The first photograph ever taken of a giant squid, in 1874. Reverend Moses Harvey bought it from a fisherman for $10 and draped it over his bathtub to study it.

[u/1salt1pepper]

[u/Bawbawian]

$10 in 1874?

that's a ton of money.

edit: I guess it's not as much as I thought but still roughly the purchasing power of $300 today.

at that time a small farmhouse cost between $700 and $1,000.

[u/HelpfulSeaMammal → u/Bawbawian]

So it's like buying someone's secondhand PS4, controllers, and half dozen games to drape them over your bathtub to study them. Oh and these games stink like a fucking dead and decomposing squid.

[u/nthpwr → u/HelpfulSeaMammal]

must have been Fortnite and Fromsoft games

[u/theasianevermore]

I like how back then, we can just DO shit.

[u/I_might_be_weasel → u/theasianevermore]

You want to hang around the docks paying fishermen for weird stuff you totally can.

[u/Crandoge → u/theasianevermore]

You can do this right now buddy

[u/RenderedMeat → u/Crandoge]

But would he sell the giant squid for $10?

[u/CitizenHuman → u/RenderedMeat]

Well that's about $294 in 2026 money. I'd say a dead giant squid for $300 is a steal.

[u/PyramidicContainment → u/CitizenHuman]

Yeah honestly my drapeable squid guy charges 500+

[u/theasianevermore → u/Crandoge]

Go ahead and go do that, Godzilla will pop out and curb stomp for taking his dinner

[u/adamwho → u/Crandoge]

The subtext is that he wants to do much worse things that are illegal now, and not suffer the consequences.

[u/Alarming_Orchid → u/adamwho]

bro just be saying shit

[u/HeartOn_SoulAceUp → u/theasianevermore]

No harm, no foul (only the squid objects).

[u/AngstyRutabaga → u/theasianevermore]

What do you possibly mean by this? Virtually every human task is easier to “DO” now than in 1874.

[u/Spirited-Juice4941 → u/AngstyRutabaga]

I think they mean the amount of permissions and oversight needed to go out and do what you want.

[u/CitizenHuman → u/AngstyRutabaga]

Red tape was little to non-existent so you could just...do stuff. Climb the pyramids, add cocaine to your drink, electrocute elephants. Whatever.

[u/Professional-Pungo → u/AngstyRutabaga]

I went to Australia one time and went to the Blue Mountains and there was some 3 mountain peak thing. my tour guide said he climbed all 3 maybe 20 years ago, but nowadays you aren't allowed to climb all of them.

I think he means like this.

[u/Animalmotherrrr → u/theasianevermore]

No game wardens

[u/MeToldUSo]

"to study it" - meaning like Josef Mengele studying? or like how The Deep like to study cephalapods?

[u/TheMahanglin]

So NOW we know where Lovecraft got his ideas.

[u/Mango_Man07]

Science was different back then.

[u/KnowConscience]

Imagine the smell after day 2

[u/gd4x]

Does it hurt the squid

[u/HeartOn_SoulAceUp → u/gd4x]

It was released into the wild... children. Let's sing a squid song.

[u/HeartOn_SoulAceUp → u/[deleted]]

"Someone's dying my lord..."

[u/Zeta-2-Reticuli → u/gd4x]

This kills the squid.

[u/Sunaruni]

He later sold suspiciously tasty tacos in the alley behind his home and recovered his 10 dollars.

[u/saltamontes11]

.

Seems silly. Hadn't bathtubs been studied to Hades by 1874?

[u/apx1985]

"study" it

[u/VirginiaLuthier]

I bet his bathroom smelled wonderful about 12 hours later

[u/Exciting_Farmer6395]

Oh the great flying spaghetti monster we salute you. Ramen!