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Items from the past, the purpose of which puzzles modern people. This is a type of credit card

Sometimes, leafing through history books, you have to be surprised how smart our ancestors were. Although their ingenuity was often aimed at causing pain to others, some objects from the past can not only surprise, but also shock.

Shameful flute
This item was used in medieval Germany to punish bad musicians and people who committed minor offenses. The ring was placed around the neck, and the fingers were inserted into the bars, which were squeezed with a force proportional to the guilt of the person being punished. Naturally, everything took place on the square, where everyone could admire such an action.

Bear hunting suit
The turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. Siberian men wore such a suit when hunting bears. It was inconvenient to move around in it, but it protected well from blows and bites of the animal.

Ophthalmotrope
This is a model of human eyes. Special balls were set in motion by threads that symbolized muscles human face. Thus, the rotation of the human eyeball was clearly demonstrated.

Mailbox
Such boxes were used by captains of various ships. Leaving in them information about the ship, crew and purpose of the trip. Thus, in the event of a ship missing, it was possible to determine where it was moving and where to look for it. The mailbox was disguised in a certain location. One captain simply took an old note left by someone else and put his own in it.

Credit cards or receipts from the past
Notches were made on two sticks, which symbolized the amount of debt. They were kept by both parties to the contract, excluding fraud. When the debt was repaid in full, the sticks were destroyed.

Vampire Hunter Pack
Quite the real thing from past. IN next time, when you watch a movie about vampires and see something like this, you can be sure that it is not fiction!

Security ring
IN Victorian era robbery in the middle of the street was quite normal occurrence. By pressing a button on such a ring, one could extract a pair of blades, gaining a significant advantage in a street fight.

"Clockwork Canary"
A special mechanical box that produces sounds similar to birdsong. It was produced until the middle of the 20th century.

Figurine for diagnosis
The doctor, who was exclusively male, had no right to touch high-ranking patients. To make a diagnosis, similar figures were used to show where it hurt. It is not yet known whether the doctor brought such a figurine or whether the patients had their own.

Storm Foreteller
Dr. George Meriwether noticed that leeches react violently to the approach of a storm, and designed a similar device. Leeches were placed in 12 bottles of water; using whalebone, the bottle caps were connected with hammers and bells. When the leeches sensed the approach of a storm, they climbed up the bottle and touched the whalebone, which in turn activated the hammers, which struck the bells.

Bullet extractor
The thing is contradictory. On the one hand, she helped remove bullets from the wound, on the other, due to the lack of anesthesia and antiseptics, many people died from pain shock or infection. And the structure of the device is very simple: in a hollow tube there was something similar to a screwdriver, the device was lowered into the wound, the bullet was felt there and pulled out.

Chatelain
Special bundle for various small items. It was worn by ladies; this bunch could have various necessary for a woman items: keys, watches, thimbles, seals, scissors...

Artificial leech
Used instead of real ones. They say that it brought a lot of benefits and was more useful than Living being, but for some reason it never took root...

Vinegar
Medieval ladies regularly fainted, mostly from being held in corsets. For such cases, they carried special boxes with smelling salts or cotton wool soaked in vinegar.

Wild West brothel tokens
This token was given to the client. This guaranteed the owner that the woman would not deceive him for a large amount than he must pay.

Catcher of Tears
A special vessel that was placed on the cheek to preserve tears. The warriors of Persia, returning from a campaign, first of all checked the word catcher to understand how much their wives missed them.

Mortsafe
A special grille that was placed on the coffin to protect it from corpse thieves.

Flea trap
A piece of cloth soaked in honey or blood was placed inside such a device. An insect that crawled there became stuck and could not free itself. These things were worn under wigs and clothes, and also around the neck as a pendant.

Strigil
A special scraper that was used in ancient Rome to cleanse the body of dust, sweat and dirt.

Toaster
In general, what can I say, just one of the first toaster models.

Smoky enema
Special bellows that resembled a regular enema, but were served in anus tobacco smoke. It was considered a good remedy for stomach pain. Moreover, for some time they even believed that in this way it was possible to revive drowned people by drying out all the moisture in their bodies.

Signaling
A special device that helped fight thieves. The door was propped up with a pin that stuck out from above. If the door was opened from the outside, the pin would fall on the bell, warning the owners of uninvited guests.

These are the items our ancestors used. If you liked this collection, then be sure to share it with your friends. Let it be as possible more people learns about the strange devices of the past!

In our time, there is little that can surprise a person, but ancient objects always cause slight bewilderment: why did people live this way and what caused the emergence of certain orders, habits and traditions? Today it is important to know about this, because it is known that without the past there is no future.

Fantastic and mystical objects of the past, which today cause horror and delight at the same time. What could they have that we don’t have?

We have already published and this collection is constantly updated with new things. In this review, we offer an updated list, which has something to marvel at!

Protection from masturbation

The copper piece, measuring three and a half inches, was made especially for boys in order to avoid sin. The item dates back to approximately 1880 and was popular in the church environment in France.

Kopoushki

It is unknown whether this name is original, but it speaks for itself. Devices from the past measuring 5 or 6 centimeters were made of copper or silver. Judging by the size of the “cup,” the ears were very dirty in those days.

Fleacatchers

Flea traps were used, as you understand, to catch fleas. Honey was added to the boxes, in which the fleas were stuck, and the skin of the animals was used as a natural bait - the fleas caught on the skin were shaken out and used in the next round. Availability huge amount fleas on a person’s body and the folds of his clothing were common in the 16th century.

Carnet for balls

God forbid the lady forgets who she promised the next dance to! To prevent such embarrassment, the beauties used these miniature books in which they wrote everything down. Small works of art inlaid with mother of pearl and precious stones were a must-have accessory for a society lady.

Travel bag for men

It is known that in the past, men also had to powder themselves, wear wigs and in every possible way support corporate style those times. That’s why we took these sets when traveling – boxes with many compartments. And there are combs, and mirrors, and lipsticks, and all sorts of gadgets for nails, hair, and so on. And also spare scarves, buttons, lace...

Toothpicks

But these gadgets have survived all eras and adversities and are still in demand. True, they have changed a lot since then - now there is no point in carrying around an heirloom toothpick; you can always buy a pack of disposable ones.

Head scratching stick

Considering the fashion of the 18th century for huge, voluminous hairstyles (up to 1.3 meters in height), which sometimes did not get out for weeks and were smeared with grease and sprinkled with flour, it is not surprising that hair combs came into fashion - after all, they (hairstyles) ) there were not only lice and fleas, but also mice.

Bourdalu

Ladies' duck - for trips, trips and long visits.

It’s not fitting for a lady to be on the road, and going into the bushes is not at all comme il faut. Therefore, the lady got out of the situation with the help of such a device - a duck for trips, travel and long visits. As you can see, women's imagination is limitless!

Boutonniere

Another gadget that jewelers and artists had a blast with. These works of art were intended for fresh flowers, attached to clothes and hairstyles, and there was water inside so that the flowers would not fade as long as possible.

Coat hooks

There was a time when the zipper had not yet been invented, and therefore, where there was no place for buttons, hooks were used everywhere. There were miniature ones - for gloves and underwear, and sometimes larger ones - for shoes.

Cup for mustaches

Yes Yes! It was invented quite a long time ago, when mustaches were in fashion and should always be in perfect order. Therefore, an ordinary cup now has something like this... like this... In general, it has become convenient! It seems that now this cup is relevant again.

It is difficult to guess the purpose of all these ancient things. Many of them cause bewilderment, and some even cause genuine horror. Today's report is about such strange and creepy things from the past.

Bear hunting suit

This strange design, which turns a person into a kind of ball fish, is the costume of a Siberian bear hunter or a daredevil participating in a fight with a bear. For hunting alone, such “chain mail”, of course, was a bit heavy: it is difficult to imagine that in this outfit a person could move freely, much less run fast. But when there was no such need (for example, during battles or when they went hunting in a group), the suit protected well from bear bites and paw blows.

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This is the Belgian version of the powder tester, the “test tube” (eprouvette).

The earliest apparatus on record for testing the strength of gunpowder was invented by Berne in 1578. It was a small cylinder with a tightly fitting hinged lid. The gunpowder exploded inside, and the angle at which the lid was raised was thought to indicate the strength of the gunpowder.

This is an ophthalmotrope - a device that clearly demonstrates eye movements and the structure of the entire visual system in the human body.

Essentially, this is just a model of eyeballs (they are made like hollow balls moving around their own center of rotation). The eyeballs are set in motion by the eye muscles - the role of the muscles here is played by six cords attached to different places To eyeballs and moving back, as in real eyes. All cords are thrown over blocks and balanced with weights. By pulling one or another cord, the model of the eyeball is rotated accordingly.

This is a vinegar maker

As is well known from the literature of the 19th century, ladies of those times fainted every minute. However, often the cause of fainting was not an excess of feelings, but too tight corsets, fumes from wallpaper (the paint often contained arsenic or lead, which led to poisoning), or simply terrible smells on the streets of cities that did not know sewerage. Therefore, the ladies carried with them bottles of smelling salts or a small vinegar bowl containing cotton wool soaked in vinegar or ammonia. At the first feeling of discomfort, you were supposed to open the lid and take a breath.

Mailbox

Sailors began using mailboxes to exchange letters in the 16th century. The sea route from Europe to India was long and dangerous, and thus the sailors informed trusted recipients about the number of people on the ship, the direction and purpose of the journey. The Cape of Good Hope, off the southern tip of Africa, became a place where letters were exchanged. The messages were placed in boxes and hidden in designated places, disguising them as stones so that a stranger could not find the notes. Ships passing by entered the bay and took notes from the cache, leaving their own in return. This way, if a ship went missing, it was possible to find out where it was going to sail and who was on board.

Tokens for receiving services in Wild West brothels

These tokens were used to pay for racy services in brothels in the 19th century in the United States. The use of such tokens was convenient for establishment owners - it minimized the possibility of women keeping more money and promote the client in the process.

This is a type of credit card

Notches about the borrowed goods were made simultaneously on both sticks. One was kept by the buyer, the other by the seller. This excluded fraud. When the debt was repaid, the sticks were destroyed.

Shameful flute, or shandflöte (Schandflöte)

Used in Germany in the 16th and 17th centuries to publicly humiliate bad musicians, and also as a punishment for minor violations of laws: slander, obscenity, heresy and blasphemy. The “instrument” got its name from its appearance, which resembles a flute. They made shandflöte from different breeds fruit trees.

A metal ring was placed around the neck, and the fingers were inserted into the clamps. The heavier the wines, the more the bars were compressed. The punishment was aggravated by the fact that the unfortunate man was put in a pillory in front of a mocking crowd. It all looked as if the unfortunate man was playing the flute, and painful sensations The pain he experienced caused laughter and delight from the public, which gave this type of punishment a particularly humiliating character. Sometimes the torture could last for several days.

Vampire Hunter Pack

The terrifying suitcase looks like it was confiscated from a maniac or taken as a souvenir from the filming of another Hollywood vampire movie. But in fact, such a set is not a prop or a Halloween accessory, but a very real thing from the life of our ancestors.

This is a catcher of tears, or a teardropper

A small vessel with a narrow neck is made so that it can be pressed directly to the corner of the eye. Its purpose is to collect tears, and its history goes back more than three thousand years. Catchers of tears are mentioned in the Psalter, in Psalm 55: “Put my tears in a vessel with You; are they not in Your Book?” Tear flasks were popular in Persia, for example: men returning home from battle would first check their wives' tear flasks to see if they were too bored.

Defender ring

During the Victorian era, when the quality and quantity of street lighting major cities left much to be desired, crimes on the streets were commonplace. Therefore, to ensure their safety, the Victorians came up with a variety of devices.
With the help of two small buttons in the ring, sharp blades were folded back - and the advantage in street fighting immediately turned out to be on the side of its owner.

This is a mortsafe

Mortsafes were steel or cast iron grille caps that were placed on coffins.
At the beginning of the 19th century, with the development of medicine and anatomy in England and Scotland, a great need arose for corpses for dissection. But in the God-fearing Victorian society there was not only no institution of organ donation, but there was a persistent hostility towards burials outside the rules: even cremation was greeted as something completely terrible, satanic and monstrous - progressive Victorians even had to organize a movement “for cremation”.

This is a “wind-up canary”, or a mechanical simulator of birdsong.

One of the main manufacturers of such mechanisms was the French company Bontems of Paris: first, at the end of the 19th century, Blaise Bontems began producing mechanical boxes with bird voices, and then his son Charles and grandson Lucien continued his work, improving the mechanism already in the 20th century - their production continued until until the 1950s.

Flea trap

A small piece of fabric soaked in honey, blood, resin or aromatic substances was placed inside the twisted flea traps as bait. An insect that crawled inside stuck to the bait. Flea traps were worn under wigs and inside women's hairstyles, under clothes and on the neck, like a pendant, and also placed in the bedroom near the bed. Catching fleas was an everyday task and, to some extent, even erotic.

The women in these figures showed the doctor exactly where their pain was.

In the past, doctors were only men, and they were prohibited from directly touching high-ranking patients. Therefore, special dolls were used for diagnosis. They were made from ivory and mammoth bone, wood and even mother-of-pearl, 10–25 cm high. Interesting detail: Some Chinese dolls show bandages to form a small foot. Whether the doctor brought the doll or whether the ladies had their own, historians cannot yet determine for sure.

This is a strigil, or simply a scraper for cleansing the body

In the days of the ancient Romans, when there was no soap, shower gels, shampoos, scrubs and other advances in chemistry, all the dirt, sweat and dust from the body was scraped off with such scrapers.

Storm Foreteller

This invention belongs to Dr. George Meriwether, who lived in Whitby in England in the 19th century.
One day the doctor noticed that before the onset of a thunderstorm, leeches began to behave restlessly, and decided to use this feature of theirs. He came up with a cunning device called the “storm predictor.”
12 one-pint bottles were placed in a circle. At the neck of each bottle was a metal tube with a piece of whalebone and wire attached to hammers. Sensing the approach of a storm, the leeches began to climb up the bottle and touched the whalebone, which, in turn, pulled the wire and activated the hammers that struck the bell.

Toaster

Toasters in the 19th century were extremely popular and therefore were embodied in a wide variety of designs: for example, some, especially expensive models there was a ceramic core that heated more evenly, double walls and removable “doors” to make the insides of the device easier to clean, and two removable wire racks to place pieces of bread in for warming or to keep fresh toast from cooling down so quickly. Simpler models were simply a tin pyramid with holes in the side panels as a body - coals smoldered under the pyramid and thereby fried pieces of bread leaning against the panels. Then, of course, came the first electric toasters - one of the first models was developed by Alan McMaster in Edinburgh in 1893.

This is a bullet extractor

The structure of the extractor is quite simple: in a long hollow tube there is something like a screwdriver: it is lowered into the wound with the help of screws, the bullet is felt, it is picked up and pulled out. Despite its apparent benefit, the bullet extractor often brought much more trouble than relief: there was practically no anesthesia and antiseptics in those days, so many patients died from painful shock, while others died from infections.

The smoky enema was one of the most popular devices in medicine of the 17th–19th centuries.

Its device was extremely simple: a smoky enema was similar to a regular one, but instead of a pear it had bellows from a pig's stomach, which supplied tobacco smoke to the patient's anus. Tobacco was considered a good remedy for drowsiness and colds, and it was even prescribed to patients. However, European doctors learned methods of non-standard introduction of it into the body from North American Indians. This procedure was believed to help with stomach pain and also revive drowned people. It was believed that smoke dries out all excess moisture in the body.

Holder for small items, or chatelaine

Chatelaine (in Russian there really is no such word, if translated literally - “bundle of the mistress of the house”; in English pronunciation - chatelaine) was a decorative bundle of small items attached to a belt. From this bunch hung an impressive number of chains, which, in turn, were attached various little things, which the mistress of the house might need and should always be at hand: keys, thimbles, watches, scissors, a seal, a vinegar bottle (in case things get bad).

Anti-theft alarm

As in present time, the townspeople of the 19th century suffered from burglars. A revolutionary mechanical anti-burglar alarm was used as protection. The alarm was placed under the door with inside, the door was propped up with a pin, when it was opened from the outside, the pin fell and hit the bell, which loudly notified the owners that strangers were in the house. Signaling was invented in the 1870s and was effective means notifications about intrusion into a house, for example, at night, which was often the case. However, if there was no one in the house, this did not stop the robbers, and neither did those who climbed into the windows.

This is an artificial leech

The artificial leech shown in the picture was invented in 1840 to reduce the use of real leeches. It was believed that an artificial leech was more effective, hygienic and sterile, although its very appearance inspired much more horror in patients than a living creature.

Our editors have introduced you to strange things from the past more than once, and this collection is constantly updated with new things. So now we offer an updated list, in which there is something to marvel at!

Protection from masturbation

This thing wasn't used that long ago - about 150 years ago. It was made specifically for boys to avoid sin. Size three and a half inches, material copper. I wonder if they would wear something like this now?

Kopoushki

Fleacatchers

We have already mentioned the box type earlier, but here is another version of this most relevant device in those days - woolen flea traps. The skin of the animal was used as bait. As soon as fleas accumulated there, they were shaken out, and everything started all over again. By the way, fleas on the clothes of fashionistas of the 16th century are a common occurrence.

Carnet for balls

God forbid the lady forgets who she promised the next dance to! To prevent such embarrassment, the beauties used these miniature books in which they wrote everything down. Small works of art inlaid with mother-of-pearl and precious stones were a must-have accessory for a society lady.

Travel bag for men

It is known that in the past, men also had to powder themselves, wear wigs and in every possible way maintain the corporate style of those times. That’s why we took these sets when traveling – boxes with many compartments. And there are combs, and mirrors, and lipsticks, and all sorts of gadgets for nails, hair, and so on. And also spare scarves, buttons, lace...

Toothpicks

Head scratching stick

It would seem, what prevented you from rubbing a turnip with your own fingers? You see, in the 18th century, big hairstyles were all the rage. Sometimes they were cyclopean in size - up to one and a half meters in height. They were not disassembled for weeks, greased and sprinkled with flour. Such structures sometimes even harbored mice, so it was impossible to do without a scratcher.

Bourdalu

Boutonniere

Coat hooks

Cup for mustaches

Yes Yes! It was invented quite a long time ago, when mustaches were in fashion and always had to be in perfect order. Therefore, an ordinary cup now has something like this... like this... In general, it has become convenient! It seems that now this cup is relevant again.

Personally, I think that this voluminous hairstyles It’s not for nothing that the end has come. Nowadays it’s much easier to build something like this, and you don’t need to store such a cocoon for a whole week. And a head scratcher can be a great back scratcher! Agree?

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