And if they didn’t they left the machine on a little longer to take care of those offensive toes.
jqubed@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Back in the early days of x-ray technology some shoe stores would x-ray customers’ feet to make sure the shoes fit right
anon_8675309@lemmy.world 1 day ago
JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 2 days ago
Is she…staring directly at the X-ray itself?
Like, I don’t pretend to understand how X-rays work. I know they emit a wavelength of light that goes through soft tissue like nothing. And I know normally, nowadays (or at least before digital came around), there would be a piece of x-ray sensitive film on one side of the object, and a bulb that shone x-ray onto it, which would then be developed (i think in a process sort of similar to polaroid but I could be mistaken again).
But…it looks like she’s looking directly at his foot through a special lens? Does it just put some sort of filter between her and the X-ray that makes it look like a really bright flashlight through the fleshy bits between your fingers?
scrion@lemmy.world 2 days ago
In the 40s, fluoroscopy was available, basically giving you a real-time, animated view of an X-ray picture. And yes, it did have all the associated dangers of prolonged X-ray exposure.
AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 2 days ago
I think the shoe shop guy was the one most at risk here, unless that woman bought shoes daily. He got exposed to leaked radiation with every customer.
toynbee@lemmy.world 2 days ago
I remember a book featuring … Al the Gebra, I think? In it all tungsten in the world disappeared. One thing in the book that surprised young me was that X-ray machines stopped functioning.
Apparently “tungsten has important niche roles in x-ray tubes.”
JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 2 days ago
A Gebra named Al, I think. I remember reading that in class in like eighth grade.
toynbee@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Seems you’re right! I think I read it around the same age. Thank you for the reminder.
Shadow@lemmy.ca 2 days ago
…ieee.org/when-xrays-were-all-the-rage-a-trip-to-… has some pics