Old x-ray of a foot in a boot

Hubba, hubba! Whoa! I haven't seen an exposed ankle like that for some time!

I'm off to take a cold shower, now.

Cool x-ray. Wonder why they took it.

I wonder if it was to look at how her foot is deformed by the boot. Those toes don't look very comfortable.

Interesting that they were just using nails to hold on the heels. They tend to pull out.

Back in the day glues strong enough to hold on a heel hadn't been invented and nails were all the rage. And, yes, they could pull out and I've been there. It's not a happy day when you get a hole dug into your heel by a nail head.

@ Patty... Porno art?
@ Expat... Boiled horse hoof make an excellent glue. My new cowboy boots still have nails holding on the heels.

@BMN: Yes, I know that but it still wouldn't have held on a heel. And, yes every pair of boots I've ever owned had nails in the heels.

I wonder how long it took to lace the thing up.

No laces, they were buttoned up using a "button hook".
http://hilobrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/button-hook.jpg

This X-ray was probably not taken for any medical or scientific reason at all, and instead as a souvenir or possibly as a promotional tool -- it was at one time common for large shoe-stores or department stores to have a fluoroscope (a type of x-ray machine) for the purpose of checking the fit of your shoes. It wasn't really very effective at that, and exposed patrons, passerbys, and of course the shoe salesman to ridiculous amounts of needless radiation, but it was fashionable and brought customers in. After all, who really doesn't get curious about what their foot looks like inside of a shoe, and what the bones look like inside of that?

I had my own foot scanned yesterday. First step was injecting contrast material that would show up on MRI (gadolinium). Injecting it required the use of a fluoroscope. The radiologist and his assistants all wore lead aprons, and a placard on the wall stated the thickness of lead in all of the room's walls, and the thickness of concrete in the ceiling and floor. Perspectives on radiation safety have changed a bit since the 19th Century and early 20th Century, when shoe-fit fluoroscopy and x-ray was all the rage. 😉

I had my feet fluoroscoped into the mid 1950's to fit my Buster Brown shoes. It was kewl and well worth the extra 2 1/2 toes on my left foot.

Expat, you and my older sister! She fluoroscoped her feet any time she was in a shoe store with one of the machines, even if it wasn't her turn to get new shoes. She claims her toes are so tiny because of it.

Tell her, for me, that if she didn't grow some extra toes she didn't do it often enough! Definitely Jr. League. 😉