circa 1948: A man eating soup with a novel invention, a mechanical soup spoon. The device is intended for dinner parties where the hostess serves inedible soup. The offending soup is drained away through the hollow handle, via a tube hidden up the sleeve, into a hot water bottle attached to the leg. Foul odours are blown away by the propeller. The innocent hostess believes the device is simply for cooling her delicious fare. (Photo by Hans Reinhart/Keystone/Getty Images)
