WHAT IS THIS THING? Mystery museum 5 Object

object # 1

This tortuous looking device is a beauty calibrator or “micrometer”, made in 1932 by makeup mogul Max Factor, the father of the modern cosmetics industry. A bizarre union of beauty and phrenology, this one-of-a-kind device was meant to be used as a tool for Hollywood make up artists, who could measure a starlet’s face against “perfect” facial proportions and use heavy make up to correct her facial shape flaws. Made of flexible metal strips, it is held against the head using set screws and will supposedly reveal flaws naked to the human eye that could be exaggerated on the movie screen. (Here are some slightly unsettling images of it in use!)

source here

object # 2

This magical looking thing is the lens from a lighthouse. More specifically, it was the light in the Sambro Island Lighthouse in beautiful Nova Scotia (my homeland!) from 1906 to 1967, when it was replaced by a modern, airport-style beacon light. The Sambro Island Lighthouse is located on a little island near the entrance of the Halifax Habour, and is the oldest operational lighthouse in the Americas, still operating since its establishment in 1758. The light is a ‘First Order Fresnel Lens’, constructed from crystal glass prisms set in bronze frames, and would have been illuminated by a petroleum vapour burner maintained by lighthouse keepers who resided on the island (the lightstation was de-staffed in 1988 and the island is now uninhabited). Today, this remarkably beautiful object can be seen on display at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax, Nova Scotia, which was my favorite museum as a child (and it’s still easily in my top ten as an adult!).

object # 3

This weird, fleshy thing is a preserved crocodile tongue (Crocodyus acutus) from the collection of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. It’s a wet preparation, made between 1760 and 1793 either by or for John Hunter, one of the most distinguished surgeons of the 18th century, and the namesake of the fantastic Hunterian Museum. (If you’re in London, make sure you check out this wonderful museum with its incredible collection of anatomical specimens!) Crocodile tongues are held in place at the bottom of their mouths by a membrane, so they can’t stick their tongues out…so I guess this is the only way to see one unless you’re getting eaten by a crocodile!

object # 4

This is a late-19th or early-20th century fly-whisk (or Ngayab) from Tibet, from the collections of National Museums Scotland. It is made from the tail of a yak, with a wooden handle. Although its practical application is for flicking away bothersome insects, it also has spiritual significance in Tibetan Buddhism as a symbol for protection through non-harming principles. In the Newar Buddhist tradition of Nepal, a pair of fly-whisks is also one of the eight auspicious symbols, representing the Buddha’s sovereignty (See: The Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols, pages 177-178).

object # 5

This horrible object is a choke pear, from the Torture Museum in the Hohensalzburg Castle in Salzburg, Austria. Made out of iron and in the shape of a pear, this torture device is designed to be inserted into someone’s mouth (or other orifice!) as a gag. When the key is turned, the leaves spread apart in all directions so that it can’t be removed without the key. According to the Dictionary of Phrase and Fable from 1898, the device was used by robbers in Holland in the 19th century. Although choke pears exist in several museum collections (usually Torture Museums; here’s another one from a museum in Amsterdam) there is not really any compelling historical evidence that these were ever actually used…even in the 19th century there was discussion that the choke pear was probably just an urban legend (see pages 285-286 of this book), and that museum objects like this one were essentially just fantastic props. I think that this choke pear just gets more interesting if you consider that it might just be a memento of sick imaginations rather than an authentic instrument of torture.

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