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![Rude Awakening]()
Feb 04, 1919 - J.D. Humphrey's design for an "alarm clock" which wakes the sleeper with a blow to the forehead from a pivoted antennae released by the clock mechanism. Patent no. 1293102.![Alarming Bed]()
Feb 20, 1900 - Ludwig Ederer's design for an alarm bed (patent no. 643789) which works by tipping the sleeper to a 45 degree angle when it is time to get up.![Swimming Machine]()
May 10, 1910 - A life preserver and swimming machine patented by Oscar B. Lyon and William H. Young (no. 957513). The contraption is operated by turning a handle at the front which works a propeller underneath the swimmer.![Mechanical Man]()
Mar 24, 1868 - An 1868 design for a steam carriage in the shape of a top-hatted man smoking a pipe and pulling a cart. Designed by inventors Zadoc Drederick and Isaac Grass, patent number 75874.![Fowl Play]()
Jan 01, 1903 - Spectacles to be worn by hens in order to prevent their eyes being injured by the beaks of other birds. Patented December 10, 1902, by Andrew Jackson Jr. (no relation to the former president of the United States).![Floor Polisher]()
Apr 20, 1915 - A pair of slippers, joined by a cord, designed by Lili Aline McGrath to make polishing floors easier. Patent no. 1136150.![Spring Shoes]()
Feb 24, 1920 - A simple propelling device consisting of a large spring attached to each shoe, designed by Harry Brant and Henry Turner, patent no. 1331952.![Fowl Play]()
Jan 01, 1903 - Spectacles to be worn by hens in order to prevent their eyes being injured by the beaks of other birds. Patented December 10, 1902, by Andrew Jackson Jr. (no relation to the former president of the United States).![Floor Polisher]()
Apr 20, 1915 - A pair of slippers, joined by a cord, designed by Lili Aline McGrath to make polishing floors easier. Patent no. 1136150.![Spring Shoes]()
Feb 24, 1920 - A simple propelling device consisting of a large spring attached to each shoe, designed by Harry Brant and Henry Turner, patent no. 1331952.A Century Ago -- The Cleverest, Craziest Patents
"What has been will be again," reads the Book of Ecclesiastes. "What has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." Nothing new under the sun. Powerful words. But with all due respect to the ancients, they clearly never spent any time pondering the peculiar, mysterious world of patents, and marveling at the wonders revealed therein. See the full slideshow at LIFE.com
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- A Century Ago -- The Cleverest, Craziest Patents
