbstaetter (1851–1913). It is best known for publishing the story "A Thousand Deaths" by Jack London in the May 1899 issue.  Reminds me of Penny Dreadful.

The Black Cat describes itself:

The Black Cat is devoted exclusively to original, unusual, fascinating stories - every number is complete in itself. It publishes no serials, translations, borrowing, or stealings. It pays nothing for the name or reputation of the writer, but the highest price on record for Stories that are Stories, and it pays not according to length, but according to strength.  

The most intriguing story published by the magazine established its reputation for the unusual, "The Mysterious Card" (February 1896) by Cleveland Moffett. The story reminded me of the Twilight Zone series. A man has a card that is blank when he looks at it, but is revolting to all others who look at it.

I have purchased several of The Black Cat magazines, a favorite of a certain black cat I know. You can read  The Black Cat, December 1899 online.

The most famous story published by the magazine helped establish its reputation for the unusual, "The Mysterious Card" (February 1896) by Cleveland Moffett, where a man has a card upon which he can see nothing but it revolts all he shows it to. - See more at: http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/black_cat_the#sthash.NbZPKmYz.dpuf