Quackery and Collectible

Questionable medical device

My latest WorthPoint article contribution was published and can be read here. It is a silly little article about "Questionable Medical Devices" and Quackery.

The inspiration came, of course, from the weird medical moment we are living in but also from my childhood memories of the Museum of Questionable Medical Devices that was along the Mississippi riverfront in Minneapolis.

It had a terrifying appeal. In my memory, the Psycograph loomed large by the front door. The machine looked like it would chew on your head; a torture device better than any nightmare.

Its purpose was not so sinister, it was invented as a phrenology machine and popular in the great depression.

Patent for psyograph machine

The museum has been absorbed by the Science Museum of Minnesota where the Psychograph is still on display.

Researching the WorthPoint archives for Quack devices yielded a trove of other questionable medical equipment.

In this strange time will we start seeing more people wearing, not just face masks, but amulets, batteries (read the article for clarification on that), or other non-medical devices in the hopes that they help.

I finished the article the same way I will here - As we face uncertain times, let us depend on the CDC rather than magical cure-alls. Stay safe and be well.