Witch Jail Core
Personal Style Explanation Attempt, Part I
It’s not every day that one’s exact aesthetic shows up in an old photograph.
This image made the rounds on Instagram last week when History Cool Kids posted it along with a copy-pasted, outdated explanation for the Salem witchcraft craze of 1692, prompting a bunch of armchair scholars to throw in their two cents. We’re not getting into that here. The Old Witch Jail was built in 1684, updated in 1763, then converted into a home when a larger stone jail was built nearby in 1813. If any of the 17th century beams were preserved, they would most likely be in the Peabody Essex Museum’s storage. Can you imagine the paranormal activity that might have happened there? Wild.
History lesson aside, I’m currently searching for the photograph’s source because I want to put it on everything.1 A framed print would just be the start. Four pretty, stylish girls smiling in front of an unsettling Massachusetts’ tercentenary historic marker set against what might be original 18th century siding with peeling paint? It’s no wonder that so many people DMed it to me on Instagram. Corners of my great-grandmother’s Salem can still be found in the endlessly updating Witch City, but this is an image that can’t be replicated. And no, she’s not in this photograph.
Combining polished, buttoned-up charm with feral, unhinged undertones is the essence of my personal style. You may be surprised that this is difficult for me to describe, which is why there are no cute little Reels on my grid with names like, “5 Ways to Preppy Witch Up Your Wardrobe.” Wearing an A-line dress with a Victorian bracelet made from coyote teeth, tea served with inherited bone China on a powder pink, coffin-shaped tray that I painted myself. And it needn’t be this obvious, either.
Below are a few more major influences and inspirations, in no particular order:
Let Virtue Be Your Guide, Frances F. Denny
And, this 1949 photograph by Charles Hewitt, but it’s more relationship goals than personal style.
Would you be interested in a print, or a tote, or a set of notecards with Witch Jail on it? Let me know in the comments below. My merchandise line is expanding.
Shortly after scheduling this post, a Redditor revealed that the photographer is B. Stewart Anthony, and this was taken for a 1945 issue of National Geographic. Copyright verification to follow.
"witch jail" is a spectacular turn of phrase!
Witch Jail merch? Yes please!!