Today’s Morale-Shattering Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
Some unknown genius in 1840 miniaturized a prison treadmill so that it could be operated by an individual convict rather than a team. And so the Crank came into existence.
One version resembled a domestic knife-cleaning machine, comprising a narrow iron drum mounted on legs, with a long handle at one side which, when turned, caused a series of cups inside to revolve. As they did so, they scooped up sand from the bottom of the drum, the sand falling out when the cups reached the top of their revolution. A dial on the front of the machine registered the number of times the Crank handle had been turned, and the usual punishment involved operating it about twenty times a minute, culminating in a total of 10,000 revolutions in eight and a half hours. Should the target not be met on time, the convict received no food until the dial registered the required total.
An alternative version utilized weights instead of sand. Without weights, the pressure necessary to turn the crank handle was seven pounds, the addition of weights ranging up to twelve pounds. Both marques of the Crank achieved nothing at all other than morale-shattering exhaustion for the convict on the handle.
Culled from: Rack, Rope and Red-Hot Pincers
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| An example of the Crank in action! |
Arcane Excerpts: Air-Bathing Edition!
Oh yeah, I forgot – I was gonna transcribe some weirdness from one of my favorite odd books – a 1904 monstrosity entitled Physical Culture for Babies by a health nut named Bernarr Macfadden. Hopefully this one won’t get me arrested since it deals with the incredibly controversial topic of naked toddlers. One never knows in modern America. I’d better just link to the image, just in case…
“The great value of the air-bath is now beginning to be recognized by parents who are giving thought to the health and strength of their offspring. If introduced into the daily life of the child, no matter at what period, it will promote a strong, firm skin, capable of withstanding sudden changes of temperature from one year’s end to the other. Marion Evelyn Cook, whose photograph appears at the end of this chapter, is a splendid instance of the great benefit a child may receive from this bath. She receives her air-bath daily, without exception, and enjoys the treat, for it is a thorough treat to a child. At 6 p.m. her clothes are removed and for an hour she is permitted to romp and play in delightful freedom.
“Marion is a professed vegetarian, and to a great extent a raw-food enthusiast. Her diet consists of fresh milk, poached eggs, entire wheat bread, unfired bread, uncooked cereals soaked in milk or mixed with butter and honey. Nuts and fruits of all kinds are eaten freely. Her ‘sweet tooth’ is appeased with honey. The child receives no candy and no meat. She is encouraged to get all the sleep possible, and sleeps twelve hours daily, from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.”
[Seriously, this kid is a ‘professed vegetarian’? It’s not just that her Mom is a vegetarian? Yeah, likely. – DeSpair]
And here she is, in all her “delightful freedom”: Marion Evelyn Cook.