Octopodes!

In my house, there has been discussion -- quickly squashed by the linguistically inclined -- as to the plural of the word octopus. Although other pluralizations are common, we think "octopodes" is a pretty great word.

stuffed octopus

How, you may ask, do octopodes related to steampunk? I can think of two steampunk references to octopodes. The first, Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the second the Air Kracken -- monsters of the sky, celebrated on March 17th. I'm sure you could come up with more, right?


Reader Caitlyn recently sent me a link to this lovely octopus lamp, and since I missed Air Kracken day a couple months back, I took that as enough excuse for this post.

Gentlemen & Octopus Pillow

Here's the trick with octopodes in the home: there's lots of them out there, but very few have that steampunk flair. You may be able to get away with some of the brighter colors in a bathroom or a kid's room, but I'm not sure I'd put a bright purple or orange octopus in my public rooms. (Unless you really, really, liked it.) Nothing too cute, and the scarier the better.

Black Octopus Pillow

Or perhaps just a foot and a half long giant squid or a 7 inch octopus?