Worst Golden-era inventions

[Viola]

Lobotomies scare me. But can someone answer a few questions I have?

1. What are they?
2. What purpose did they (supposedly) serve?
3. What effects did they have on the...ehm...patient?

Removal/scrambling of part of the frontal lobe. They supposedly rendered the mentally ill patient more tractable and calm (go figure) and could indeed, when "properly" done let them have something resembling a normal life afterward; there are "successful" lobotomies where the victim could work and so on afterward.

Not all the recipients were actually mentally ill before the procedure. There's a book about a guy who was a tragic recipient based on the fact he was a moody teenager in a dysfunctional family - he is, however, one of the lucky ones who could still function afterward.

And the mental illnesses to which this procedure was recommended were varied.

JFK's sister, for example, is considered to have likely been bipolar; the lobotomy was at best ill-advised. From Wikipedia:

Placid and easygoing as a child and teenager, the maturing Kennedy became increasingly assertive in her personality. She was reportedly subject to violent mood swings. Some observers have since attributed this behavior to her difficulties in keeping up with her active siblings, as well as the hormonal surges associated with puberty. In any case, the family had difficulty dealing with the often-stormy Rosemary, who had begun to sneak out at night from the convent where she was being educated and cared for.[2]

[...]
In 1941, when Rosemary was 23, her doctors told her father that a cutting edge procedure would help calm her "mood swings that the family found difficult to handle at home".[3] Her father gave permission for the procedure to be performed by Dr. Walter Freeman, the director of the laboratories at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington, D.C., together with his partner, James W. Watts, MD, from the University of Virginia. Watts received his neurosurgical training at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and later he became the Chief of Neurosurgery at the George Washington University Hospital. Highly regarded, Dr. Watts later became the 91st president of the Medical Society of the District of Columbia. The procedure in question was a lobotomy.

At the time, only 65 lobotomies had been performed. Watts described the procedure as follows:

"We went through the top of the head, I think she was awake. She had a mild tranquilizer. I made a surgical incision in the brain through the skull. It was near the front. It was on both sides. We just made a small incision, no more than an inch." The instrument Dr. Watts used looked like a butter knife. He swung it up and down to cut brain tissue. "We put an instrument inside," he said. As Dr. Watts cut, Dr. Freeman put questions to Rosemary. For example, he asked her to recite the Lord's Prayer or sing "God Bless America" or count backwards. ... "We made an estimate on how far to cut based on how she responded." ... When she began to become incoherent, they stopped.[4]
Instead of producing the hoped-for result, however, the lobotomy reduced Rosemary to an infantile mentality that left her incontinent and staring blankly at walls for hours. Her verbal skills were reduced to unintelligible babble. Her mother remarked that although the lobotomy stopped her daughter's violent behavior, it left her completely incapacitated. "Rose was devastated; she considered it the first of the Kennedy family tragedies."[5]

 

[Carlisle Blues]

This invention provides a method for ensuring a life-saving supply of fresh air to a person entrapped in a burning hotel room or the like, when the person is subjected to toxic smoke inhalation.

Even though the user may breathe-in a small amount of sewer gas, it is obvious that this small inconvenience is insignificant in comparison to the saving of the user’s life.

 

[Shangas]

Good grief!

No way! Oh no no no no no! Gross! A million kinds of...Oh no! That's just...projectile-vomit-inducing...yuk!

 

[ThesFlishThngs]

Though there wasn't a lobotomy involved, this topic has got me thinking of the film "Tom and Viv", about T.S. Eliot and his wife, and their wacky life. Viv was basically institutionalized for a good portion of her life. At the end of the film, Tom and a friend are rather dryly discussing her fate, and their old days together.
One says, "She always was a bit unstable."
The other replies rather reproachfully (So poignant it's almost painful), "You used to call her a free spirit."

Ouch.

Removal/scrambling of part of the frontal lobe. They supposedly rendered the mentally ill patient more tractable and calm (go figure) and could indeed, when "properly" done let them have something resembling a normal life afterward; there are "successful" lobotomies where the victim could work and so on afterward.

Not all the recipients were actually mentally ill before the procedure. There's a book about a guy who was a tragic recipient based on the fact he was a moody teenager in a dysfunctional family - he is, however, one of the lucky ones who could still function afterward.

And the mental illnesses to which this procedure was recommended were varied.

JFK's sister, for example, is considered to have likely been bipolar; the lobotomy was at best ill-advised. From Wikipedia:

 

[Fletch]

Toilet snorkel

I hate to be a party poo...er, wet blanket, but the patent on that thing dates to 1982. Other than that, yes, it's one of the worst of all time.

 

[Anthony K]

Good grief!

No way! Oh no no no no no! Gross! A million kinds of...Oh no! That's just...projectile-vomit-inducing...yuk!

You took the words right out of my mouth!

 

[HadleyH]

He wanted to fly

Franz Reichelt wanted to fly. He was an austrian tailor and he leaped from the Observation deck of the Eiffel Tower(1912) in an overcoat-parachute that he designed.

He did fly, 2 or 3 seconds, then he hit the ground and didnt fly anymore[huh]

 

[Tomasso]

[bad] ........

 

[HadleyH]

^
^

what.?..... [angel]

lol lol

 

[Fletch]

Supposedly, Reichelt got up the tower on the ruse that he was going to test the chute with a dummy.

They had no idea how right he was. lol

 

[HadleyH]

Supposedly, Reichelt got up the tower on the ruse that he was going to test the chute with a dummy.

They had no idea how right he was. lol

BWAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA OMG lol lol lol lol lol lol lol

 

[Mike in Seattle]

I thought for a moment the asbestos box was a cereal! it gets my thumbs up for worst invention.
"come on kids get a nice box of lung cancer"

"Asbestosties - all natural, low calorie, fat and sugar free!"

 

[Tomasso]

Supposedly, Reichelt got up the tower on the ruse that he was going to test the chute with a dummy.

They had no idea how right he was. lol

[YOUTUBE]BepyTSzueno[/YOUTUBE]

 

[HadleyH]

^
^

Yep. that's how it all happened. But ,did you noticed that he hesitates for a while before jumping? He knew, Franz knew in his heart he wasnt going to make it...no way he was going to fly... but he wouldn't have felt good if he didn't jump, it was too late...wow...

Thanks for the link Tomasso.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

I hate to be a party poo...er, wet blanket, but the patent on that thing dates to 1982. Other than that, yes, it's one of the worst of all time.

Yes butt it was too good to pass up it was golden....

 

[Lorena B]

[YOUTUBE]BepyTSzueno[/YOUTUBE]

Gosh what a horrible thing, and yes, as Hadley said, he is hesitating big deal.
Just as horrible and sad as the lobotomy.

 

[Lorena B]

Anti-tank dogs (1939-1945)

During World War Two the Russians faced the mechanical might of the German Army’s tanks, which made Soviet engineers to create canine mines or “anti-tank dogs”. The dogs, fitted with explosives, would be starved before battles and trained to search for food under vehicles, where they would explode.

But the biggest problem was the dogs often ran towards their own lines, blowing up tanks on their own side.

The Flying Car (1930s)

Waldo Waterman created two Chitty Chitty Bang Bang-style flying cars between 1930-40. The American inventor’s 20ft-long Aerobile had a top air speed of 112mph and he flew it from California to Ohio.

It was never put into commercial production because of technical problems and flight regulations. (not surprising)

 

[Shangas]

Aaah yes, I've heard of the tank-dogs. Unfortunately, the Russians couldn't get any German tanks to practice with, so they used their own, with the regrettable result that the dogs kept running to the Russian lines instead of the German lines, because they didn't recognise German tanks as their target.

 

[filfoster]

Management lobotomy

Lobotomy can result in the person being unable to do anything but the most basic survival functions (heart rate, breathing etc.). Therefore the patient cannot do much more than a vegetable is able to.

I speculate that the shareholders of my company, a midwestern regional bank, would be much better off if our senior management had received this treatment. On further reflection, I suspect our shareholders may insist on this.

 

[Anthony K]

Supposedly, Reichelt got up the tower on the ruse that he was going to test the chute with a dummy.

They had no idea how right he was. lol

lol lol HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! You just made my day!! lol lol