The Portable Hair Brushing Machine, And Other Bizarre Inventions That Did NOT Change The World

6 Bizarre Inventions That Did NOT Change The World

The gift-giving season has arrived, which means it's time to peruse SkyMall for a wonderfully useless trinket to bestow upon your favorite relative, or your least favorite in-law (two words: Human. Slingshot.) Had the lovably pointless magazine existed pre-1900, these inventions -- feasibly useful then, and definitely worthless now, with the exception of Henry Sumner's sort of cool glove-purse combo -- would be contenders for its inventory.

While Sumner's contemporaries were busy perfecting the steam engine/changing Western society forever, he devoted his energies to optimizing mitten efficiency. (To his credit, the purse glove looks sleek.) Similarly, John Fuller's "bonafide" ventilating hat and James Beckett's portable hair-brushing machine are two inventions that definitely did not change the world. Check out more below:

All images are from The National Archives, London, England 2014. © 2014 Crown Copyright. Courtesy Thames & Hudson.

Self-refilling inkstand
J. & E. Ratcliff’s Universal Reservoir Inkstand by J. & E. Ratcliff Manufacturers, 1850.
Ventilating hat
The Bonafide Ventilating Hat by John Fuller & Co, 1849
Purse-glove
Design of an Improved Combined Glove and Purse by Henry Sumner, 1861
Expandable bust corset
Design for a corset with expandable busts by F. Parsons, 1881
Portable hair brushing machine
Portable rotary hair brushing machine by James Beckett, 1864
Portable cooking apparatus
Design for a Portable Cooking Apparatus by Henry Madden, 1845

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