A curious orange
Here’s a neat little thing. A set of perfume bottles that are designed to look like an orange.
A multi-purpose radiator
From the Victorian era comes an invention that’s ideal for multi-tasking. This is a radiator but one that also doubles as a bread warmer.
A bonkers tricycle
Here’s a bonkers tricycle from the 1930s. Designs back then were bright, bold and in-your-face. Would we see kids riding this sort of thing down the street now?
Tiny books within books
In 1757 a bookbinder in the Netherlands apparently made a tiny bookshelf with miniature books and nestled it away inside another bigger book.
Efficient reading
If you like multitasking then you’ll surely love this. It’s a 300-year-old contraption for opening (and reading) multiple books at once.
In-car coffee machine
In the late 1950s, Volkswagen was apparently installing optional coffee machines in its vehicles. Convenient, but probably not terribly safe.
Complex wiring
This photo from the late 1950s shows what could now be seen as a “primitive computer”, but at the time was a marvel of IBM engineering.
Retro radios
Radios might not have been as fancy as modern music tech or even as the phone in your pocket but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t look great.
Razzle Dazzle camoflauge
This was a type of camouflage painted on allied ships during WW1 to confuse the enemy. It was intended to make it difficult to range the ships accurately.
Double wide limo
Jay Ohrberg is famous for creating some pretty bonkers cars including experimental vehicles for TV shows and movies.
Casio EG-5 Cassette Player
This creation dates back to the 1980s. It’s a guitar/cassette recorder combo. Ideal if you want to jam out and record your own music at the same time?
Weird TV
Here’s a weird and wonderful Philco Predicta Television from the 1950s. Sure, it might be tiny compared to modern TVs but its design is certainly quirky.
Reusable shopping list
Using a piece of paper and pen to write a shopping list is so archaic. But using your phone to note it down is a bit too dull too. How about this instead?
Air conditioned lawn mower
Some of these inventions are clearly way beyond their time and perhaps verge on being a bit unnecessary.
