All of us, who watch second-grade TV channels occasionally, have seen advertisements for miscellaneous devices, which, supposedly, will heal you from any and all deceases in just 3 weeks time. Bloussant will increase woman’s breast size threefold in a month. Zeno Ex will augment man’s member, so that it is comparable to that of a horse in length in two weeks. And don’t forget Vitalzine – no matter how bald you are, in five weeks you’ll be as hairy as an ape!

    A multitude of such devices, created over the last 200+ years, was collected in the Museum of Questionable Medical Devices by a Minneapolis resident Bob McCoy. After retiring earlier this year, McCoy has given his collection of over 325 artifacts to the Science Museum of Minnesota, which became the new exhibit location for all of them. There is lack of newer devices in the museum: most of the exhibitions were created in the seventies of the last century. Apparently lately, Americans have lost any belief in the magical healing powers of electricity, ultraviolet light, or radiation. The devices represented in the museum show just how naïve people are.

    Most popular item in the museum is The Psycograph – an antique phrenology machine from early 1900s [phrenology is a false theory about being able to determine mental capabilities of an individual based on his/her skull shape]. The apparatus that resembles a hair dryer from a barber shop analyzes bumps on one’s skull based on 32 parameters and analyzes data, based on 5-grade scale. Any visitor of the museum can try this gadget on.

    A device worth noting is The Natural Eyesight System – aluminum box, which gets put on the head, and, with a simple “twist of the wrist”, lets you massage your eyeballs, relieving strain from your eyes. Studies have shown that the device did not increase the eyesight on any patients whatsoever.

    Collection contains some unique things. For example, the Shoe Fitting X-Ray. During the forties ten thousand such devices were located in the shoe shops around the country. They allowed buyers instantly see how their foot bones felt inside the shoe. A lot of devices were developed to solve problems with body functions and personal life: a masochist-looking aluminum device for preventing unwanted pollutions, rectal prostate gland warmers, The Recto Rotor, and a vibrating chair for intestinal peristalsis stimulation.

    And the sympathy prize goes to the foot powered vacuum breast enlarger. In the mid seventies, this enlarger, priced at $10 US, was bought by four million women. The only thing that they got - eight million bruises.

    The science has failed to help.