Apocalypse Now, Rice Lake, Wisconsin

You never know what you'll see in a small town in Wisconsin. From what I can tell, product selection in the stores and drinking establishments of Rice Lake may be indicating the end times.

First there were the two pagan references:




Then this friendly, furry devil nestled alongside a book with an ominous title:


And finally, perhaps not completely fitting with the theme here, but too incredible to pass up, this photo from 1956 of a small child swathed in red paint, waiting for his mother to pour out his turpentine bath:


The fact that this picture made the cover of the "best news photos of the year" edition tells us a lot about parenting in the 1950s.