Feet Go Here

Is the chain on the right attached to the feet? They look link of like some of the foot pedals off the old sowing machines, but usually they come with one and are designed for use with either foot, so it seems kind of odd. Could it be the bottom plate of a pedal organ? It would make sense that the chain could run up to open and close the bellows maybe?

maybe they were restraints to keep the kid in place if they acted up. it is truly an odd pic.

A chain wouldn't give you that much control if it was attached to a mechanism, would it?. I was thinking sewing machine too but wouldn't the chain give too much slack if it was operating something? What about as a leg exerciser (this was in the gym)?

Maybe for restless leg syndrome?

Wow. What an amazing find. I have no idea what this could have been used for. Lynne?? You out there??

knees touching, feet slightly outward

At first I thought it was some sort of leg/ankle strengthener... like some sort of weights could be attached to the chains to push down and give resistance. However, Motts said it was attached to a desk.
You can see screws that allow the foot pedals to move left and right along the base for more or less distance between them. Maybe the chains just allow adjustment of the angle for whoever was sitting at the desk?

Most likely bolts*, not screws.

More goose pimple stuff.
Not the good goose pimples either.

Yeah...major goosebumps here too.

I can't even begin to guess what these were for either.

My goodness! This stirs all kinds of images in my mind....none are good :(

wow I am sorry I cant look at this pic. My head was racing with all the things that they did with those and they all equaled restaints against the poor kids

I cant imagine what they were for but I dont like them!

RN making a wild guess, what if they were used to help prevent foot drop? Or maybe positioning devices for the legs/feet? If you had a patient that could not walk because one foot turned out or under, this might be a way to modify that.

Good point Claudia...I never thought of that. Nice to have someone who maybe has a little more experience with things like that.

And that makes it sound less "creepy" doesn't it?

Mandatory Hokey-Pokey class?

Not to take away from the creepy fun, but looking a the positioning slots (assuming everything was found as shown in the pic) it seems the foot rests would have to be able to be completely detached in order to reposition them....the chains would keep them from getting misplaced or stolen.

These are similar to foot holds on wheelchairs today for people with severe disabilities. You'll notice that they can be moved to the left and right, independently on one another. Patients with atrophy of the muscles can wind up with hip dysplasia, when the muscles pull the femurs out of the hip sockets. One therapy to prevent this is to strap the feet into the appropriate position. If surgery was done, patients are typically put in spica casts today to maintain proper alignment for the healing process. These were similar, and could be moved further and further apart as physical therapy continued and muscles were loosened. Not a doc, but a parent of a child who has had TWO dysplasia surgeries, and we have a few similar looking contraptions under the desk, etc, at our house, to help maintain the progress surgery started.

i can imagine a child with tremors but a sound mind needing something like this. His feet can be set in, the chains strapped over the feet to reduce the involuntary movement, and allow the child to focus on his studies.

It's not all sicko horror-show torture time, people. People had good reasons for the things they did, it's only our medical advances that has made formerly-sane ideas sound completely barbaric. Imagine what our children's children will think of us and our medical practices.