Friday, 22 February 2013

WELLCOME INDEED

While taking my nine-year old son round the Wellcome Collection, I spotted the objects pictured below in a display case, which said son walked past nonchalantly, preferring to get back to the cafe and his DS.






The caption read:             Male Anti-Masturbation Devices
                                           Nickel-Plated Steel
                                           Probably British, 1880-1920

I was struck by one word. Probably? Could anything be MORE British? If the dating were contemporary I'd guess they were a set presented to Dave Cameron, Gideon 'George' Osborne, and Nick Clegg when they became the coalition government of this country. Certainly one assumes they were once standard issue for all public school boys, who probably took a great deal of pleasure in wearing them. For the forty years the caption implies.

2 comments:

  1. tig23 February 2013 at 09:23

    I think you'll find that American doctors at this time were too busy practicing FGM on their womenfolk, to control their 'hysteria' to be much bothered with this sort of thing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Michael Carlson23 February 2013 at 21:38

    Doctors? Generations of British boys got these on their 12th birthdays from their grandparents, parents, scoutmasters, teachers,
    priests etc

    ReplyDelete