It’s easy to be amazed by today’s tech innovations - like an AI-powered toilet seat that optically scans your stool and urine or fruit that cleans up polluted air. However, the past had its own peculiar creations that reflected the needs and imaginations of their time. These inventions were practical, quirky, or downright bizarre, yet they tell fascinating stories of human creativity.
We’ve uncovered some of the strangest inventions that were once considered groundbreaking. From a piano for bedridden patients to a baby carriage that could climb stairs, these ideas may sound unusual today but were considered revolutionary back in the day. Here are some of the weirdest inventions from history that might surprise you.
Related: 13 Quirky Vintage Inventions That Should Be Brought Back
1. At just 14 years old in 1929, Les Paul created the harmonica rack that many musicians still use today.
2. This fold-out piano built in 1935 allowed bedridden patients in Britain to play music.
3. In 1955, a compact electric train was set up in New York’s Holland Tunnel to keep track of traffic speeds.
4. Hamblin Glasses, designed in England in 1936, made reading in bed more comfortable.
5. A British couple rests in a “Morrison Shelter” during WWII bombings, March 1941.
6. Traffic police in the U.S. wore electrically heated vests powered by street contact in 1932.
7. L. Deth’s portable folding bridge, from the Netherlands, 1926, was designed for quick emergency transport by handcart.
8. In 1956, Dr. Vilhelm Pettersson created a baby carriage capable of climbing stairs.
9. Montreal, 1939: Plastic face protection shields against harsh snowstorms and freezing cold.
10. A car with a pedestrian shovel was introduced in Paris in 1924.
11. Hugo Gernsback’s “The Isolator,” equipped with an oxygen tank, blocked out all distractions. He claimed it helped with concentration.
12. A portable radio cleverly hidden in a straw hat - U.S.,1931.
13. George R. White stands with his "Ornithopter" in St. Augustine. The former wartime pilot tried to achieve the first bird-like flight with this foot-powered, wing-flapping contraption in 1927. It crashed but was later improved.
14. This Colt 38 revolver had a camera attached that snapped a photo whenever the trigger was pulled. The images on the left show what the camera captured. New York, 1938.
