Display of bad things swallowed
The artful syringe photo from the United States Narcotic Farm that Mark posted earlier reminded Joel of this display at the Glore Psychiatric Museum in St. Joseph, Missouri. The museum holds memorabilia from the St. Joseph State Hospital, previously known as the State Lunatic Asylum #2. From Roadside America:
Glore Psychiatric MuseumThere is an imaginative arrangement of 1,446 items swallowed by a patient and removed from her intestines and stomach. She died during surgery from bleeding caused by 453 nails, 42 screws, safety pins, spoon tops, and salt and pepper shaker tops.
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I still have an awesome phrenology t-shirt from there!
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The Mutter Museum in Philadelphia has a large archive of swallowed objects too, from pins and buttons to toy cars, arranged in file drawers to examine at your leisure.
I've had the pleasure of visiting the Glore museum several times. It's amaaaaaaazing. Check out this Flickr set that I created:
http://flickr.com/photos/extremecraft/sets/551060/
Your pal,
Garth@Extreme Craft
When visiting the Glore museum (if it's still open), don't miss the tv cabinet in which one man inserted hundreds or thousands of short letters. They also have some kind of blackjack or sap that orderlies used to keep patients in line in that actual facility.
In the scary displays of antiquated practices from hundreds of years ago, there's an enclosed, human-sized hamster exercise wheel made of wood. Looks like a hollow waterwheel that you can climb inside. Apparently the idea was that if you stuck a person into that wheel and let him walk or run, or maybe spin it a little from the outside so he *has* to walk or run, he'd become a little more compliant and easier to deal with after you unlock the door and let him out.
i visited the Glore Museum when i was an undergrad and it is by far the most terrifying place i have ever been in my life. ever. also very awesome indeed, so go if you have the chance.
I live in Kansas City, and have been to the Glore Museum many times. Some of the artwork there made by patients is insane (edit: no pun intended).
Reminds me of the Walking Iron Mine story; the difference is the man survives.
I (accidentally) swallowed a needle in the eight grade. After swallowing the needle I spent an hour and a half being rushed to the hospital, signing in to the ER, and waiting for the surgeon to arrive. By the time the anesthesiologist knocked me out it was almost two hours past the initial gulp which sent the needle down my gullet.
The surgeon shoved a long tube with a mini-cam down my esophagus and into my stomach. No sign of the needle. He informed my mother that they could operate, which would necessitate the removal and replacement of my small intestines; or they could "let it pass." Which, the doctors said, was relatively safe because the needle I had swallowed had a large plastic head on it, and the body will pull the largest end of any object first.
The chances of being stabbed by the pin and bleeding internally seemed pretty minimal, so my mother opted for the second choice. The alternative surgery seemed too risky.
The doctors had a stipulation: they needed verification that the needle had passed. In three days she called them, holding the needle triumphantly in a plastic shrouded hand.