We’re a small place. We are in a constant state of file-purging, trying to keep the important stuff but avoid hoarding interesting but essentially irrelevant items. Once in a while we run across things in our piles of files that don’t belong there but are too good to throw away. I hereby entrust a couple of them them to you, gentle blog-sloggers:
In a magazine article regarding early patent applications for life-saving devices we find my two favorites; a “Life-saving Hat” that inflates and becomes a flotation device, but with the obvious drawback of keeping itself out of the water while the unfortunate wearer hangs (and drowns)beneath it, and the better-placed but similarly lethal “Life-Saving Collar”.That one seems like a good idea, I’m sure, until it inflates, strangling the wearer. To be fair, it does prevent drowning. Nowhere in the description is it guaranteed to prevent strangulation.
Oh… let’s not forget the early inflatable suits. They kept the shipwrecked wearer afloat but were as likely to float the victim head-up as bottom-up. That’s a 50-50 chance of surviving, though…much better than the floating hat. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
