Princess Vilma Lwoff-Parlaghy, a Russian noblewoman and celebrated portrait painter of European royalty, has captivated American cities such as Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia—not only with her artistry but also with her eccentric traveling entourage, which includes a private zoo of exotic animals. She travels with a substantial retinue of staff and creatures, making it difficult for private hosts to accommodate her. A friend, Mrs. William A. Stone, hopes she will visit Pittsburgh, though it remains uncertain.

Critics in the U.S. have mocked her traveling menagerie, but in Europe, her animals are considered integral to her artistic process, particularly for portrait and animal painting. Her simplicity and manner charm those she meets. She is Hungarian by birth but married a Russian, speaks fluent English, and is said to be unlike other princesses because she is “first an artist, then a princess.”

The flashcube was introduced by the American camera manufacturer Kodak In 1965, Kodak introduced a gadget so extra, it came with four sides of drama: the Flashcube. Before then, photographers had to manually swap out flashbulbs—like cave people. But Kodak said, “No more!” and gave us a spinning cube of…

From the San Francisco Bulletin, July 8, 1908: PRINCESS ARTIST, NOT MERELY AMATEUR Has Painted Portraits of Many Notables Abroad and in the United States and Has Miniature Zoo at Home. WASHINGTON, July 8. — Princess Lwoff-Parlaghy, better known in the world of art as , was at the New…

receives a Telegram from Nikola Tesla dated July 5, 1926. It’s finally happening. Though our dealings through the years have been… turbulent… it my hope that, over there, we can leave all of that behind. I like to think of Plus Ultra as the family I never started. There is…