When the effects of X-rays were not known, it was used wherever possible. It turns out that it was even used in the selection of shoes. We somehow got acquainted with the fashion for radiation and other oddities from the recent past. But let's find out why it was so fashionable to irradiate your feet with radiation in order to choose the right pair of boots or shoes.
Trying on shoes is a responsible business. If the size is chosen correctly, then walking in a new thing is a pleasure: you don't need to wear it out or put insoles in three rows so that it does not fall off. But sometimes it is difficult to make the right choice for various reasons: for example, if the fitting takes place on swollen or bare feet, and when shoes are bought for children, they often cannot clearly explain how they feel.
It seemed that mankind got rid of the troubles with fitting forever when X-ray machines appeared in shoe stores.
In the last century, to facilitate the choice of shoes, a special installation was used - a fluoroscope or a pedoscope. It looked like a large box in which people put their feet for x-rays. The seller and the buyer could see the position of the feet in the shoes, how much free play remained, whether the toes were not too tight. Most often, the box was used to select children's shoes. These machines were first installed in shoe stores in the 1930s. They have been widely used in the USA, Canada, UK, Germany and some other countries. In total, about 15,000 fluoroscopes were produced.
X-rays were discovered by Wilhelm Roentgen in 1895 and have since been used in a variety of fields, from medicine to carnivals. As medical historian Jacqueline Duffin and radiation oncologist Charles Hayter write, the shoe fluoroscope emerged after World War I: “It entered the established culture of shoe hacksterism, which relied on scientific rhetoric; targeted women accustomed to the recent electrification of housing and expert advice on motherhood; he neatly bypassed the thorny problem of advertising veracity; attracted children who were looking for new sensations to shops where sellers worked magic."
This is how Vladimir Nabokov describes it in “The Gift”: “The leg miraculously entered, but upon entering, it became completely blind: the movement of the fingers inside did not in any way reflect on the outer surface of the tight black skin. The saleswoman tied the ends of the lace with phenomenal speed - and touched the toe of the shoe with two fingers. "Just! - she said. “New ones are always a little bit…” she continued hastily, raising her brown eyes. - Of course, if you want, you can put a braid under the heel. But they are just, see for yourself! " And she took him to the fluoroscope, showed him where to put his foot. Looking down through the window, he saw his own, dark, neatly separated joints against a light background."
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There is a story that the first shoe fluoroscope was made in Milwaukee in 1924 by Clarence Carrer, a dealer in surgical supplies and X-ray equipment, who worked for his father. Around the same time, a similar type of device was recorded in the UK. The idea was picked up and developed. The cost of the device ranged from $ 850 to $ 950.
After selling several units to shoe manufacturers and retailers, Carrer asked the Radiological Society of North America and some radiologists to prohibit the sale of such devices to unskilled people because it “diminished the dignity of the radiological profession.
The principle of operation of the fluoroscope was based on the use of an X-ray tube, which gave radiation, on average, 114 μR / h. Despite the relatively high exposures, not a single injury was recorded to customers of shoe stores. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the operators of these machines. Many shoe sellers put their hands on X-rays to feel the shoes while trying them on. One of the most serious injuries associated with the operation of these machines was in a shoe model that received such severe radiation that its leg had to be amputated.
Subsequently, a law appeared that prescribed that a fluoroscope must be used by a licensed radiologist.
Despite the high cost, each store owner sought to get a status novelty. The peak of popularity fell on the years of the Great Depression: people tried to choose shoes wisely so that they could be worn for more than one season.
From the beginning, it was no secret to anyone that shoe fluoroscopes were a marketing tactic. Dr. Jacob Lowe received a patent for a shoe fluoroscope in 1927, claiming that his device would help “the salesperson reassure their customers that they never have to wear the wrong shoes, and that parents can visually confirm that they are buying shoes and boots for their children. that will not lead to damage and deformation of bone joints. " In other words, it was a confirmation device that the seller had already chosen. A 1937 ad from Pedoscope said, "You push a button and prove you're right."
Shoe fluoroscopes were designed to look like a piece of furniture rather than a medical device. The one now housed in the Chicago International Museum of Surgical Science looks like the family's wooden chest with floral cutouts.
“The shoe fluoroscope became a characteristic part of the décor of high-end stores, and was positioned on a specially lighted and raised platform,” write Duffin and Hayter.
In 1957, The British Medical Journal published an article by H. Kopp of the Finsen Institute of Copenhagen. She described the curious case of a woman who complained of severe pain and damage to the skin on her right leg and foot. “The signs were typical of X-ray dermatitis, but the patient claimed that her legs had never been exposed to radiation therapy or X-rays,” Kopp writes. “When asked about other possible methods of radiation, we were told that the patient had worked in a shoe store for about 10 years, where they used a fluoroscope to accurately try on shoes.”
The woman used this device fifteen to twenty times a day. The shoe fluoroscope, which was used to accurately determine the size of the shoe, exposed it to high doses of radiation, especially on the right side, which was closest to the client's leg opening. “The enormous danger posed by the use of shoe fluoroscopes raises the question of banning them,” Kopp concludes. He was not the first or the last to question the ubiquity of fluoroscopes in shoe stores from the mid-1920s to the 1950s.
It was estimated that there were about 300 devices in use in New York State. It was found that many of the shoe's fluoroscopes were poorly positioned, causing the radiation to affect people in the vicinity. In addition, they lacked protection to prevent unauthorized use; sellers allowed repeated exposure to customers' legs; there were no warning signs on them; and they have undergone poor repair work.
Finally, in 1957, Pennsylvania became the first state to ban the use of shoe fluoroscopes. Other states soon followed suit. “After the sellers were convinced that these devices were doing more commercial harm than good (they began to scare well-informed shoppers away from shoe stores), they abandoned them,” Duffin and Hayter explain.
When X-ray was invented, it was not immediately known about the adverse effects of radiation on people. The bad consequences began to outweigh the benefits. Working with the device was especially hazardous to the health of the salespeople who worked with it all day, and children more susceptible to radiation. After all, fluoroscopes were officially banned in 1970. However, the last working fluoroscope was discovered in a shoe store in Western Virginia as early as 1981 and transferred to the FDA museum.
How to choose shoes without a fluoroscope? There are a few simple guidelines to help you choose the right footwear without the X-ray. Shoes should not be tight or too loose, for this they should be measured in the evening, when the legs are slightly swollen. Be sure to go shopping, listening to the sensations.
The toes should not protrude too much through the material, and the top edge, which usually does not stretch well due to the tape sewn into it, should not dig into the foot. Inspect the pair carefully before making a purchase decision. The right and left shoes, if you put them together with the soles, must exactly match in size and color, there should be no traces of glue, torn threads. Use thin cotton socks for fitting.
Author: Ivan Kemerov
