You can never guess the purpose of these old inventions

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Learn about some unusual man-made things. Take a look at them and try to guess their purpose. It can be difficult!

People have always been inventive and have been creating various devices to make life easier, better and more fun.

#1 Spittoon

Spittoons were popular in China since Qing dynasty. In XIX century they were everywhere in USA and Europe, where they didn't smoke tobacco but chewed it. But after the outbreak of Spanish influenza in 1918 they were deemed unsanitary and spittoons started to disappear.

#2 Tobacco jar

A capped jar for keeping dry snuff - is a Chinese analogue to a snuff bottle. They used to be made of porcelain, ivory, amber, glass and decorated with jewels.

#3 Opium pipe

By means of such pipe and a special lamp they used to smoke opium. Pipes were made of ivory, silver, porcelain, greenstone. Mankind knows opium for the last 6 thousand years, but nowadays this potent substance is forbidden.

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#4 Sphygmograph

They used Dudgeon's sphygmograph to measure pulse and arterial blood pressure. Modern blood pressure monitor is its descendant and looks much different.

#5 Stethoscope

In 1816, René Laennec invented stethoscope which helped doctors to hear breath and heart rhythm with one ear. Modern stethoscope has little in common with its ancestor.

#6 Mask of shame

During Medieval times, Masks of shame were put on women and men who were considered ill-tempered, foul-mouthed or misbehaving in public places, speaking against authorities or lying.

#7 Enema syringe

This beautiful device, shining with gold and made of brass and ivory was designed for extremely down-to-earth purposes. Needless to say, such syringes were reusable.

#8 Jedi helmet

If you are a Star Wars fan, you'll definitely like the "Jedi helmet". In 1980, this device was used to do MRI, avoiding opening a patient's skull. To help children cope with fear of the procedure, it was called in such a way.

Do you have any of the above mentioned devices at home? Can you imagine the world without these things?