Sleep and Dreams
Follies of the Madmen #545
Sleepwear for hungry insomniacs.Several others in this series here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Oct 28, 2022 -
Comments (6)
Category: Fashion, Food, Sleep and Dreams, Advertising, Twentieth Century
Udon Noodle Blanket
Japanese spa chain Goku no Kimochi has created a blanket based on udon noodles. The first picture shows some udon noodles. The second and third photos show the blanket.The idea is that you can easily stick an arm or leg out through the 'noodles' if you feel hot. In this way, it is a "user-configurable blanket."
More info: Core77.com, goku-nokimochi.com
Posted By: Alex - Thu Sep 22, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Sleep and Dreams
Nap Boxes
New from Japan: nap boxes. The idea is to discourage workers from locking themselves in toilet stalls to nap by instead offering them an upright container in which they can seal themselves and (somehow) nap.Reminds me of the Iron Maiden torture device from medieval times.
More info: Bloomberg
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jul 23, 2022 -
Comments (6)
Category: Furniture, Sleep and Dreams
By the Light of the Silvery Moon
Source: The Escanaba Daily Press (Escanaba, Michigan) 30 Jun 1953, Tue Page 8
Posted By: Paul - Wed Aug 11, 2021 -
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Category: Public Humiliation, Sleep and Dreams, Public Indecency, 1950s
Staying awake at the wheel
Over the years, inventors have dreamed up a variety of ways to keep drivers awake while driving.In 1936, Carl Brown got a patent on a chin-operated alarm device. If a driver started to nod off, and his head fell forward, this would depress a trigger, setting off an electric bell that would wake him up. (Patent No. 2,066,092)
In 1940, Raymond Young had the idea that whenever a driver was feeling drowsy he could press a button on the steering wheel and this would squirt an aromatic spray in his face, waking him up. (Patent No. 2,199,060)
And just last month, Hyundai was granted a patent for a system that shoots ultrasonic beams at a driver's eyes when it senses he's falling asleep. (Patent No. 11007932)
Posted By: Alex - Mon Jun 14, 2021 -
Comments (3)
Category: Inventions, Patents, Sleep and Dreams, Cars
Breath Deflector
In case your bed partner has bad breath.Patented in 1922 by Darwin Comings of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Posted By: Alex - Sun Mar 07, 2021 -
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Category: Furniture, Inventions, Patents, Sleep and Dreams, 1920s, Smells and Odors
The Snore Consumer
I've come across reports in early 20th-century newspapers of an invention, designed to stop snoring, that worked by directing the sounds of the snoring into the snorer's own ear.
Oakland Tribune - Nov 26, 1933
I'm not sure if anyone ever really built this device, or if it was just a joke repeated by reporters.
The earliest report of it I've been able to find ran in newspapers in 1871. It attributed its invention to an unnamed woman from Iowa. However, I haven't been able to find a record of anything resembling this in the U.S. Patent Office, although there are numerous patents for anti-snoring devices.
Atchison Daily Champion - Feb 24, 1871
Posted By: Alex - Thu Feb 25, 2021 -
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Category: Inventions, Patents, Sleep and Dreams, Nineteenth Century, Cacophony, Dissonance, White Noise and Other Sonic Assaults
Comforting Hand Pillow
Madeline Robertson was recently granted a patent for a pillow with a foam hand sewn onto it. She explains that the hand (or 'tactile object,' as she refers to it) "provides tactile sensory feedback to the user designed to comfort the user."It reminds me of that robotic hand for people who have no one to hold their hand on walks we recently posted about.
Patent No. 10806281: Substrate having a therapeutic tactile object attached
Posted By: Alex - Mon Nov 30, 2020 -
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Category: Inventions, Patents, Sleep and Dreams
Beauty Pillow
Patent No. 2,533,526 was granted to Yvonne Bersia Snyder of Forest Hills, NY for a "Beauty Pillow":During sleep the tissues of the face are usually crushed or folded in the same position for hours at a time. For example, the flesh of the cheeks or face when flattened against the pillow during the sleeping hours pushes the skin forwards and settles in the hollows of the eyes where it produces wrinkles.
It is an object of this invention to prevent wrinkles or damaging of the skin tissues during rest.
Looks like it could also double as headgear for full-contact sports.
Posted By: Alex - Sun Nov 15, 2020 -
Comments (3)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Inventions, Patents, Sleep and Dreams, 1950s
Sleep Robot
Posted By: Paul - Mon Nov 09, 2020 -
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Category: Anthropomorphism, Inventions, Sleep and Dreams, Europe
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |