Ever wondered what historical events influenced our present day use of prosthetic eyes, false teeth, hair pieces and those squealing hearing aids? Popping Eyeballs, Flying Teeth, Hair Rising Toppers, and Squealing Ears! will appeal to your sense of the macabre with some wonderful (and not-so-wonderful) theories and inventions.
History isn’t boring. It’s filled with simultaneously amusing and horrifying details. Teeth were stolen right out of the mouths of fallen soldiers by tooth ‘drawers’ even before they expired! Prosthetic eye parts commonly popped right out of false eyeballs. Hearing devices were big as trumpets, and hair pieces could come complete with vermin! Ornamental fans back in the 18th Century were actually used to redirect the foul breath of rotting teeth, while wearers might also have worn towering hair pieces. Charlatans sold bad medicine to destroy eyesight so they could then sell them eye prosthetics!
Trivia is amazing, and real life misadventures are dismaying! This fascinating combination of history, interesting random facts, and true stories from real-life wearers of the ‘fakes of the head’, combines education with entertainment, making it suitable for youth as well as those readers already wearing such aids—or are about to.
Little has been missed or neglected in Lori Feldberg’s collection and description of artificial parts of the human body, particularly those pertaining to the head. Outside of medical research and development settings, little tends to be known about the history of the rise and development of these widely used innovations. Feldberg increases our knowledge and appreciation for these artificial body parts through precise descriptions about their origins. She does so with a generous amount of humour and intrigue. She draws from her own research plus contributions through personal encounters with people who make use of them. You will find this book’s unusual content an easy read, especially if you are a user of any of the items mentioned. — Jack Ross, Ed.D. (Exeter University, UK) MA (State University of New York), Co-founder and Member, Battle River Writing Centre
