Painters, photographers and writers used display windows as a source of inspiration. Walter Benjamin was especially fascinated by the ´most irregular connections` between objects in the display cabinets, describing the surreal visual riddle in his Arcades Project: "A world of secret affinities: Palm trees and feather duster, hair dryer and Venus de Milo, prosthesis and letter-writing guide; they all come together here as if after a long separation. The concubine lies in wait next to the inkwell; worshipping women raise ashtrays aloft like offering cups."